Five Shaolin Masters

The Shaolin temple is burned. The Manchu army raids the monastery and most of those inside are killed. Five men escape and scatter. Each goes to a different place, trains in his own way, and follows the trace of a betrayal, because the raid would not have been possible without information from inside. Years later the five come back together. Chang Cheh directs. It is a Shaw Brothers production. The burning of the Shaolin temple is a legend used constantly in Chinese popular narrative; its historical basis is disputed, but Hong Kong cinema worked the story into dozens of films. This is among the best known of them. Chang Cheh's cinema is built on brotherhood among men and bloody sacrifice; there is almost no woman in it and the narrative is fighting to the end. The choreography comes from the school of Lau Kar-leung and stays close to real fighting forms; leaps and wire work are limited. The second half is nearly all combat; the five meet five different opponents one by one and each fight presents a different style. The cast is made up of Shaw Brothers' young actors of the time, many of whom went on to lead their own films. Who it is for: viewers who like classic kung fu cinema and Shaw Brothers productions. Who it is not for: the characters do not separate, the script is thin, and the narrative carries nothing outside the fighting.