One of my perennial favorite Shaw Brothers classics is The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter movie. Directed by Lau Kar-Leung, this was Fu Sheng’s last movie as he died in a tragic car accident during the shooting. As a result, the movie’s plot seems a little off towards the mid or later middle half since they had to film around Fu Sheng’s demise. Another period piece based on the story of the family of General Yang, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, for me at least, probably is the last great Shaw Brothers production.
The movie starts with the Lady Yang played by Lily Li Li-Li, along with her two daughters, Yang #8 (Kara Hui) and Yang #9 (Yeung Ching-Ching) reading a mysteriously worded prophecy. This prophecy sets the tone of what will happen to the rest of their family as the scene cuts to the court where General Pan Mei (Lam Hak-Ming) approaches the Queen (Leanne Lau Suet-Wah) to reveal that her brother had been killed by one of the Yangs. In turn, the Queen dismisses her servants as Pan Mei provides a plot to get rid of the Yang household by setting up a battle with the Mongols/Tartars.
From there, we get briefly (and I emphasize briefly) introduced to the Yang family (mostly the brothers) played by Lau Kar-Leung’s favorites around that period with Yang 1-7 (Wong Yu, Lau Kar-Wing, Mai Te-Lo, Hsiao Ho, Gordon Liu, Fu Sheng and finally Cheung Chin-Pang). The father of the Yangs isn’t credited from what I can tell but he barely did anything. Regardless, the Yangs and Mongols meet in an intense battle where the Yangs’ spears defeat the first wave. However, they are greeted by the masterminds behind the battle in Prince Yeh Li Lin (Wang Lung-Wei), Ying Kuei (Chu Tit-Wo) and of course the ruthless Pan Mei himself.
The furious Yangs go to assault the three leaders, who hide within a tent. As the Yang brothers approach the tent, an explosion goes off that injures them in a variety of ways. Yang #1’s left arm is badly damaged, Yang #2 hands are hurt and Yang #3 is blinded in terms of who receives the most severe injuries. Then a flood of mongols armed with a bizarre pole assault the Yang soldiers. Yang #1 weakly fights and is the first to perish as his spear is caught by one of the poles and he is unable to free himself, where the mongols stab him with swords. Yang #3 manages to join with Yang #5 but both separate to fight. Unfortunately, Yang #3 loses himself into the midst of the mongols but can’t distinguish their armor from his brothers and is tossed to the ground so that the army can trample him to death. Neither Yang #5 nor #6 can do anything except witness their brother be brutally smashed underfoot.
From there Yang #4 attempts to break the bizarre pole from his spear but is overwhelmed by the mongol forces. However, the Queen appears in the background to have him taken prisoner. Yang #2 does his best to fight back but is having problems holding his spear and is trapped by a pair of the pole weapons and crucified by axes to the ground. Yang #6 sees his brother is slowly is losing his mind. Finally, the father is cornered by Pan Mei and a variety of archers. The father refuses to give in and a flurry of arrows is shot out only to be intercepted by Yang #7’s body. A second round of arrows is shot and the father is hit by a few but keeps his family honor in smashing his forehead against the Yang post, for which Pan Mei declares victory.
Yang #5 comes to the area too late and gives a brief monologue explaining their family loyalty to his dead father and how their family had been betrayed. Then the only other free living brother left in Yang #6 comes to see the carnage. But it’s clear that his mind is gone and a new wave from the Mongolian army rush to try and capture them.
The scene changes back to the Yang household where the mother continues to ponder the meaning behind the prophecy. Yang #8 tries to instill confidence about their family’s imminent victory but has a look of concern while her younger brash sister brags about their family’s fighting prowess. This establishes Yang #8’s more clear headed persona. Eventually, Yang #6 returns home to a brief celebration. However, the mother instantly realizes something is wrong as he is by himself and they question where the rest of the family is. Fu Sheng delivers a great performance here in illustrating the events in an exaggerated manner but once he names his father as part of the losses, the entire family bow on their knees, including Yang #6 where the mother now understands the meaning of the prophecy regarding how “6 returns.”
At Pan Mei’s camp, both the Prince and Ying visit in secrecy to discuss the situation, realizing that something is amiss. Pan Mei reveals that not everyone was slaughtered from the Yang family at the battle, which angers Ying since it prohibits the mongols’ next set of plans. However, they suspect that possibly lady Yang herself might have a clue to the missing but remaining Yangs and he goes to pay her a visit. In the meantime, Yang #6 is trying to recover his sanity with the mother’s help, which causes him to break whenever there’s an outside disturbance. They’re forced to secure Yang #6 to the backroom to confront Pan Mei, who tries to order the guards to search the household. The lady Yang plays politics with Pan Mei, using her position with the court and insisting that the rest of her family had perished in battle to prevent the soldiers from searching their household. However, Pan Mei remains suspicious but leaves them unmolested for the time being.
In turn, Yang #5 manages to survive but stumbles across a hunter’s den where he finds some food and an axe to try and break the still attached pole weapon on his spear. The owner returns and they briefly engage in a fight until they realize neither are the enemy. Then the hunter (played by the director himself) talks about Pan Mei being a power hungry snake and advises Yang #5 to proceed with caution. Yet the mongol army are still tracking him and Yang #5 in his hatred of Pan Mei and the mongols attempts to assault them. But the hunter shoves Yang #5 into a tunnel while defending him. A major fight breaks out only for the hunter to sacrifice himself before the mongols can follow Yang #5 into the secret tunnel.
Eventually, Yang #5 rolls free from the tunnel and learns of the hunter’s sacrifice in discovering the hunter’s fur coat caught in the tunnel trap. He then takes the hunter’s advice to be smarter about the situation, cuts off the spear head of his weapon then finds a monastery. In contrast, Yang #6 is slowly attempting to mend his mind but his PTSD gets the better of him where his mother knows that the best option is to allow him to fight to get it out of his system. After having his sense clubbed, Yang #6 calms down and breaks down. At the monastery, Yang #5 decides he wishes to become a monk. He’s denied due to being an outsider and is respected once his spear (now a staff) shows his identity. Instead, he shaves his own head and jams the lit incense on his head to resemble a monk before passing out from the pain.
Another scene with Yang #6 experiencing PTSD occurs where his sisters and mother are concerned over his insanity which would prevent him from clearly testifying in court. At the monastery, Yang #5 also has nightmares and finds life as a monk hard. The monks want to dismiss Yang #5 but he wishes to stay and become a guardian monk. He gets into a philosophical argument with one of the trainers about dealing with wolves. The monks believe that removing a wolf’s teeth will render the wolf harmless while Yang #5 states that the wolves would regroup later on and still pose a threat. These opposite viewpoints demonstrate that Yang #5 is still violent and that his training has instilled into him a killer instinct that further proves why he can’t stay with them. The abbot though does find Yang #5’s viewpoint reasonable though for strategy but believes that Yang #5 needs to start from scratch to understand the monks’ (Buddhist) philosophy of preserving life.
A tremendous training scene occurs with Yang #5 trying to remain calm in a cave with water pouring on his head. He becomes impatient and practices against the garden, which has a small pond and eight stones that he hops around. The other temple abbot observes in admiration but knows that Yang #5 is still unable to change and tells him he needs to leave. However, Yang #5 refuses again which convinces the other abbot to visit the Yang family. During a meeting with the family, the abbot gets into a small fight with Yang #8 after requesting that the lady Yang herself cook him a bowl of vegetables, which insults the daughter’s family pride. However, the lady Yang is much smarter and takes the abbot in to have a conversation. Eventually, Yang #6 rolls in an tries to fight the abbot but is held back as the abbot mentions that he would almost be a match if not for his mental state to his 5th brother. They calm Yang #6 enough so that lady Yang can figure out where Yang #5 is hiding and lets the abbot leave.
Afterwards, disguised mongol troops trap the abbot and try to gain information from him. However, he takes an arrow shot into his leg and plugs the tip to his throat before they can glean anything from him. The three mongol leaders continue to plot, knowing that the abbot provided some sort of hint of the 5th Yang’s location to the rest of the Yang household. In turn, lady Yang has 8th daughter to locate the 5th Yang with a jade pendant as she is more rational than her younger sister. From there at night, the Yang #8 hides in a wicker basket disguised as a stinky pile of trash to be thrown out to prevent additional suspicion by the court soldiers. She’s taken to a hidden spot to ride off on a horse while the mongol spies in town catch her taking off.
Back at the temple, the other monks mourn for the dead abbot. Yang #5 uncovers what happened in full, including how the abbot went on his behalf to inform his family of where he is. That leads to a fight with one of the practice wolves as he wants to get revenge. Using the monks’ technique, Yang #5 beats the abbot’s practice wolf in breaking the mechanical teeth, for which he receives high praise.
Then at a village en route to the temple, Yang #8 makes a stopover, encountering a Yang loyalist who bears the Golden Sword of the Yangs. Thinking that this is another spy, Yang #8 get into a fight with the loyalist and a few of his helpers, while the Yang loyalist accuses her of being a thief in spotting the jade on her person. Yang #8 subdues the group but reveals her identity for which the others show their respect to her family’s name. Lead upstairs, Yang #8 learns of how the loyalist recovered the Golden Sword and her own quest to find her brother. Just then Pan Mei and the other mongols invade the inn for which Yang #8 wishes to fight but is told to hide so that the innkeeper and staff can distract them.
Later at night, Yang #8 makes an attempt to escape from the now heavily guarded inn but is overwhelmed and held hostage while the loyalist is mortally injured but manages to grab the jade to take to her brother at the temple. He manages to get to the temple and show the jade which makes him realize that he can no longer stay because of his sister’s endangerment. However, the abbot won’t immediately allow him to leave and gives Yang #5 a final test where Yang #5 best the abbot and is given the red sash as a sign of respect.
Yang #5 travels to the small town with a wagon cart loaded with bamboo poles. He confronts some of the mongols and defies their specialized weapons since they can’t as easily grip a staff compared to the spearhead. Next, he enters the inn itself where a pyramid of coffins are stacked up and he goes to determine which one contains his sister. Each one has a small trap laid where some of the mongols hide. Eventually, he finds his sister, who is gagged, tied up and heavily injured but still alive. A heavy fight breaks out where it’s just the two of them against near impossible odds. Then the monks from the temple burst in to help out. Using their technique of teeth removal, the monks smash the mouths of the mongols in a rather gory assault but leave them practically helpless. Yang #5 asks why the monks are helping out and the abbot replies that they’re repelling the wolves (mongols).
Eventually, the bulk of the mongol forces retreat, leaving only the three leaders to confront the vengeful Yangs. Ying guts is smashed in with the golden sword, the Prince is handily dispensed and the cowardly Pan Mei has his cheek ripped off then is launched headfirst into a coffin. The abbot abstains from participating in the carnage but understands what the Yangs must do here. However, Yang #5 goes off on his own into the wild and the abbot tells Yang #8 that he won’t be returning to the monastery, telling her that “the world is his home.” A repeat of the first introduction of the Yang brothers show each one with the last image of Fu Sheng to pay homage to the deceased actor is the final scene while mournful music plays.
This movie has a profound sadness multiplied by Fu Sheng’s demise. It’s a bit of an unusual movie for Lau Kar-Leung because around this period, his movies tended to be more uplifting, less vengeful and with a message behind the kung fu. With Fu Sheng’s death, I had to wonder whether or not or how much of the original script had been altered to make up for his passing. Obviously, after the abbot departs the Yang household, the movie shifts awkwardly because Yang #6 simply disappears from the remaining movie. At least from what I’ve read, he was supposed to be a major part in the final act. Instead, apparently Kara Hui substituted for the major final fight scene.
Beyond that, the other point of contention I have with this movie is the disappearance of Yang #4 where he’s taken prisoner never to be heard from again (along with the queen). At least from the tidbits I’ve read about the actual story, Yang #4 does get captured and I think even has an affair with the queen. So if anything at least when it comes to the battle itself, I think they were trying to replicate the story to a degree.
Pace-wise, the movie has two paces: extremely slow or extremely rapid. I suppose part of that is to mimic the state of both surviving Yangs in their predicament in dealing with the loss of their family members. But several of the fight scenes are pretty incredible. I really enjoy the opening fight scene the most because it has a certain level of intensity. The music, the chaos of the seven brothers showing off their skills with their spears and the massive mongol army. It does feel more like a video taped play because there’s not a lot of scenery while the fights are heavily choreographed. But it’s still pretty fun along with the fight with the hunter and the mongol army.
I hated most of the final fight though especially once the monks stepped in. The visual gag of the missing teeth is just nasty to me. I tend to avoid most of that part until it’s down to the three leaders. But the final three leaders’ demise is quite emotional, possibly because of Fu Sheng’s death. But you’re very eager for the Yangs to get their revenge especially against the despicable Pan Mei. He’s not an impressive kung fu specimen like almost everyone else in the movie but a dirty political rat. So his cheek gets peeled off by the Golden Sword and him launching head first into the coffin felt like a good measure of revenge.
The other part I heavily disliked is poor Yang #5’s self-evisceration with the incense. That part is brutal to watch. It’s just long and prolonged agony. I get that part of it was to quell a chunk of his inner sorrow, guilt and hostility but it just lasted too long and doesn’t add a lot to the movie.
In terms of plot, one thing I must remark is that given the way the Yangs were injured, I almost thought that this movie could have turned into another Crippled Avengers tale where each Yang would have to learn a specific form of kung fu to overcome their injuries to fight the mongol army. Unfortunately, outside of Yang 5 & 6, the rest of the brothers barely got any screen time and even less lines (maybe only Yang #3 got anything). We know almost nothing about these other characters except that they looked cool with their weapons.
For me this was the movie that made me fall in love with Kara Hui. She’s at her peak in terms of cuteness to me. I love two of her outfits and she just looks super sexy. If Fu Sheng had survived, I don’t know what that would have done to her role here. I think her capture plays such a crucial motivator since it forces Yang #5 to rescue her. Would Yang #6 have gone out too? And what about Yang #9? So these characters that disappeared at some point make this movie jarring.
Finally, even though I love Kara Hui the most here, the obvious stand out actor is Fu Sheng. I love his expressions especially when he’s retelling the demise of the Yang family. Here, Fu Sheng plays a very serious character with severe PTSD and he flips between a madman to a traumatized depressed person that make me miss him.
At any rate, this is an absolute must for any Shaw Brothers’ fan. I really would like to know what the original plans/script was if Fu Sheng hadn’t died though in full. There’s just a lot of missing bits.
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