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BURNING
PARADISE
AKA:
Rape Of The Red Temple
Year:
1994 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
During
the Ching dynasty, the Shaolin monks tried to oppose the Manchu
government and so they were hunted like dogs and punished for
their beliefs. This story picks up as a young Fong Sai Yuk
(Willie Chi) and his master are attempting to
flee the wrath of the Manchus. When the soldiers
catch up with them, Fong's master is brutally killed and he is
captured and taken to the temple of the Red Lotus sect.
Inside
the temple lies a torturous world where monks are made to denounce their
faith and forced to work like slaves under the most horrific
conditions. However, the arrival of Sai Yuk throws
things into disarray as he immediately forces a duel with
Bak, the right hand woman of the psychopathic Sun, the
master of the temple. When he defeats her, he goes
straight for Sun but he is unexpectedly stopped by his Shaolin brother
and old friend Hung Hei Kwan (Sheng Yang). Fong
is caught off guard and wounded in the battle so he is thrown into the corpse
pit to rot. Little do they realise that Sai Yuk is a
cunning and persistent man who doesn't waste time in
masterminding his escape and looks to initiate the downfall of
the temple and free his brothers.
With
'Burning Paradise', director Ringo Lam attempts to make the
difficult transition from his trademark heroic
bloodshed films into the realms of the kung fu classic.
This is no mean feat but thankfully the final results speak
for themselves as Lam's dark and brooding style
translates well into this alternative backdrop. His use of
the macabre makes for a refreshing change from the usual
upbeat old-school classics and the debuts of some new leading
actors allow him to keep the film completely separate from
anything that has come before. Most importantly though,
he allows the action to take precedence and you are never more
than a few minutes away from another blistering duel.
The
fights are all excellently choreographed with some impressive
wirework that is very close to becoming the equal of the 'OUATIC'
series. Amongst the highlights we find hand to hand combat, swordplay and
spearwork that all present a real feast for the eyes.
Performance wise, leading actor Willie Chi shows that he has some credible skill
that has never been used to such great effect (although that
isn't saying much considering his only other notable film
prior to this was 'Drunken
Master 3') whilst Sheng Yang, another veteran of the
Beijing Wu Shu academy, provides sterling opposition to Chi
with flips and kicks galore. However, it has to be said
that action aside, the show is really stolen by Wong Kam Kong who oozes pure evil
during all his
scenes and had such a talent for odd paintings that they used
it in the film.
'Burning
Paradise' is definitely a worthy addition to the classic kung
fu genre as well as the many legends of Fong Sai Yuk. With
top notch acting, action and directing, it just goes to show
that you don't need Jet Li or Jackie Chan to make a folk hero
classic (although it's ionic that Tsui Hark often seems to be lurking in the
shadows).
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