| Ben Jarman |
Shaolin vs. Lama plays in glorious 35mm at the Trylon Cinema in partnership with the Cult Film Collective from Friday, November 21st, through Sunday, November 23rd. For tickets, showtimes, and other series information, visit trylon.org.
Here is a new take from my mom on the film Shaolin vs Lama. The goal here again is to introduce her to genres she is not interested in and gather her thoughts. She is a movie “buff”, but she doesn’t venture much into genre films. Martial arts movies are definitely not her thing. She can handle a horror movie if forced to watch it and she liked a Godzilla movie, but when I brought up Shaolin vs Lama to her, she tried to get out of it. She said, “I don’t really know what you would get out of me,” when I showed her the trailer. “I know nothing about these movies.”
When I think about it, I wasn’t sure what I get out of martial arts films pioneered by the Shaw Brothers and others either. The movies are usually period pieces with some sort of revenge conflict; other than that, there is a lot of fighting. The thing that sticks out for me though is the popularity of these films. I don’t know exactly why movie “buffs” talk these films up, but I think it ties to movement of the characters in this medium, not unlike the thrill of watching actors dance in a musical. My mom handled school musicals when she was a teacher, so I know she is into being dazzled by dance. Hopefully this comes across as we jump into Shaolin vs Lama.
When I first asked you to watch Shaolin vs Lama with me, what was your reaction after watching the trailer?
It just seemed like a movie with bad acting and story and a lot of the kung fu hitting and stuff. But I really liked it. It was different. I liked the story. And I thought the kung fu, the choreography, the costumes, and the slow motion now and then added to it. The movie seemed more intricate than I thought. Plus, the moves were just like dance. It just was a little cut above, even though I don’t know much about this stuff. Buddhist philosophy is all over this film and that’s what I always remember liking about that Kung Fu TV show. We are not just seeing a bunch of guys jumping around and hitting each other.
You didn’t really put up much of a fight when I asked you to watch The Evil Dead or a Godzilla movie. Here though, you didn’t feel like you could be much help.
I thought I’d have nothing interesting to say about this movie at all. But this movie had way more meat to it than I thought. I suppose in any genre you’re going to have good movies and bad movies. I saw a lot of similarities between this movie and Westerns. The plot lines and the heroes and the fighting for good and evil.
What are your feelings about just action movies in general?
I don’t mind action movies. I love the James Bond movies. Action movies must have something more than just the action and too many action films are just that. I am not going to drop everything to watch an action movie.
Have you seen any other martial arts movies that you can recall off the top of your head?
I remember Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I like that movie a lot. That might be surprising because usually anything involving violence is not for me, but the fights are so stylized like a poetic ballet. It’s absolutely beautiful. It hit me that this is violence, but it is just so beautiful.
When you told me you watched the Kung Fu Tv series religiously, I was very surprised. It doesn’t seem like something you would watch. Explain that whole thing to me, because it makes no sense.
It goes back to that classic cinema formula in which you have the fight of good and evil. You have the flawed main character, but he is still driven to do good. As simple as that story is, it speaks to people especially considering the time it was on TV with the war in Vietnam going on in the background.
You caught onto the dazzling choreography in Shaolin vs Lama without any mention from me. Say more about that.
I loved the old 40s and 50s musicals. Some of that dancing was phenomenal. I’ve always liked dance a lot and I think dance can convey so much more beyond the music or the violence in this case. It’s much more interesting visually than just the standard stuff. I think it takes it to another level. This is a human body telling a story. In the case of Shaolin vs Lama, it wasn’t just two guys pounding each other.
There is a sort of formula too. Talk a little bit and then fight about it and then talk again. Same with musicals. Talk about it and then dance. What’s that musical with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra?
Guys and Dolls.
Yes. The characters talk and then dance about it.
It reminds me of another movie I wouldn’t jump to see, Rocky. Just like Shaolin vs Lama, Rocky not only shows a great deal of athleticism, but it is also very intentional about every movement in a fight. Kind of like gore in a horror movie, action movies can meaninglessly add action and violence that does not help tell a story.
The big lesson halfway through the movie is don’t use kung fu unless you must. So after all the antagonist did to the monks, including the killing, the protagonist decided to show him mercy. I thought that was an interesting way to end, but was it the right way to end the film?
Yeah, that’s a very good question. Maybe it’s the difference between the olden days and modern times, you know. I always have to go with mercy. You always show mercy. I just don’t think you see it as much anymore.
In the 90s, I feel like there was a whole shift in which it became uncool to be nice. Showing mercy was a sign of weakness. I think it affected all of culture, because you saw it in books, you saw it in TV shows, you saw it in movies, you saw it in music. You’re a loser, if you’re nice and kind and show mercy. Maybe this is just a generational reaction, but I think older people noticed it. And maybe it’s what led up to what we’re going through right now. It became cool to be snarky and blasé. I could go down the street and say hi to people, but you say hi to people now, especially young people, and they look right at you and don’t respond. This has manifested itself in so many different ways.
Maybe it’s just people are angry or depressed or jaded. These times we’re living in right now, constantly, no matter what the issue is, it always boils down to what is just, what is fair, what is kind. And we’re not getting any of that. We have people in power that don’t look at that. Don’t show mercy. Don’t show kindness. Don’t be a bleeding-heart liberal. Don’t care about other people. And that’s not what Shaolin vs Lama is saying. The lead was learning to show compassion, to show that he has this great power and what he can do with this great power is show compassion and mercy. But no, it’s not that way anymore.
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My mom told me of the three films I watched with her for the Trylon, Shaolin vs Lama was the best. This is saying a lot because all three movies are not something she would ever have interest in watching alone. There are two factors in this film that were of particular interest to her. First, the fights were not raw. My mom was able to see the attention paid to the choreography and how it transcended violence. I did not even need to cue her since she loves musicals. The other factor that interested my mom was the Buddhism. There were a lot of Buddhist teachings in this film that resonated with her. Regardless of your religious background, teaching mercy is something that we might be losing as humans, but action movies like this can ironically remind us of our shortcomings.
Edited by Olga Tchepikova-Treon