Remembering Corey Yuen #6 – Fong Sai Yuk 方世玉 (1993) Review

Corey Yuen’s Fong Sai Yuk may have been a box-office hit in Hong Kong, ranking in the Top 5 that year in 1993 totalling HK$30.6 million. But it’s hard to believe the initial idea of making Fong Sai Yuk was considered a risky project back then. The reason? Hong Kong audiences were still deeply rooted at the time in Jet Li’s Wong Fei Hung character in the Once Upon a Time in China film series.

And yet, the actor took it as a challenge and determined to make a difference when he chose Fong Sai Yuk as his then-newly established film company Eastern Production Ltd.’s first movie. Working with director Corey Yuen and screenwriters John Chan Kin-Chung (1992’s King of Beggars), Kevin Tsai Kong-Yung and prolific Jeff Lau, the movie manages to distinguish between Wong Fei Hung and Fong Sai Yuk. The latter is more of a mischievous young man prone to causing trouble because he loves to fight. He also falls for the beautiful girl Ting Ting (Michelle Reis) whom he met during an outdoor sports competition. He has a kung fu expert-mother Miu Chui Fa (Josephine Siao) who always backed him up and a strict father (Paul Chu Kong).

When Ting Ting’s governor-father Tiger Lui (Chen Song-Yong) decided to organise a martial arts competition, the participant who wins will marry his daughter. The catch, however, is that he has to overcome Tiger Lui’s wife Siu Wan (Sibelle Hu), an expert in martial arts. In an elaborate moment that showcases Josephine Siao’s versatile performance (a role that earned her a well-deserved acting nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards, even though she lost to Anita Yuen for Derek Yee’s tearjerker drama C’est la vie, mon chéri), she dresses in drag pretending to be a male participant and fights against Siu Wan. The latter somehow falls for “his” charm, resulting in a series of comedic misunderstandings of a gender mix-up.

The competition also sets the stage for Yuen to get creative with his action choreography since the rule is that whoever participates in a fight touches the ground will lose. With Jet Li’s Fong taking part in the challenge later on, one of his memorable fight scenes against Sibelle Hu revolves around balancing themselves and standing on the heads and shoulders of the crowds.

Despite the lighthearted nature of the movie, Yuen doesn’t forget that he’s making a martial arts film. And here, he manages to strike a fine balance between comedy and action, complete with both emotional and dramatic stakes that run at a lean 106 minutes. Fong Sai Yuk also introduces then-newcomer Vincent Zhao, who plays the ruthless Qing governor determined to get his hand on the name list of the rebellious Red Flower Society, where Fong’s father happens to be part of the association.

This leads to the first encounter between Fong and the Qing governor in a fight utilising bamboo sticks. The award-winning fight choreography under the martial arts direction of Corey Yuen himself alongside Yuen Yak is thrillingly staged with Yuen’s dynamic camerawork and Peter Cheung’s crisp editing all deserving equal praises. Vincent Zhao, a wushu expert from Harbin, China has exceptional skill and agility, making him a formidable opponent against Jet Li’s character. Although this is Zhao’s first acting role, he proves to be a natural playing one of the best movie antagonists in the Hong Kong martial arts films of the ’90s era. He would go on to replace Jet Li to play Wong Fei Hung in two Once Upon a Time in China movies.

Yuen, who is no stranger to slipping a darker tone into his action movies, has it included in Fong Sai Yuk. At one point when Fong finds out about his friend’s death, he brutally takes down the soldiers guarding the square with a rope to retrieve the corpse. The anger and sadness on his face prove Jet Li’s acting prowess from the first time his character is introduced as a carefree, goofy young man before evolving into a deeply affected and mature individual fighting for honour and justice.

The change-of-tone approach from the initial comedy-heavy approach continues in the climactic third act, where Fong attempts to rescue his father from a public execution. Yuen goes all out with the final showdown between Fong and the Qing governor — a duel that even takes place underneath the wooden platform as they are forced to improvise while fighting in a cramped, low-angle space.

Fong Sai Yuk‘s success quickly led to an immediate sequel released just four months later. The second part, despite some good action set pieces and hilarious comedy moments, remains a step-down effort from the superior original.