FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1999. All Rights Reserved

Video Vulture by John Tebbutt While channel surfing one day, I happened to spot Keanu Reeves being interviewed about his new science fiction kung fu thriller, The Matrix. One of the first things Reeves said was how much he admired and respected the film’s martial arts instructor, Yuen Woo Ping, and how profoundly the film benefited from this man’s influence. I’m not a huge Keanu Reeves fan, but this interview really caught my attention. Firstly, it’s always good to hear interviewed stars compliment their co-workers for their contributions. Secondly, I had just learned that Yuen Woo Ping had directed that most incomparable masterpiece of kung fu comedies, Shaolin Drunkard! "That does it!" I thought, "I’ve got to find out more about this Yuen Woo Ping guy." Yuen Woo Ping (sometimes credited as "Yuen Wo Ping" or "Woo Ping Yuen") has one heck of a cinematic pedigree. Most of the 12 members of his family have actively participated in the film industry, and they sometimes even appear collectively in a movie’s credits. ("Martial arts choreography by the Yuen’s Clan"!) Woo Ping is often cited as the most talented of the bunch – he’s certainly the most influential. His first two directorial efforts, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978) and Drunken Master (1979), were the two films that really launched action megastar Jackie Chan’s career. Prior to Eagle’s Shadow, Chan was considered box office poison, and distributors begged producer Ng See Yuen not to use him. "No film he has starred in has ever been a hit. Please use somebody, anybody, else...." As it turned out, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow made Jackie employable, and Drunken Master made him a star (although he wouldn’t hit the North American mainstream until 1994’s Rumble in the Bronx). To this day, Yuen Woo Ping continues to work with the cream of the action movie crop, using talented stars like Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen, Yuen Biao and Jet Lee to their best advantage. You can always expect to see something incredible in a Yuen Woo Ping movie, be it the ludicrous butt puppets from Shaolin Drunkard (1983), or the intense, realistic combat of Fist of Legend (1994). Even as a martial arts instructor, he exerts considerable influence over any production he’s attached to. (In fact, many sources mistakenly credit him as the director of features that he only choreographed!) You can see this influence in the aforementioned Keanu Reeves vehicle, The Matrix. Yuen’s fingerprints are all over this picture – and no wonder. He trained the cast for almost eight months and they continued to train throughout the shoot. The results are incredible. You’ll see Reeves and the rest of the cast display skills that boggle the mind. These hard-won abilities complement Woo Ping’s amazing wirework designs, which allow the characters to run up walls and other such superhuman feats. (I realize that this is a video column here, but if you plunk down the cash to see The Matrix on the big screen, you won’t be sorry.) Woo Ping also choreographed the fight scenes in 1996’s Of The Drunk Mantis (1979), Magnificent Butcher (1979), Dreadnaught (1981), Miracle Fighters (1982), Tai Chi Master (1993), Iron Monkey (1993), Wing Chun (1993), and Tai Chi 2 (1996). And if you don’t watch Shaolin Drunkard , I’ll egg your house.

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