STUDY IN CHINA GLOBAL (SCG)Today,we are going to talk about a 1993 Hong Kong film, Last Hero in China(黄飞鸿之铁鸡斗蜈蚣Huáng Fēihóng zhī tiějī dòu wúgōng). It is written and directed by Wong Jing(王晶Wáng Jīng). It is a derivative of the Once Upon a Time in China film series, and unlike other imitations, it can be considered a spin-off or parody to some extent. It was released after the first three films in the Once Upon a Time in China franchise. The film starred Jet Li as Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung(黄飞鸿Huáng Fēihóng) and the action choreography was done by Yuen Woo-ping. However Last Hero in China differs greatly in tone from the Once Upon a Time in China films as it contains stronger elements of violence and broader, more slapstick, comedy.
Plot
Due to economic pressures, Wong Fei-hung(黄飞鸿Huáng Fēihóng) is forced to move his martial arts school and Po-chi-lam clinic to a new location but unknowingly re-opens next to a brothel. Wong comes into conflict with a corrupt police chief who is helping evil monks from a nearby temple to kidnap young women and sell them into prostitution in distant lands. Whilst investigating the temple, Wong gets into a fight and is subsequently accused of an unprovoked attack on the monks. He is also poisoned and becomes temporarily deaf. In a later fight, Wong intervenes in the police chief’s attempts to assassinate a foreign official.
In one scene, parodying traditional lion dances, Wong dresses up as a rooster, compete with an iron beak and claws. He clucks as he battles his enemies, who are shrouded in a giant metallic centipede. This scene has its roots in the 1956 film Huang Fei-hong tie ji dou wu gong (Huang Fei-hong: The Iron Rooster vs. the Centipede), which starred Kwan Tak-hing as Wong Fei-hung. In the final fight against the police chief, Wong uses drunken boxing after his toes are broken while attempting to execute a Shadowless Kick on his opponent. The film concludes with Wong and his companions marching away victorious, but not before Wong rebukes the foreign official for selling opium and causing young children to go deaf.
