The 36th Chamber of Shaolin | |
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36th Chamber of Shaolin poster
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Traditional | 少林三十六房 |
Simplified | 少林三十六房 |
Mandarin | Shǎolín sānshíliù fáng |
Cantonese | Siu3 Lam4 saam1 sap6 luk6 fong4 |
Directed by | Liu Chia-Liang |
Produced by |
Mona Fong Run Run Shaw |
Written by | I Kuang |
Starring |
Gordon Liu Lo Lieh |
Music by | Chen Yung-Yu |
Cinematography | Huang Yeh-tai |
Edited by |
Geung Hing Lung Li Yen-Hai |
Distributed by |
Shaw Brothers Studio United States: World Northal (dubbed) Dragon Dynasty (DVD) |
Release date
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Running time
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115 minutes |
Country | Hong Kong |
Language | Mandarin |
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, also known as The Master Killer and Shaolin Master Killer, is a 1978 Shaw Brothers kung fu film directed by Liu Chia-liang and starring Gordon Liu.
The film follows a highly fictionalized version of San Te, a legendary Shaolin martial arts disciple who trained under the general Chi Shan.
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is widely considered to be one of the greatest kung fu films and a turning point in its director's and star's careers. It was followed by Return to the 36th Chamber, which was more comedic in presentation and featured Gordon Liu as the new main character with another actor in the smaller role of San Te, and Disciples of the 36th Chamber.
A young student named Liu Yude is drawn by his activist teacher into the local rebellion against the Manchu government. The government officials, headed by the brutal General Tien Ta, however, quickly discover and suppress the uprising, liquidating the school and killing the students' friends and family members. Yude decides to seek vengeance and liberation for the people, and heads for the Shaolin temple to learn kung fu.
Wounded by Manchu henchmen during an escape, Yude reaches the temple and seeks sanctuary. Initially the monks reject him, since he is an outsider, but the chief abbot takes mercy on the young man and lets him stay. One year later, Yude - now known as San Te - begins his martial arts training in the temple's 35 chambers, in each of which the temple's novices are trained in one aspect of the kung fu fighting arts. San Te advances more rapidly than any previous student, reaching the rank of deputy overseer within the space of six years. Challenged by the monastery's Justice Officer, who thinks him unfit for his role, San Te has several exhibition matches with him, only to be beaten each time. However, after inventing the three section staff, San Te finally prevails and gains the chief abbot's permission to become overseer of one of the chambers.