| Fighting Life (1981) |
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| Director: | Kei Law |
| Starring: | Frankie Shum, Jackie Conn, Sam Chung, and Thomas Hong |
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The Plot: San Jee Yung (Frankie Shum) is a man who was born with only one arm that happens to be little more than a flipper. His brother, Ah Chan (Jackie Conn), was born with legs that are unusable. While this has not made their lives very easy, the two do not allow their disabilities to get in the way of their work ethic. When the two decide that it is time for them to improve their lives, they decide to move to Tai Pei where their good friend Tiger lives. Unfortunately, Tai Pei isn’t everything that they had heard it was. The city may be huge, but the people are rude and it proves impossible for the two men to find work. Back in their hometown, no one gave the two brothers a hard time about their disabilities, but in Tai Pei, they can’t catch a break. Their lack of work regularly gets them in trouble with the landlord who happens to be an obnoxious woman who never seems to stop yelling. Ah Chan eventually finds work as a carpenter’s apprentice, but what he really wants to do is learn Taekwondo. Unfortunately, his older brother is deadset against this. Will the two men find work, and will they set aside their differences in order to find happiness? |
| The Review |
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The movie is far less a piece of exploitation as Crippled Masters was. There is no gory scene that depicts acid being poured on Jackie Conn’s legs, but instead this is a movie that is much more grounded in reality. Conn and Shum are brothers this time out who have apparently been deformed since birth. The two come to Tai Pei and discover a new world of adversity, and although they develop a core group who support them, the majority of society seems to be against them. The film focuses far less on martial arts for the most part and instead it becomes a slice-of-life tale that delves deep into the lives of the disabled. Although these two are known for their martial abilities, this is a movie that is more concerned with the relationship between the two sibling characters. In many ways, this also tends to hurt the film as well. Without using action as a central element, the script often moves away from Conn and Shum in order to flesh the movie out with humor and less-political elements. The moments where we see our two leads train and become better at their various crafts turns out to be the meat of the film, but mixed in with all of this is a treasure hunting subplot that takes up a considerable amount of screen time. This treasure hunt focuses on two bumbling fools who live in the same neighborhood as the protagonists, and their shtick is very tiring.
| The Conclusion |
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