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Independant Film Channel Chop Socky
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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2
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3178
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Fri July 15, 2005
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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None indicated
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8.5
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supersize
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Author
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Jubei
Dragon's List Allumni
Registered: May 2002
Location: Chicago
Posts: 2222
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Review Date: Tue May 17, 2005
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Great history on some of your favorite old school Kung Fu movies
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Cons:
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No actual Kung Fu techniques are taught
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I thought that if I were to watch another martial arts documentary that didn’t show me anything new I would give up on them all together but Chop Socky was a breath of fresh air. Chop Socky is not an instructional documentary, but takes an inside look on Hong Kong’s Kung Fu movie industry as it began and all the way through how it evolved into what it is today. They took a behind the scenes look at the stars and directors to relay exactly what each movie meant to them. I found the interviews to almost feel more authentic simply because they were speaking in Chinese in most of them which conveys the inflection of their voices. I had already seen most of the movies featured in the film so it was cool to see why things were made the way they were. So if you are looking for new techniques, get another DVD, but if you are into old school Kung Fu flicks, this is a good watch.
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Sammygirl
Moderator
Registered: April 2004
Location: Boston
Posts: 5529
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Review Date: Fri July 15, 2005
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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great interview subjects, nice technical details
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Cons:
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not long enough; i want to see more!
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What\'s refreshingly different about Chop Socky is its ability to remain enthusiastic about the unique fun of Hong Kong martial flicks without falling back on the old Western standby \"oh, kung fu, it\'s so magical\" attitude that tends to prevail in many martial arts documentaries. The filmmakers do this by sticking to the technical details and describing some of the tricks of the trade that enabled Hong Kong cinematographers to produce enjoyable popcorn flicks at a fraction of what a Western action film would cost.
An interesting example of this is the description of fight choreography. Rather than film one fight scene numerous times from several angles, and polish the fight later in the editing room, directors typically \"blocked\" the scene in their mind before ever rolling the cameras. This resulted in the scene being completed in as few takes as possible. The breakdown of this method gives an insight into those sometimes unevenly paced, jumpy cuts between camera angles that often distinguish the \"classic\" HK-flick fight.
The roundup of interviews for this nicely constructed documentary reads like a Who\'s Who of Hong Kong cinema: John Woo, Jackie Chan, Cheng Pei-Pei, Jet Li, and Shek Kin. The fact that their interviews are not dubbed over is very nice IMO. Honestly, I\'ve never heard Shek Kin speak in his \"real\" voice before. In addition, the historic background of Hong Kong cinema, including very rare silent-film footage and an extensive look at the Wong Fei Hung films, is something you won\'t see anywhere else.
My only real quibble with Chop Socky is that it\'s just not long enough -- I really want to see more. The story of Hong Kong stuntmen alone could cover another two hours. Here\'s hoping more documentaries like this are on the way!
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