The Club
One of the earliest and most influential triad
films, The Club bursts out like a flame-thrower in your face. This 1981
Kirk Wong film is tough, visceral and compelling. It is also very basic
and straightforward a gang war fighting for turf but Wong puts you
right at street level to watch it with his hand held camera following
the dizzying rush of bodies and flashing blades in brilliant fashion. With
its gritty feel, high-octave action and subject matter, The Club seems
to have been very much influenced by the Blaxploitation films of the 70s
- and as in many of those films the hero falls into that gray world of
honor and lawlessness.
Michael Chan who was famous for his exploits
in the triads before turning to acting gives a physically mesmerizing
performance in this film. All sinewy muscle, grim determination and tattoos,
he simply commands the screen with his glowering looks. One scene of him
simply going through his daily workout the pain - the drive the
intensity is amazing. He moves like a cat and looks incredibly authentic
in his fight scenes but then he was of course the real deal.
During the opening credits, like sudden amber
flashes out of a gun barrel, Chan, Norman Chu and Feh Yang are seen fighting
for power in a series of quick bloody fights but when the proper film
begins they are now established members of the triad community. Feh owns
a successful hostess bar with Chan as his enforcer and protector and Chu
runs another similar club. Problems come rushing at them though as two
other triad groups are trying to buy the bar from Feh and it is clear
that if negotiations break down the alternative will be violence.
In a brilliantly filmed scene, Feh is assassinated
by one of the rivals his bleeding face pressed against the glass screaming
out as he is constantly cut but going unheard because of the street drilling
outside and only a few feet away. When Chan hears about his death, he goes
on a revenge-seeking rampage to find out who is behind it even though
it is against a much more powerful force. His own men at the club are brutalized
and of no help to him (Kent Cheng is the bald headed floor manager). There
is soon a small army of men looking for Chan throughout Hong Kong in order
to kill him.
There are no guns present in the film leading
to extended brawls with long blades or short sharp knives and it becomes
very brutal and violent. Norman Chu tries to remain aloof from all of this
not wanting to bloody his now clean hands and Chan has to charge alone
into the enemys headquarters to revenge his friend with only a blade
and his anger to keep him company but Chu is not far behind. The ending
is a remorseless binge of intense and savage bloodletting.
My rating for this film: 8.0