The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin at Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Hosted by Celestial Pictures’ Shaw Brothers Universe Film Library
Tuesday, September 23at 7:30pm
LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90036
Tickets Available
www.lacma.org
1978, 115 min, color | Written by Ni Kuang; directed by Lau Kar-leung; with Gordon Liu and Lo Lieh
Includes a conversation with writer / director and Wu Tang Clan founding member RZA, who will discuss how the film influenced the production of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), and his career as a whole
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, one of the best-known Kung Fu films, opens the first in a series of Hong Kong films running one night in September, October, and November. This 1978 classic stars Hong Kong veteran Gordon Liu (best known to American audiences as the Bride’s hard-hearted mentor in Kill Bill, Vol. 2 and featured in over a hundred other films) and was directed by veteran filmmaker and action choreographer Lau Kar-leung. The 36th Chamber is a fanciful dramatization of real-life 18th-century martial arts figure San Te (who has been the subject of several movies). Liu stars as Liu Yude, a student whose savage beating at the hands of the government (after siding with rebels during a rebellion) leads him to a Shaolin temple. Initially rejected by the monks, he finds his way, and his hunger for instruction makes him the best acolyte ever; he makes his way through the brutal and rigorous 35 chambers and back into the arms of the rebellion. In battle, his inventive methods become a rallying force for the movement. The success of The 36th Chamber made Liu an international sensation, and the film was followed by a number of sequels. After the screening, RZA of the Wu Tang Clan will appear for a Q&A. In conjunction with Film Independent at LACMA.
