Unusual and unpredictable film performance "Shaolin Monks"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

For inexperienced viewers who are not particularly interested in Chinese culture, the film "Shaolin Monks: The Wheel of Life" will certainly seem like a very refined spectacle. It's a shame, but very few ordinary people watch film performances, perhaps because they do not particularly understand this genre, although they go to the theater a little more often.

Even the advertised musical "Cats" is not particularly in demand, but its specificity is significantly different from the play about the kung fu of Shaolin monks. This is understandable: the disguised actors singing in English are perceived by the spectator's unprepared consciousness much easier than the bald Chinese novices screaming incomprehensibly. The whole world has long known what Shaolin monks look like. Their photos, by the way, are quite aggressive and very different in their emotionality from the stereotype that has developed in the brain thanks to our Slavic mentality. The Shaolin monks practice kung fu, dress in orange and almost spit in the face of the laws of gravity, which is interesting in itself.

Suchstrange, dangerous and unlike us Chinese

The whole action of the film is reminiscent of a Chinese circus performance.

There is no intricately twisted plot, but there is plenty of very beautiful music and amazing acrobatic stunts. The only thing that the movie play "Shaolin Monks" can boast of is a hint of a deep historical plot. There is no acting as such, and it is not implied, because the emphasis is on the continuous demonstration of kung fu techniques. The storyline is seen there very schematically and with great difficulty. A decent part of the action that the wanderers did remains a big mystery to the viewer. With all due respect to Chinese culture, language and traditions, on several occasions it may seriously seem that some of the leading actors suffer from an epileptic seizure. Although, maybe all Shaolin monks are so eccentric, and such behavior helps them win the fights.

Eccentricity almost always guarantees success

Especially impressive are the very small pupils of the monastery, who perform such pirouettes on the stage that the viewer only manages to raise his jaw from the floor. Respect for their colorful activities while watching wakes up as if by itself, and not too clear moments do not spoil the overall impression.

Strange fact: from what the Shaolin monks do on stage, it was the British who guessed to concoct the film. At the beginning of the storyfilms, a good British announcer slightly brings the uninitiated viewer up to date, but when the main action begins, he falls silent for a long time. It would be much clearer if the off-screen voice, at least sometimes somehow commented on what is happening, then the impression would be fuller. Definitely, this creation can be safely recommended for viewing to those who are interested in martial arts, the culture of China or the East in general, as well as to all lovers of an unusual format.

Total

The film performance "Shaolin Monks: The Wheel of Life" can be called a strange, but very spectacular and worthy representative of the genre. I wish I could someday watch something like this on a real stage, and not on the small monitor of an old computer.