Nan bei Shao Lin (1986, Hong Kong)

A Shaw Brothers martial arts film with huge amounts of impossibly athletic fighting and spectacle. The film must have been hugely expensive to make, with a vast cast of extras.

Jet Li plays Zhi Ming, a monk with a mission to avenge his parents' death by killing a corrupt official, He Suo, who brought about their death. When Lord Suo awards himself a lavish birthday party, Zhi dresses as a performance artiste to get close to the man, but two other people make an attempt first; neither attempt works, and the three of them team up and make good their escape. Zhi is from North Shaolin and the other two -- a man and a woman called Sima disguised as a man -- are from South Shaolin, explaining one of the titles of the film. Zhi doesn't see through the disguise: in fact when she complains to him that he has been lying on top of her in the night, he retorts, "So what? You're not a girl!"

They have to go south, and they learn that because of the assassination attempt, the soldiers are blocking the road, looking for them. We see the commander checking everyone against a sketch of the people they are looking for. But Ding Ning has an idea; he disguises himself as a shepherdess and they buy a large flock of sheep, and drive it to the checkpoint.

The other two are disguised as sheep. To distract the commander and discourage a search, Ding Ning goes into a tantrum over the delay at the checkpoint, and the commander decides she is crazy and sends her, and the sheep, on their way.

When they get clear, the others complain about the plan (even though it was successful). If we have to continue doing this, someone else should pretend to be the shepherdess. But Ding Ning says that he looks nothing like a shepherdess. However Sima (whoo is of course really a girl, disguised as a man) might possibly be feminine enough ...

But the conversation suddenly moves away from that to food; Ding Ning has spent all their money on buying the flock of sheep; what can they eat? Ding Ning gets angry and says they can eat these fruit, that he has been using as a fake bust.

The whole thing is played for laughs and excitement, and the plot is pretty thin; but I found it an entertaining film and it is recommended.

It has been released also under the titles
Arahan,
Martial Arts and Shaolin,
North and South Shaolin, and
Shaolin Temple 3: Martial Arts of Shaolin.

HF February 2011

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