Gallants

Title: Gallants
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Martial Arts, Action, Comedy
Starring: Leung Siu Lung, Chen Kuan Tai, Teddy Robins, Wong Yau Nam, (MC) Jin Auyeung, J. J. Jia
Director: Clement Chang
Language: Chinese

Terracotta East Asian Film Festival: #1

Coming in at my top spot comes this Action/Comedy from a newcomer to the film scene. His first feature film, it was in the Q&A sessions afterwards that the director revealed his inspiration: watching Teddy Robin Kwan (who plays the elderly master) jamming with his old band; a group of pensioners complaining about the stock market, transition instantly into teenage rockers, if only for the few minutes the song lasted. And with Bruce Leung and Kuan Chen (made famous for a plethora of work with the Shaw Brothers) re-uniting for the first time in decades, these two retired martial arts masters of their mid-60s prove they still remember how to throw their punches. I very nearly didn't bother seeing this one; a bunch of martial arts masters I've never heard of, now well past their prime with an unknown director and a small budget all sounds like its shaping up to be a fan just as pleased to find work as the two ageing actors with few calls from their agents of late, which just makes the end result all the more surprising.

Opening with our unlucky protagonist, Cheung, we are showed how his life has turned from being the high school bully to the bottom rung of the ladder at a real estate firm. Tired of his constant mistakes, he is sent to a remote village to settle a real estate dispute, and it isn't long before the locals start picking on the new guy. Saved by an elderly man called 'Tiger,' he follows him to the source of the attention; a small tea house run by both himself and another known only as 'Dragon,' waiting for the day when their Master Law should emerge from his thirty year coma. When his begging of them to teach him Kung-Fu results in disaster, he continues with his job only to learn the source of the dispute; the very man he used to bully now an avid up and coming kung-fu practitioner for a rival teacher seeking the deeds to the Tea House. Caught up between the two ageing men he's quickly come to respect and the real estate dispute, just as old rivalries are re-kindled Master Law returns from his absence, and it isn't long before he finds himself aligned with the ageing trio in a martial arts brawl to settle things once and for all. Sort of.

Really this only tells half the story as there is so much that occurs; so many relationships within this huge cast, from the side plot of the love interest in the girl under Tiger and Dragon's care, the eccentric geriatric master who doesn't realise how long he's been out and the berating of his two elder pupils as though they were still reckless children; everything's been thought out to perfection so as to show so much development in so many characters and such a large number of plot developments that never seem to go in the direction you expect. There's no clear cut 'enemy;' the battle is between those who have accepted the change in times and those who still cling to the ways of the past, and there are points to be taken from both sides. Cheung, desperately wanting to learn Kung-Fu to rebuild his confidence eventually comes to realise there's more to it than simply knowing how to fight, just as his rival learns there's more to it than fighting his opponent (despite Master Law's cries of “Kung-Fu is fighting. If it's fitness you're after, go ride a bicycle”) as he comes to terms with the idea of honour.

And yet, after all these intricacies in both what is said and what isn't, they still find the time to maintain an Action/Comedy pace; with the reunion of martial arts masters and stellar choreography, the battles feel like a homage to the films of past without simply being a rehash of old material, filled with philosophical lessons and morals on the self that never get too weighty or pretentious, largely down to the constant reminder of just who's often delivering the lessons. This review couldn't be complete without a word on the show-stealing presence of Teddy himself; his eerily convincing performance oozes humour with every unapologetic word, every time he refers to himself as 'Ben' when trying to pick up a woman a fraction of his age and every time he slaps someone for no good reason. If you're not a classic martial arts fan then this is merely one to watch, but if you are, then this becomes unmissable.