DCist Interview: Craig Reid
National Geographic is kicking China Revealed that week, a series that centers around two museum exhibitions which run from nowadays through September 7, and a film program paired to each exhibit. Tonight, there’s a presentation to introduce the museum’s exhibit on the early 15th century Chinese explorer Zheng He; Friday at midday, the museum screens a documentary following National Geographic photographer Mike Yamashida as he retraces many of Zheng’s travels. And tomorrow, there’s a presentation to introduce an exhibit featuring unprecedented photographs and video of the renowned Shaolin Temple. The film program to accompany the Shaolin Temple exhibit is truly a treat, as National Geographic will screen a triple feature of three of the most famous films inspired by the temple.
The film program alone, featuring three legendary movies from the equally legendary Shaw Brothers studio, is attraction adequate, but the museum has sweetened the deal by enlisting Dr. Craig Reid to handle the introductions of the films. Reid was one of the first western actors ever to seem in Hong Kong martial arts movies, and went on to become a fight choreographer and expert on the genre. And lest you think that Reid’s skills extend only to the fighting aspects of the martial arts, he is additionally one of the oldest living citizens in the world with cystic fibrosis, a disease he manages without medication through the practice of qigong. Dr. Reid took some day to speak with DCist about the subject of his appearance in D.C. Saturday, martial arts film.
What is it about kung fu cinema that makes it such an enduring and popular genre?
It is the martial arts action…period. For anyone who has watched a good kung fu film, even a mediocre one, the bottom line is that the martial arts fights are just so engaging, far out, and in many films, fantastical and outrageous. We watch these films for what ultimately watching movies should be all about…plain simple fun. Certainly there are many films that bring out the spirit of martial arts and martial virtues, but most folks just enjoy the “kick butt” action. We can all appreciate the creativity of the fights and we can plainly see the actors giving it their all on the screen. Many times the fights feel real, considering in Chinese kung fu films they are, actors are getting whacked high, left and center, and we can see that, and marvel at either their martial art skill levels or appreciate that they are willing to put their bodies in harms way for our entertainment. We all love a film where a hero can rise up against all odds, take on the naughty guys, or take on “the man,” but when the downtrodden hero can do it with such tenacity and tremendous elegance, and thereupon you realize that there is a convinced “accessibility and attainability” of what the hero is doing (meaning you can memorize how to do what the hero is doing), soon after you just feel a little more “one” with the hero, and can’t help but to cheer for someone that can break out with such controlled mayhem. They are additionally cross cultural, whether one is black, white, Asian, hispanic, we all have the same love for the films.
How do these movies’ popularity in the U.S. compare to other countries worldwide?
I believe that the U.S. has now really become the center of martial arts films in the world, in terms of making martial arts related films and the number of fans. The fans here are truly committed to the genre and know tons more knowledge about the films than their Asian counterparts. The fact that Chinese and Japanese martial arts films now made in Asia are done so with the American audience in intellect (at least based on my interviews with filmmakers like Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, John Woo, Henry Sanada, Stephen Chow, etc.) is a reflection that in terms of martial arts films, the target audience is the U.S. (this is where the money is made on the films) as well as more American production companies filming Chinese-American martial arts film co-productions. The films are plus very popular in Great Britain, France and Germany.
Why do you think they captivate American (or other Western) audiences as they do?
Without sounding like an advert for Monty Python, it is basically “something totally different” and in America, we can appreciate that these stuntmen and many actors are doing everything themselves, and they don’t cut out the shots where someone gets hurt or injured doing a fight. Jackie [Chan] became so big here considering we could see the lad putting his life on the line, it is not about the money, considering in his old films, he got paid diddley squat (compared to Hollywood actors) yet day in and day out, these actors do 10 films or more a year, constantly getting their bodies pounded to a pulp…how can you not respect or admire a person who is not doing it for the money but doing it considering they want to manufacture certain audiences can enjoy what they are doing, and you can see the passion in what they do.
You were the first western actor to work regularly in kung fu movies & television, and have worked with some giants in the world of martial arts entertainment…how was it for you initially trying to gain acceptance as a westerner in that world?
Ouch, man. Well, actually, remember Chuck Norris fought Bruce Lee in 1972 and a guy named Ray Horan fought Jackie Chan in 1978. But I was probably the first to be consistently used in kung fu films as well as on TV kung fu soap operas (all in Taiwan back in 1979) and got involved doing the fight choreography. It was conditioned, very rigid, being American (although I still have my English accent) in the industry. I arrived in Taiwan in 1979, when it was the Republic of China, just as Jimmy Carter broke relations with the country, so any production I was working on, all the stunt guys wanted to fight with me, on and off camera. When you get stuck in, can dish it out and can take it, you earn respect, plus when they see that you are a serious practitioner of martial arts, not just the combative aspects, but the mental, spiritual and philosophical aspects, we find more common ground. But considering I was bigger than most stars, and trained in martial arts, the director would tell the actors to hit me, no problem, he’s big and can take it…and I did. Keep in intellect that back soon after, we didn’t have pads for protection, or camera angles to cheat the strike…like I said: ouch, man.
You have a collection of by 3500 martial arts films…I can’t suppose even housing such a collection, let alone watching all of them. How many movies from your collection do you tend to watch in any given week? And does it leave you with day to see anything else?
[Laughs] I started collecting these films back in the early 70s and have just accumulated them by the years. Living in Taiwan for by two and a half years helped, the sad thing is that many of these films are on betamax (d’oh, 8-track flashback). I get into binges of watching these things, and when I do fight choreography I go back and watch films to construct certain I’m doing something that has not been done. The advantage of watching so many films, is that I literally have seen just about anything done in terms of martial arts combat (empty hand and weapon). The sad thing is that when I watch martial arts films nowadays, I’ve seen it before by and by; to me there is nothing new. When a film says they have done action that have never been done before (and I form out that from all the actors and directors I interview for articles) I roll my eyes and titter to myself. Of course films with special effects like The Matrix add a new dimension into the fights, as well as some really creative stuff in Crouching Tiger; ultimately though, the martial arts in the fights scenes, I’ve seen by and by.
I would add that I am currently writing a book for Ohara Publicatons (the book publishing shelf for Black Belt Magazine) entitled Black Belt’s final Guide to the Martial Arts Films of the 1970s. I have found worldwide by 2200 martial arts films made during that decade, and so I’m a man on a mission to search out these films…so at the moment, I am watching a good five films a day and will be doing so for the next 6 months. The book will be out sometime next year. The stuff I’m finding is blowing my intellect, and I will clear up a lot of the confusion of martial arts film titles, remakes, distribution tricks to prepare you buy the same film 10 times…very revealing info and a ton more. Martial arts and martial arts film have literally saved my life and that is my way to give something back to the genre.
This weekend’s triple feature are all movies centering around the Shaolin Temple; how does the popular depiction of Shaolin Monks and the history of the temple differ from the reality?
As with any film based on historic events, the plots and back stories are based on reality, the characters are modeled after real heroes from real times. Overall the three films being shown that weekend are pretty accurate, but some of the day lines of events and assured characters being at a positive place are a bit off, but it does not detract from the potential and entertainment value of the film, and even thought I watched these films 30 years or so ago, nowadays they still hold the magic in my heart, the awe at the martial arts skill levels of the actors, and the creativity of the fight choreographers.
All three movies that weekend were plus produced by Shaw Brothers, which was obviously an enormously influential studio, even just in terms of the sheer numbers of films they produced, in putting Hong Kong cinema on the map. How would you describe their significance in the popularity of kung fu movies?
Shaw Brothers invested heavily in their movies, and had better screenwriters (specifically one named I Kuang, who wrote some 800 screenplays all through his career). Shaw Brothers made highly entertaining and worthwhile watching films. The production values were high, they were shot exquisitely (keep in intellect, back next, most of these film were shot with only one camera) and the stories were gripping and brought the old style kung fu novels and wu xia novels that have been a part of Chinese literature for eons (and are still going strong today) to the screen. Another thing to keep in intellect is that most of these films were never intended for audiences external of Asia, so Western film critics can have a tough date figuring out what the films represent to Asian culture. However, Shaw Brothers films, although made for the Eastern audience, they were still digestible to westerners. Plus, the only other studio that rivaled Shaw Brothers for making kung fu films was Golden Harvest (started in 1971), and ultimately all their top filmmakers (including the Founder Raymond Chow and Jackie Chan) got their start at Shaw Brothers. So their influence is still fairly obvious, a little bit more subliminal, but it is there for those that know the genre.
Many of these Shaw Brothers films have not been seen in on the big screen for by 40 years, it is way cool that Celestial Pictures in Hong Kong bought all the rights to the Shaws films and are releasing them on DVD in better quality than the original 35 mm prints. (Shaw Brothers Studios closed their doors in the mid-1980’s and all their films have been locked in vaults since until Celestial Pictures convinced the surviving Shaw brothers they would treat these martial arts films with the utmost respect).
What are your feelings on Americanized versions of the genre, be it the first installment of Tarantino’s Kill Bill, or Jackie Chan/Jet Li’s Hollywood work, early Chuck Norris films, or anything else? Who gets it right, who misses the mark (either in successfully paying homage or in successfully putting an interesting spin on things)?
None of Jackie or Jet’s American made films compare to their older films. Jet proved he could act in Unleashed, but Jet and Jackie’s best fight performance in any American made or supported film was in Forbidden Kingdom.
Even with all of his years making films, Chuck Norris’ best martial arts performance is still his fight against Bruce Lee in the Coliseum in Way of the Dragon (released in the US as Return of the Dragon).
Although The Matrix offered some interesting and entertaining ways to present martial arts action (again martial arts-wise it was nothing new) to me Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 was a superb and spot-on homage to the genre. One can see and feel his passion and respect for the genre amplified in the film, not only in the fight choreography but in the way he shot the fights. There has been a lot of American martial arts movies that on the surface look pretty good, but all they have done is copy Hong Kong films to the point that when I watch them, I can tell you precisely what film and what fight they copied, they even try to shoot it with the exact same camera angle.
How have Chinese Kung-fu movies changed by the years? Related to that, is there any sense in which they reflect political and cultural climates in China?
Martial arts films are sort of like a rose, to the populace, beautiful to watch, but to the government, a fearful nasty thorn that drives home points they don’t want to have the public get. The martial arts genre was heavily censored in China in the 1930s by the Nationalist government, which banned these films considering they were considered vulgar and capable of unleashing chaos and anarchy. After the revolution, the Communist government objected to the films considering they were not socially redeeming, so most of the films were destroyed in the 1950s. That’s why only 20 pre-1949 films survived the destructive cleansing. So the film industry basically moved from Shanghai to Hong Kong where many martial arts films eventually centered on the Ching Dynasty or early Republican China where plot lines generally focused on good versus evil, revenge as a compelling motivational factor or nationalist struggles against foreign invaders, such as the Shaolin monks fighting against the Manchus (the three films showing at National Geographic that weekend) or martial artists of the early Republic fighting Japanese invaders.
So considering hundreds of Hong Kong films centered on the heroic feats of these renowned Chinese, anti-Ching, anti-government heroes it drew the anger of Communist China, where the ideals of individualism was a threat to the Communist Government…so they responded by banning all martial arts films in China.
But at the end of the day, citizens in China ultimately watch martial arts films for the escapism, to be entertained, to feel pride and ultimately to watch the martial arts fights. So how as that changed by the years?
In the old days (mid-60s to late 80s) fights were shot using a wide angle and the actors would have to perform generally about 15-20 different techniques per shot, so you could see the action, see the skills and appreciate the martial arts. nowadays, particularly in Hollywood, it’s about fancy “MTV” editing, one to three techniques per shot, and shot so tight, you can’t see the action, in fact it can produce you feel dizzy. It’s filmed so tight considering folks don’t know what they are doing under the guise of, “We want the audience inside the action,” but ultimately that is not true. Hollywood has taken absent all the artistry of the martial arts fight scene and removed an actor’s skill level of kung fu and basically buried it under the illusion of trickery and visual effects.
What films do you recommend to anyone new to the genre?
that weekend’s three movies, Shaolin Temple, Executioner from Shaolin, and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, are great films for anyone new to the genre to watch, not only kung fu cinema wise, but it additionally introduces fight choreography aspects of kung fu films that folks who only know Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies, are in for a real treat. Other must see movies include Come Drink with Me, One-Armed Swordsman and Legendary Weapons of Kung Fu. Just about any Shaw Brothers film is a good bet, many of which are available, for those wishing to further investigate the genre, at HKFlix.com.
assume that, the folks who created the action sequence in Crouching Tiger were basically rehashing the same old stuff they did back in the 1970s, so you could assume, back thereupon those fight choreographers were hungry to impress and be creative, where nowadays, they are simply being asked to do what they have always done. So watching the above films mentioned and three that weekend….it’s where it all started, and that is a great treat for anyone who admires martial arts film and even those investigating what’s been done.
Did you see/enjoy Kung-fu Panda by the weekend?
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
What I loved about the film is that although Po saves the day, learns the secrets of kung fu and becomes a great fighter, at the end of that day, Po still is Po. His journey of fitting a hero is merely a full circle path that evolves from his weakness fitting his strength and that although Po loves to eat, he uses that love as a means to understand kung fu and himself. And kung fu is about learning positive virtues to construct oneself a better person and to ultimately help others and the film brings those things out.
Original post by Ian Buckwalter

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