British Film Institute - London Film Festival

Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Search cinema listings

Browse cinemas A-Z

Search 20,000 reviews

 

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)

Director: Lau Kar-Leung Liu Jialiang

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

The first half hour is standard Shaw Bros melodrama: vignettes from the Manchu army's subjugation of Canton in the early Qing Dynasty, following the usual script, staged on the usual sets with all the usual 'guest stars' and extras. But once the wounded hero (Liu) reaches the Shaolin Temple and - one year of sweeping floors later - starts learning the monks' secret knowledge of martial arts, the movie becomes extraordinary. The temple has 35 training rooms, each one dedicated to the perfection of a physical skill, a mental reflex or a spiritual insight. Once our boy graduates cum laude the abbot pragmatically expels him for insubordination, freeing him to rally anti-Manchu resistance in the province and turn the whole of Guangdong into a 36th 'chamber' of Shaolin. Fine myth making, anchored in a heroic central performance. The UK video release is panned-and-scanned, dubbed and cut: a travesty.

Author: TR

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

A Bond a day: No.7 'Diamonds Are Forever'

A Bond a day: No.7 'Diamonds Are Forever'

Join Time Out as we revisit the 21 official James Bond movies to celebrate the release of 'Quantum of Solace'

Steve McQueen on 'Hunger'

Steve McQueen on 'Hunger'

Dave Calhoun meets artist Steve McQueen’s whose debut feature film, ‘Hunger’, is the story of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands

Producer Stephen Woolley on ‘How to Lose Friends and Alienate People’

Producer Stephen Woolley on ‘How to Lose Friends and Alienate People’

Stephen Woolley, recalls the near catastrophes he had to contend with in bringing Toby Young’s memoir to the screen

Paul Newman: 1925 – 2008

Paul Newman: 1925 – 2008

Paul Newman died at his Connecticut home this weekend, at the age of 83. We look back at one of the great movie careers of the twentieth century

Richard Attenborough: interview

Richard Attenborough: interview

‘Entirely Up to You, Darling’ is the long-awaited autobiography from Sir Richard Attenborough. David Jenkins meets him in his Richmond home

Hard hacks to follow

Hard hacks to follow

To celebrate the release of 'How To Lose Friends and Alienate People', Time Out pick some of the toughest journalistic gigs in cinema