Huang Fei-hung is the greatest character in martial arts movie history, with more than a hundred films featuring the Confucian healer and kung-fu master. Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Gordon Liu, and many others have played him in many a gloriously filmed epic. But versatile director Ho Meng-hua and the Shaw Studio wondered what it would be like to cast one of their finest actors in the challenging role, then film it hyper-realistically. The result is this unique experimental take on the character and his stories, as the multiple award-winning Ku Feng plays an all-too-human Huang Fei-hung in a battle against a corrupt gangster’s plan to frame him for robbery and murder. Despite the unusual approach, there’s plenty of action as Huang and his students, including the beauteous Chen Ping, fight for honor, harmony, and health.
