I can’t think of a better way to introduce The Shaolin Drunken Monk than by quoting, verbatim, the Wikipedia entry, also quoted under the You Tube video linked above:

The Shaolin Drunken Monk is a 1982 kung-fu film directed by Au Yeung Chun and Lau Ka-Liang, and produced by Ocean Shores.

The film is generally considered a bust, but is noted for its soundtrack and atmospheric flashbacks.

To provide a bit more context, here’s a screenshot from the movie’s IMDB page:

(From: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200126/)

Yes, there is a scene where someone wets their pants, but not to the extent that it would justify being one of the plot keywords. If you were accidentally mislead into watching this film expecting it to be about martial artists urinating, I apologize on behalf of whoever wrote the IMDB page. But I still recommend watching The Shaolin Drunken Monk. Here’s why.

The Shaolin Drunken Monk is a movie about revenge, as performed through martial arts-influenced interpretive dance. To summarize, a young boy, Lao Chung, becomes a displaced person when an evil man forcibly takes over the Master position at the local kung fu school when the boy’s father dies. The young lad seeks refuge with an alcoholic, who helps him develop a new style of fighting. A grown Lao Chung then kidnaps the new Master’s daughter in order to lure the Master out so he can kill him and avenge his family.

Eventually, the Master and Lao Chung battle, a procedure which seems to include taking articles of each other’s clothes off. At first the fighting is tame, but then Lao Chung launches into a previously choreographed drunken martial arts dance, which the Master immediately recognizes as the “drunken fist”. This process also involves Lao Chung batting his eyes at him coquettishly, which, understandably, confuses the Master. He finally kills the Master, but, unbeknownst to him, his daughter (who Lao Chung is fond of) was hiding behind the trees and, once she sees that her father has been killed, commits suicide.

There’s also a side story featuring another gentleman, Cam, who had his hand cut off by the new Master when he refused to join his gang. Not only does he have a strong sense of morality (he refused to join them because they engaged in unethical pursuits), but also excellent fashion sense – the first person he kills in this film is a man wearing a rather silly pair of white silk kaftan style pajamas with shiny blue ribbon trimming. Oh and he knocks on his door first before chocking him. Excellent sense of style, with impeccable manners to boot.

I’m very concerned though about the well being of women in the community depicted – there are only four females (apparently), and two end up committing suicide. The Master’s daughter may have been a slightly troubled young lady, a fact clearly lost on everyone – she tends to fall for men trying to replace or kill her father, a tender moment between her and her kidnapper quickly escalates to them getting between the sheets together (touch of Stockholm Syndrome?) and of course, she offs herself at the end of the movie. Also, she has an accident early on in the movie while tied up to a post, hence the plot keywords chosen by whoever wrote the IMDB entry.

However, if none of the above tempts you to watch this film, perhaps this might: there’s a 5 minute long scene depicting Lao Chung doing his chores to an upbeat and montage-esque soundtrack. In a movie about revenge that is only 83 minutes long, the directors made the conscious decision for 6% of it to show Lao Chung doing the dishes.

In the end, The Shaolin Drunken Monk teaches us that when you seek revenge, everybody dies and your film is mistakenly labeled as a movie about ninjas and urination.

A.