The Mystery of Chess Boxing

Joseph Kuo's 1979 Taiwanese film follows a young fighter searching for the man who killed his family. The man he seeks is extremely powerful; shunned at the school, the young man begins taking lessons from the cook. What the film is known for are the passages joining chess to fighting. The cook teaches him the logic of moves; the narrative places this at the centre of the training scenes and stages the fights accordingly. It is a low-budget production with fast cutting, and the choreography is its real strength. The name of the villain was taken years later by a rap musician, and the film became widely known in that circle through it. Who it's for: those who like martial arts films of the seventies. Who it's not for: viewers expecting depth of character; the film is built entirely on its fights.