New School Wuxia

From Karate, Kungfu, Wrestling, Mixed Fighting Information Source

The New School Wuxia are kind of martial art films have some elements of the traditional wuxia in it, however it focuses more on the "Wu" (kung fu) apsects of the film, rather than on the "xia". It presents a more lavish type of production, and it was less fantastical and became more intense by showing stron acrobatic violence. This type of sub-genre was heavily influenced by Japanese samurai movies and persisited during the 1960's.

History

The next milestone in the wuxia genre occurred in the early '80s as a new generation of filmmakers schooled in Japanese and Hollywood filmmaking became the standard-bearers for Hong Kong's New Wave. Tsui Hark was the clear leader in this trend after directing The Butterfly Murders (1979), a wuxia thriller and Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983), a pure wuxia fantasy film. The only other filmmaker who was to have the same impact on the restoration of wuxia films as Tsui Hark was Tony Ching Siu-tung. He directed Duel to the Death (1983), another film heavily influenced by Japanese cinema. It contained dynamic wirework that acted as a preview to the style of choreography that would dominate both wuxia and kung fu films of the '90s and beyond. Chang Cheh's protégé John Woo is best known for his bullet ballet films starring Chow Yun Fat, but made a singularly impressive splash in the wuxia genre with Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1979). There were several other notable wuxia filmmakers in this fledgling New Wave era including Tony Liu Jun-guk, Johnnie To, and Patrick Tam who directed The Sword, a wuxia film that embraced rich cinematography and realism.

Some Listings New School Wuxia movies

• Temple of the Red Lotus (1965)
• Golden Swallow (1968)
• The Butterfly Murders (1979)