Fists hit the Funnybone

This is a superbly funny film from Stephen Chow, who writes, directs and plays the lead. A wastrel with an equally worthless fat side-kick, he hangs around the Shanghai Axe Gang headquarters hoping to be taken on as a paid killer. When asked to demonstrate his wickedness, however, the best he can do is name-call a bespectacled tram passenger and steal change from a lovely but mute ice-cream seller. When the Axe Gang target the apparently mundane inhabitants of Pig Sty Alley, a run-down ghetto on the outskirts of corrupt but glamorous Shanghai, they soon discover axes are no match for the hidden talents and vengefulness of the township’s chief protectors, with their galaxy of martial arts talents. A series of increasingly menacing hired killers make no headway, especially when the hero releases his inner 'qi' and joins the good guys. Mixing cartoon comedy and violence, tender romance and digitally-enhanced stunts, Chow runs the gamut of Hong Kong kung fu clichés, in scenes which delight with their sheer inventiveness.

Sounds great! Releasing one's inner qi can be very interesting...

Adele.

It's particularly funny the way it happens in this film - what you might call the 'blow to the head' syndrome, excpet the hero, having taken on the nastiest assassin, ends up swathed in bandages like an Egyptian mummy.

Sheila

Cornelia

Nice, sharp, quick review. Hits home fast and well.

Haven't seen my qi for a while - maybe someone can give me a hint where to look?

Z

Not sure if you're being serious, Z, but qi is the pinyin spelling of chi, as in tai chi. It's your life force or energy. Perhaps Darth Vader stole it.

<Added>

Scratch what I said about tai chi. The pinyin for that is taiji(quan). This is clearly a sign that I need to resume my Chinese studies!

Wow! Someone who knows what pinyin is! I can't swear to it, but I think 'qi' was in the subtitles of the film. I would have noticed it it had been spelt 'chi'. Anyway, qi is what you aim to develop when you practise martial arts, a kind of inner strength, but if it's developed really well, with a lot of practise and discipline, it gives unusual powers, such as being invisible or weightless or immensely fast or strong or able to manage without food. I think western superheroes get it from radioactive rocks or other more 'scientific' methods.

Good luck with finding yours, Zettel.

Sheila

Ad

Good policy to always assume I'm not.

But thank you guys, I have dispensed with my qi search: having seen the description, I know I have never had one. If DV did nick mine Ad - now you know why he's got that ridiculous breathless voice - poised halfway between an anonymous phone caller and Kenneth Clarke on the radio.

Anyway, I always work on the basic male principle - if you've lost your qi it's because your wife has borrowed it and not put it back on the hook.

Innocently

Z

<Added>

Is 'pinyin' Chinese like an eastern pigeon English? Is it kept in a loft and looked after by flat capped men o' the soil?

Oh dear

Z

Qi's OK, but I prefer cheese.

Sheila

Z, the Queen Mum raced pigeons, as did the father of one of my exes. The ex's dad was a farmer, and the spitting image of the farmer in Babe. A Berwickshire man, he called his pigeons "doos." Pinyin, however, is a phonetic spelling of Chinese characters for dumb Westerners like me. But you probably knew that.

Sheila, you are making me hungry. Wo xiang yikuai nailao sanmingzhi. Then I'd better get my textbooks out again!

Adele.

Sanminzhi, hen hao chi!

Xuexi hao!

Z, I'm agreeing that cheese sandwiches are good to eat and wishing Adele good studying!



Sheila

Now guys you are just showing off. And making we mono-linguists feel very insecure.

I hve enough trouble with 1 language. But it's a Philosophy thing.

Z