COME DRINK WITH ME (1966)
Directed by King Hu
Written and directed by King Hu and Ting Shan-hsi
Starring Cheng Pei Pei, Yueh Hua, Chan Hung-lit
Unrated
Runtime: 91 minutes
Available streaming and on Blu-Ray from Arrow 

RAINING IN THE MOUNTAIN (1979)
Written and Directed by King Hu
Starring Hsu Feng, Sun Yeuh, Tung Lin
Unrated
Runtime: 2 hours
Now Streaming on Film Movement Plus

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

I am by no means all that knowledgeable about Chinese film, culture, or history, and feel the need to note that I approach these movies from my own western perspective. So inevitably, I need to start with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I wrote about the film for its 20th anniversary, and how much I love Ang Lee’s films. Even the Cinema Hong Kong: Swordfighting documentary that gives a great overview of the wuxia genre included on the Come Dance With Me Blu-Ray starts with it. Ang Lee gave western audiences a taste of the genre, similar to how Chinese food in western countries is a blend between authentic and meeting the expectations and palettes of locals. Even if I had tried to seek out more at the time, I am not sure where I would have gone. 

King Hu is maybe the most obvious next step, and thanks to Criterion releases for Dragon Inn (which is fantastic) and A Touch of Zen (which I am saving for a nice rainy weekend), as well as the new Blu-Ray and streaming releases of Come Drink With Me and Raining in the Mountain, his work is more available than ever before for western audiences. Wuxia (literally translated as “marital heroes”) tends to focus on characters from lower classes who follow a strict moral code and are independent, almost vigilante warriors, arrive to right some moral wrong–often by force and using mystical power–and then move onto the next place. There are parallels in the western genre, as well as in the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa and others. What makes wuxia stand apart, even in my limited exposure, is the strong fantasy element. Characters can leap around like superheroes, or call upon wind or other energies to aid them in their fighting. 

Come Drink With Me is maybe the most accessible of the four King Hu films I’ve seen thus far. One of the main reasons is that it stars Cheng Pei Pei, who went on to play the Jade Fox character in Crouching Tiger. Posing as a man named Golden Swallow, she fights her way through dozens of goons on her quest. Hu cast her as the lead in his film about a general’s daughter trying to free her brother because she had a dance background, and this is reflected in the fight choreography. The focus isn’t on speed or power, but on rhythm. Fast-fast-slow as the characters move through the frame, wielding traditional Chinese weapons as they fight their way through elaborate sets. Every action sequence is mesmerizing, flowing and reveling in capturing the movement with the camera. The story is simple enough, and to watch an early film interpretation of a literary genre is still exhilarating, especially because Cheng is such a charismatic central figure. 

As I’ve referenced already, the Blu-Ray of Come Drink With Me is another great example of Arrow’s releases. There is a new audio commentary from Tony Rayns, the aforementioned documentary, and a few other supplements that focus on Cheng and other cast members. The film is enjoyable as is, but it is always helpful to have context ready to go if you want it. 

I also caught up with Raining in the Mountain, another of Hu’s wuxia films. This one centered around possession of a sacred Tripitaka scroll at a remote Buddhist temple. The plotting here is a lot more complex than Come Drink With Me, though it is always clear. This story not only features attempts to steal the scroll, but the monastery’s abbot choosing a successor, and tons of political machinations. My favorite aspect of the film is a handful of sequences without dialogue that emphasize stealthiness. The visual composition, expert editing, and use of sets reinforces the tension in the story. They also provide a nice break from reading subtitles–something I don’t mind, but I often find myself wanting to be able to fully appreciate a movie’s visual impact without needing to keep my eyes on the lower portion of the screen. 

Hu took the production to South Korea, filming at the 8th century Bulguksa Buddhist temple, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. From watching both Dragon Inn and The Valiant Ones, one thing that has really made me fall in love with the director’s work is the use of location. Because the locations are all connected, Hu is able to leverage geography while also finding a lot of variety in the landscapes. There are chases through forests, fascinating rock formations, and a use of natural elements as well as the temple’s architecture that gives Mountain an immersive feel. While Come Drink With Me feels like a period action film, Raining in the Mountain has a grander scale in mind. This is especially reflected in how the editing and blocking changes as characters begin to reveal their fantastical powers, as the number of close-ups increase, drawing us in closer to emphasize the impact by making them visually larger-than-life. 

Hopefully I will someday see some of King Hu’s films on a gigantic screen with an enthusiastic crowd, but for now I am glad I can start to assemble his filmography for endless home viewing. Both films here are highly recommended.