Back in the mid 19th century in the city of Foshan lived a man named Leung Chang (Yuen Biao). He has been in hundreds of street fights and has never lost. He hears the name Foshan Streetbrawler (or Kung fu king depending on the translation) frequently.
But behind his back he is called ‘The Prodigal Son’.
The reason for this is because Leung Chang’s father, a wealthy man, pays his servants to set up fights and pays the fighters to lose. He does this because he is over anxious about his son’s safety, and even pays his martial arts trainers to pretend to not be able to best him. Leung Chang doesn’t know this and believes himself to be almost unbeatable.
This all goes wrong when the servants upset a travelling Opera Performer Leung Yee-tai, who gives them a beating and sends them packing. The next day Leung Chang returns to challenge Leung Chang, and he loses badly while learning of his true reputation. Distraught, he leaves and vows to become a better martial artist.
With his families wealth he buys the opera company, and hassles Leung Yee-tai constantly to teach him, getting refused each time. It’s not until a travelling martial artist named Lord Ngai Fai challenges Leung Yee-tai, that things get even more interesting. Ngai is also something of a ‘prodigal son’, as his servants attempt to kill Leung Tee-yai behind his back.
From there everything escalates as Leung Yee Tai gets sick, and eventually agrees to train Leung Chang in Wing Chun – eventually leading to a challenge match between Leung Chang and Lord Ngai Fai.
A story on Transformation
It’s interesting to see Leung Chang go from thinking he’s on top of the world, to being at the bottom and working his way up the kung fu ladder again.
In one way he doesn’t seem to change at all. Even when he discovers he’s not the ‘Kung Fu King’, he doesn’t seem to be too bothered for too long. He seems driven but also still has the same light hearted and happy nature. All in all he seems to be pretty secure, which could be a big factor in his change.
Starting at the bottom again Leaung Chang constantly tries different ways to convince Leung Yee-tai to teach him. He shows a great deal of gullibility and naivety, but also demonstrates later in the movie that he’s not as stupid as he may appear. It’s shortly after he beings to learn rapidly, being taught by Yai-tee brother Wong Wah bo, played by Sammo Hung.
The movie tells and interesting story of a character while delivering a simple and easy to follow plot with challenges and assassination attempts on Yee-tai. Mixed together with the type of comedy Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung are known to deliver together.
The Action & Martial Arts
This movie heavily utilizes Wing Chun as the preferred martial art for Yee-tai and Wong Wah bo, which then of course teach to Leung Chang.
Visually the techniques look terrific and are authentic – performed with speed and it’s really impressive. Great for the camera, but the movements seem a little hard and ‘stop and go’ as opposed to the fluidity Wing Chun is fantastic for – but this is the difference between on screen martial arts and what is practiced in reality.
The fight scenes are done superbly and compliment any of the work I’ve seen Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung perform. There’s a great pace and rhythm to the fights – it does have the old fashion stop and go rhythm but sped up to look much more intense. Mixed with some great acrobatic ability from all the main players it’s a terrific martial arts film to watch.
The Verdict?
Another Hong Kong classic. A good story, authentic martial arts and it has 2 legends of Hong Kong cinema, Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung, at the helm. If you’re a kung fu movie fan, check it out!
On DVD –
Region 1 (US & Canada)
The Prodigal Son
Region 2 (UK, Europe, etc)
The Prodigal Son [DVD]
Region 4 (Australia, New Zealand, etc)
The Prodigal Son on DVD
