#dirty ho

[omercifulheaves]

Dirty Ho (1979)

[maggiecheungs]

which shaw brothers film(s) should i watch

the 36th chamber of shaolin

the 8 diagram pole fighter

dirty ho

five element ninjas

the one-armed swordsman

intimate confessions of a chinese courtesan

Voting ended onDec 25, 2023

help me decide which ones to prioritise before my mubi membership runs out! and please feel free to tell me why or recommend multiple films (or one i haven't mentioned)!

[fuforthought]

Dirty Ho (1979)

[achristmasmovieaday]

A Movie for Christmas Day 2019

Dirty Ho (1979)

Today’s themes: Trickery, Athleticism, Costume dramas, How to sample wine with panache 

Hong Kong martial arts movies tend to follow a common pattern, plotwise, whether the protagonist is a modern day police officer, a lowly but surprisingly talented villager, or a monk from the local Shaolin temple. The protagonist is out to fight injustice, which invariably involves a lot of fighting, and the fighting is where these films try to break new ground.

Dirty Ho (1979) is formulaic in all the best ways. At its height, Hong Kong studios, and particularly Shaw Bros., were pumping out 300 new films every year. Consequently, a lot of them are...not good. Dirty Ho (and for the record, Ho is the protagonist’s name) is a classic. If you’re at all curious about the attraction of these films, start here.

This is a period film, involving a prince in disguise, a poisoned knife, a wildly impossible and amazing brothel, and three (count ‘em! three!) of the best and most incredible fighting sequences ever put to film. It’s also just a beautiful film to watch, and its displays of stupidly impossible athleticism is only topped by its charm.

Filmed by legendary director Lau Kar-leung, and starring the amazing Gordon Liu (whom you may recognize from his dual roles in each of Tarantino’s twin Kill Bill films [he is the leader of the Crazy 88 in Vol. 1 and the kung fu master Pai Mei in Vol. 2]) this was Lau’s stab at showing the relationship between Chinese royalty and the peasantry, but of course the plot is secondary to the characters and fight sequences.

Frankly, this film is jaw dropping. It’s clever, it’s sexy, it’s funny, it’s everything you want to feel and experience from a movie, but the motherfucking action is insane crazy kookoo. There’s a scene where Liu’s prince pretends that a musician is his bodyguard, and the actors work in unison to combat the co-star, Wong Yu as jewel thief and the titular Dirty Ho, as if the musician is an ass-kicking marionette. In another, the prince’s leg has been injured and he fights in a wheelchair using umbrellas for weapons. I mean!

It’s a fast 97 minutes, which I hope you’ll use as an excuse to explore more by director Lau and action star Liu. For no other reason than to remember that even when you’re doing factory work, churning out product after product after product, there is always room for art and astonishment.

Watch now

[fuforthought]

Dirty Ho (1979)

[fuforthought]

Dirty Ho (1979)

[fuforthought]

As far as kung fu fights go, this may very well be the weirdest. It might just be lost in translation but, basically, a dude is beaten up and forced to drink magic tea until he turns gay. It makes no sense.And neither do half the gimmicks these bad guys have. There’s a big bloke, a guy who bites, a slapper, a dude that makes his opponents mirror him (???) and someone spilling tea all over the place. And this is actually one of my favourite kung fu films. Despite its bat shittery, I actually kind of like this scene. It’s Lau Kar Leung at his strangest.

You can watch Dirty Ho on Prime Video for free if you want. You should. It’s great. It also shares a name with your sister.

[fuforthought]

Wong Yue and Gordon Liu in “Dirty Ho” (1979).