18th New York Asian Film Festival

Jun 28 - Jul 14, 2019

Photo: © Fortune Star

The Miracle Fighters

奇門遁甲

After practically inventing the kung fu comedy genre, director Yuen Woo-ping eventually added fantasy elements to the mix, starting with this absolutely batshit crazy cult classic. The loose and wild plot involves a Qing dynasty official in conflict with the emperor that results in both his wife and the prince dead. He finds another child and makes it look like he is the prince. At the heart of this is when the grown fake prince meets an odd bickering couple who practice kung fu magic and all sorts of wacky antics ensue. Non-stop martial arts zaniness, NOT TO BE MISSED!

Director: Yuen Woo-ping
Cast: Yuen Yat-Choh, Leung Kar-Yan, Yuen Cheung-Yan, Brandy Yuen, Eddy Ko, Yuen Shun-yi, Huang Ha, Tino Wong Cheung
Languages: Cantonese with English subtitles
1982; 95 min.; HD File

SCHEDULE:

Tuesday July 2, 9:00pm
Film at Lincoln Center

Tribute to Master Yuen Woo-ping (with Master Yuen in attendance)

Lifetime Achievement Award
Yuen Woo-ping
袁和平

Hong Kong action choreographer and director extraordinaire Yuen Woo-ping is perhaps best known to Western audiences for his work on The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Kill Bill. The extremely prolific Yuen comes from a family of martial artist performers and started as an actor and stuntman in the ’60s. In 1978, he made his phenomenal directorial debut with the smash hit Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, followed quickly with even greater success by Drunken Master_ — the two films that not only made Jackie Chan an international star but practically created the indelible kung-fu comedy genre. His filmography is a treasure trove of kung-fu classics marked by innovations in fight choreography and hyperkinetic genre stylings. Screening in the festival are the seminal Donnie Yen vehicle Iron Monkey (on 35mm), now a classic of the ’90s “New Wave” of kung fu; the brand-new Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, an exciting entry in the popular Ip Man film series, starring Max Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, and Tony Jaa; and The Miracle Fighters, Yuen’s first of several absolutely crazy meldings of kung fu, fantasy, and comedy that must be seen to be believed.