Group Facilitation Summary

    The director of Kung Fu Hustle, Stephen Chow, said in an interview that he focused on making it visually comedic rather than verbally comedic. Do you think it worked? Why do you think he did this?

    Chow made Kung Fu Hustle visually comedic to appeal to a bigger audience. It takes the traditional Kung Fu movie and makes it something completely different. By doing this, it is able to appeal to a transnational audience, especially by taking influence from and making references to Western and other transnational films. Our group noticed that some of the scenes in Kung Fu Hustle looked similar to ones we’ve seen before including The Shining, The Matrix, Asterix and Obelix, and many more. The goofy running scenes reminded me of cartoons I would watch as a kid and the fighting styles and techniques were way more than real life. Every character introduced seemed to take their persona to the extreme. From the landlady to the sidekick, these extreme personas all contributed to the overall goofiness and comedy to the film. The exaggerated and comedic movements made it very interesting to watch and though it was rather cheesy and had predictable plot line, the way this film differed from the traditional kung fu movies made it very entertaining to watch. It was a huge hit in Hong Kong and China and even did well in its American release. By straying from the traditional Kung Fu films and taking it a step further comedy-wise from his previous film, Shaolin Soccer, Chow was able to reach a wide audience.