Move over, James Bond and Iron Man. The Guinness World Record for the hero with the most appearances in any media series goes to Hong Kong cinema’s Wong Fei-hung. Born in 1847, Wong was a real-life martial artist and doctor who has been mythologized to legendary status. But among the 107 films and 20 TV shows made about Wong so far,Jet Li’s take on the character remains the most iconic. Envisioned by Hong Kong New Wave wizard director,Tsui Hark, theOnce Upon a Time in Chinaseries from the 1990s successfully rebooted the hero for the modern age, fusing stunts from the peak of Hong Kong cinema with a potent questioning of national identity.
Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
Legendary martial arts hero Wong Fei-Hung fights against foreign forces' plundering of China. When Aunt Yee arrives back from America, Wong Fei-Hung assumes the role of her protector.
What Is ‘Once Upon a Time in China’ About?
The originalOnce Upon a Time in Chinatakes place in the late19th century, when the ruling Qing Empire of China was invaded by Western powers with major ports of the country colonized. Wong (Jet Li) runs Po Chi Lam, an ancient Chinese medicine clinic, and teaches kung fu to apprentices, forming a civilian self-defense militia. His activities attract the ire of American general Jackson (Jonathan Isgar), who is trafficking Chinese laborers to San Francisco for the California Gold Rush. Jackson is helped by the Shaho Gang of bandits, a collaborationist Qing official (Wong Chi-yeung), and even a rival martial arts, Master Yim (Yen Shi-kwan). Wong now has to survive these parties' attempts on his life, all while trying to protect his love interest, Thirteenth Aunt (Rosamund Kwan), from falling into the traffickers' captivity.
Even though there had already been 85 Wong Fei-hung films beforeOnce Upon a Time in China, Tsui revitalized the folk hero and pushed the franchise to new heights. At this point in his career, Tsui was already known as one of the leading figures of theHong Kong New Wave,and he brought American film school sensibilities and a nihilistic, political edge to Hong Kong cinema. At the same time, he was reviving folk legends and other intellectual properties as wild, trailblazing spectacles with nascent Hollywood special effects.Once Upon a Time in Chinabecame his greatest directorial success and spawned five sequels. At this point, Jet Li was already a star from his debut movie,Shaolin Temple, but had only acted in six films.Once Upon a Time in Chinakickstarted his prolific decade in the 1990s, by the end of which he reached Hollywood stardom. The series would reunite the two men many more times in other projects likeThe Swordsman IIandBlack Mask, unofficially starting a martial arts craze.
‘Once Upon a Time in China’ Shows the Best of Hong Kong Cinema
The immediate appeal of the series is that it features stunts from the prime of Hong Kong cinema, as Tsui united master choreographers,Lau Kar-leungandYu Jim-yuen, the latter of whom was the master ofJackie Chan. Any of the action set-pieces in the first movie can easily be a spectacular highlight in most Hollywood action films, but the first defining characteristic of stunts in Hong Kong cinema is clarity. Even though Tsui’s film is beautiful to look at, his camera is never cumbersome or flashy; Tsui is solely dedicated to capturing the physicality of the choreography in the simplest, cleanest way possible.
The second trait is creativity, which is where the movie shines. The stunts of Hong Kong cinema are thrilling because they are always finding ways to engage with the geography, and an early example inOnce Upon a Time in Chinatakes place in a restaurant where the characters fight with plates and knives. The engagement with geography guaranteesthe fights are always versatile and fluid, with characters appearing to constantly think on their feet, getting the audience’s undivided attention.
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“It just feels like a big international franchise potential.”
Despite that, pure stunts don’t make a good movie. One of the main reasons whyOnce Upon a Time in Chinaworks is because of Jet Li’s Wong Fei-hung. Many legends—includingKwan Tak-hing,Gordon Lau, and Jackie Chan—have played Wong before, yet Li was able to make Wong entirely his own. Wong Fei-hung shares the same issue with many othermartial arts heroes in cinema: being the master of many disciples, he is way too overpowered, never losing a fight in the film. Tsui solves this issue not by having Wong struggling physically, but by Wong struggling ideologically. As thede factoleader of Foshan, he initially takes a diplomatic approach to the invading foreigners, but when the Westerners ramp up their attacks and shoot down Chinese people borderline-genocidally, he knows he cannot keep taking a backseat. In doing this,Jet Li modernized Wong Fei-hung, and Wong Fei-hung cemented Li as a star.
‘Once Upon a Time in China’ Captures a Nation in Conflict
But above all, the core element that makesOnce Upon a Time in Chinaso potent and enduring are its themes.Tsui Hark is a figurehead of Hong Kong New Wave, and the defining commonality across all Hong Kong New Wave films is capturing its people’s anxieties concerning their self-identity before the 1997 handover of Hong Kong sovereignty fromBritish ruleto China. Even though the film is set a century in the past,it still captures that uncertainty and questioning.As Tsui was making this movie, China was going through Deng Xiaoping’s “reform and opening up” policy in the time after the Tiananmen Square Massacre. As aforementioned, Wong at first tries to be diplomatic, but when foreigners are invasive and colonizing, is there really a space for diplomacy? When they’re borderline genocidal, are extremism and xenophobia justified? These are all questions that the film poses to the audience.
The film is much more of ahistorical epicthan an action film, as there are barely any fights in the first hour. Instead, it’s more interested in the geopolitical tensions between the characters, creating a perfect marriage of themes and action. The synthesis flows in the music by Hong Kong creative multi-hyphenate,James Wong, as well, blending traditional Chinese instruments and melodies with synthesizers.
Once Upon a Time in Chinaremains a beloved series worldwide; even when Tsui Hark turned towards authoritarian regime-backed propaganda films, his indisputable classics remain unimpeachable and celebrated by people in Hong Kong. In the West, the entire series was acquired and released by Janus Films through aCriterion Collectionbox set in 2021, giving it some much-needed exposure. The dubbing might be rough for audiences initially, but the action extravaganza and thorny, complex questions will eventually win them over. As a whole, the depth and spectacle in the heyday of Hong Kong cinema was far ahead of its action counterparts in Hollywood.
Once Upon a Time in Chinais available to watch on Max in the U.S.
