On a pure entertainment level Fong Sai Yuk (aka The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk or The Legend) succeeds admirably; it is engaging, a sheer spectacle, you laugh, you cry, you gasp at the superhuman feats of martial arts skills and boo loudly at the excessively evil bad guys. But bubbling beneath this glossy commercial veneer is a complex tale of bisexuality, feminism in a repressed environment and an unusual twist on the Oedipus complex. Central to the film is not only the titular Fong Sai Yuk but also his dynamic mother (Josephine Siao) - the relationship between the two of them
binds the film together.
Typical Hero – Jet Li as Everyman
Fong Sai Yuk is typical of the characters Jet Li (Lee) has come to typify; youthful looking, nationalist, idealistic, excellent at kung fu and yet innocent/naive. Complexity in his character is derived from incident and surroundings. He absorbs the plot and reacts to it - he is the films central focus because he is the unambiguous catalyst for the films events. He mirrors the viewers aspirations by having no extreme associations - he is the protagonist because he is at once superhuman and yet ordinary (almost to the point of blandness). Other characters aid this focusing process by stereotypical or exaggerated behaviour - Li's only exaggeration comes in his Kung Fu and that trait is shared by many of those around him.
Why Isn’t My Mum as Cool as Jet Li’s?
Mother Fong is a wonderful creation - she is cool, beautiful and adept at the martial arts. She is also deranged. Running the gamut of roles from 'family mother' to lecherous cross-dresser Mother Fong is like an entire pantomime cast in one character. All this may sound like 'Carry On Kung Fu-ing' but for the sheer cruelty and pathos in a number of key scenes that raises the film to entertainment as art. Perhaps the most moving of the many complex relationships shown in the film is that between Mother Fong and Ting Ting (Michelle Reis) - born out of a single misunderstanding during a period of cross-dressing stealth and steadily snowballing out of control during the rest of the film, culminating as it does on the death bed of Ting Ting in a poignant embrace.
Evaluating Fong Sai Yuk
What impresses so much with Fong Sai Yuk is the apparent effortlessness which complex characters blend with action entertainment. It never fails to impress on any number of levels and remains a highly engaging and enjoyable romp that leaves you gasping for breath and gasping for more. Sadly its sequel could not live up to the originals dizzying heights.
Colin Odell - Colin is a freelance writer and designer with an unhealthy appetite for film.
