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Drunken Master vs. Ganja Boxer:  the art of cracking skulls while under the influence

Each year, in a secluded valley somewhere in mainland China, the masters of the various Kung Fu disciplines gather to determine which style is the greatest. Cunning Snake pits itself against cheeky Monkey, graceful Crane spars with ferocious Tiger and in the end one style is crowned superior over all others for a year. However, as the masters gather for this year’s competition, they sense a disturbance in the Chi of kung fu. A new challenger has risen, not from the East, but from the West, in the most unlikely of places: The seaside resort of Brighton, UK. Perturbed by this event, the masters convene on how to answer this bold new challenger. After careful deliberation, they decide to send a champion to test the mettle of this newcomer and the call goes out to their chosen one. And upon hearing of this great honour, their champion cries back: “Oooooh, I lovesh you guysh!!”.

While looking at the IMDB page of a movie (the name of which I have already forgotten), Brighton Wok: The Legend Of Ganja Boxing stood out among the recommended titles under the “You might also like” section. The title alone was ludicrous enough to pique my curiosity and before I knew it, I had ordered a copy from Convict Films. Completely in line with Convict Films’ DIY attitude, it arrived in a plain, white, handwritten envelope.

I watched, I laughed; I cringed at some points.

It was obvious that one of the many sources of inspiration was Jackie Chan’s sublime master-piece Drunken Master II (released in some Western places as The Legend of Drunken Master) and I immediately pondered the eternal question of whether the student could best the master. So I decided to stage a direct confrontation between the two movies. While it seemed like a decidedly one-sided battle, I was secretly hoping the young English upstarts from Convict Films could hold their own against one of cinema’s most beloved and legendary martial artists.

Round 1: Background

In Drunken Master II, Jackie Chan reprises his role as Wong Fei Hung (having originated his interpretation in the influential 1978 classic, Drunken Master), a Chinese folk hero whose real life exploits earned him a popularity that endures to this day. As the son of one of the Ten Tigers  of Canton, Wong Kei Ying, he inherited his father’s talent for Martial Arts and became a master of the Chinese martial art of Hung Gar. Chan is neither the first nor the last actor to portray Wong Fei Hung, as the legendary doctor is the most portrayed character in film history, played by other Hong Kong legends such as Gordon Liu, Jet Li and Sammo Hung.

Brighton Wok: The Legend of Ganja Boxing does not draw from such a rich heritage. In fact, its backstory couldn’t be more antipodal. It is a labour of love. Originally conceived by a couple of second generation Brighton hippies and influenced by ganja and the neglect of the once famous Brighton Pier, it started life as a 15 minute short about an Italian ninja’s visit to the seaside resort. Impressed and inspired, investors offered additional equipment and funding, and over the course of several years, it evolved into the feature that found its way to my doorstep. In many ways, the backstory reminds me of Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste, still one of the benchmarks of DIY guerilla filmmaking. Time will tell if Brighton Wok will ever attain that movie’s legendary cult status, but I think it has a shot.

DIY chutzpah vs. a long and colourful tradition. Both have their merits. I’ll call this one a draw.

Round 2: Story

Like many Kung Fu films, Drunken Master II has a distinct anti-imperialist slant. Here, our hero accidently stumbles onto a ring of thieves led by the British consul,  who is smuggling Chinese artifacts out of the country. After mistaking a Chinese government agent (Lau Kar-Leung, the film’s co-director, co-choreographer, and a HK industry legend in his own right) for a thief, Wong Fei Hung is reluctantly recruited to help stop this smuggling ring. It is exemplary for films set in that period, especially when centered on the character of Wong Fei Hung, as the raping and pillaging of China’s cultural heritage is still a very open wound in the minds of many Chinese.

Brighton Wok is less ambitious. For their first feature, the Convict Films crew wisely decided to stick to the tried-and-tested revenge story. The hero, Ryu (Richard Forsyth), witnessed a ninja by the name of Vafan Cuolo (Samson Byford-Winter) murder his father and the hippie commune where they lived. When that same ninja gathers an army and takes over his hometown of Brighton, Ryu must overcome the ghosts of his past and seek out the legendary Ganja Master, to learn the ways of Ganja Boxing and wrest control of Brighton back from Cuolo.

Brighton Wok tries hard within the confines of the revenge story, but ultimately Drunken Master II sweeps this round.

Round 3: Humour

Before he moved to Hollywood and got infected with the parasitic entity known as Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan was the undisputed master of comedy Kung Fu. Drunken Master II is perhaps his finest achievement. Ably supported by the likes of the late, great Anita Mui, Drunken Master II is a whirlwind of slapstick, goofiness, crazy stunts, and odd predicaments, all finely-tuned and anchored by Jackie Chan’s undeniable charisma.To the uninitiated, the Chinese sense of humour might seem peculiar and it is certainly an acquired taste, but aficionados will find much to delight them. Fair warning: if you seek out this film, and you end up with the region 1 release, you won’t have the option of a Cantonese language track, and the humour suffers as a result.

To call Brighton Wok a straight-out parody of the genre would be doing it a disservice. While it does poke fun at some of the genre’s clichés it never stoops to the levels of ridiculousness of a Kung Pow! Instead, there’s a strong undercurrent of Python-esque humour, especially in the form of two Brighton biddies who are Vafan Cuolo’s main opposition for the first half of the movie. Further humour is provided by a sort of Greek chorus composed of an elderly, slightly crazy vagrant, a perpetually stoned hippie and a French tourist looking for Brighton’s street credibility (which has something to do, I believe, with Brighton’s reputation as an enclave of hippie ideals and individuality. Something Cuolo’s totalitarian regime is hell-bent on wiping out). Since they all seem quite incapable of understanding each others’ train of thoughts, their running commentary takes on a bizarre, often surreal flavour.

A lot of the appreciation of these two brands of comedy depends on your personal preference. I must say that when watched under the influence of certain substances, Brighton Wok might actually win out since, at its heart it’s a stoner movie, but when seen clean and sober, I must reward this round to the Drunken Master.

Round 4: Acting

Once again, how you judge the acting in Drunken Master II depends on your appreciation of the Chinese brand of humour. In a Western movie, it could come across as mugging, with exaggerated reactions and facial expressions. While there are countless examples of this style of acting in Western culture, from the Marx Brothers to Will Ferrell, Chinese movies often dramatically shift from this care-free silliness to deadly serious melodrama to bone-crunching violence. However, in the comedy Kung Fu genre it is integral to its enduring popularity and you either love it or hate it.

Even if you hate the Chinese style of acting, Brighton Wok fails more spectacularly in the acting department. The main problem with the movie is the performance of Samson Byford-Winter. Stuck in a ninja suit, he has very few options with which express himself and unfortunately he chooses the worst option. With wild gestures, faux-Italian accent and maniacal laughter, he almost single-handedly destroys the movie. His scenes are the least interesting to watch. The rest of the cast never stoops to those lows, but while they act as sincerely as possible, given the movie’s daft premise, it is at times painfully obvious that they are amateurs — albeit inspired.

Another score for the Drunken Master.

Round 5: Kung Fu

By now, the Drunken Master already has a comfortable lead and victory almost secured. So will he sit back in the last round and allow his opponent to claw some points back and save a little face? Of course not. After all, it is not only his honour that’s at stake, but the honour of all the masters waiting for him back in that secluded valley in mainland China!

The Kung Fu in Drunken Master II is simply phenomenal. Wong Fei Hung’s chosen style for this movie is Drunken Boxing (although he fights in his father’s style as well), a style that improves when he consumes alcohol, but when he consumes too much, his technique becomes sloppy, inaccurate and his judgement is impaired. Through a series of masterfully choreographed fights, we follow Wong Fei Hung in his struggle to find just the right balance between alcohol and discipline, mastering this balance just in time to face off against the consul’s henchman, Johnnie. As Johnnie, Ken Lo brings unbelievable speed to his kicks as well as a viciousness that has him rake Chan over hot coals and even attempt to set him on fire. If I had any fears that the final showdown could not possibly top the brilliant fights that came before, they were quickly dashed. More than 10 minutes long, it is one of the finest achievements in Martial Arts choreography ever committed to celluloid.

The Brighton Wok crew put in their best effort. They studied under a real Kung Fu master for a while and invented all the moves of Ganja Boxing. Unfortunately, until we get to the final confrontation between Vafan and Ryu, the fights are few and over far too quickly. Some of the CGI also suffers from its DIY origins. While we are treated to a training montage of the various “styles”of Ganja Boxing — inventive as they may be with names like Old Man with Smoker’s Cough and Youth Rolling a Spliff — when used in actual battle, there is little to distinguish between them. The Kung Fu never rises above the level of those cheaply made, so-called chopsocky movies of ‘70s era Honk Kong. To one accustomed to the dazzling kung fu and wire-fu of this current age, it’s a throwback that might or might not take one out of the movie.

And so the Drunken Master trounces his opponent yet again.

In the end, it really turned into the one-sided battle that I feared, but I’d also like to think that the Drunken Master would have a bottle of cheap English gin in honour of his worthy opponent and that the Ganja Boxer, bruised and battered, could still leave the arena with his head held high. I can’t in all honestly recommend it to anyone, but Brighton Wok still managed to capture my heart. Perhaps it’s the romantic in me, but there’s something captivating about a crew of friends working outside the established systems and delivering something that is imaginative, daft, entertaining and stupid at the same time. I can’t help but support such underdog spirit, in the hopes of an improved sequel and possibly a rematch.

To order a copy of Brighton Wok and support homegrown talent, visit http://www.brighton-wok.com/BrightonWok_HomePage

With thanks to Matt Schneider for invaluable comments.