Shaolin
Short description
Shaolin is set in China during the 1910s and 1920s, when rival warlords fight over territory and bring suffering to ordinary people. General Hou Chieh is a ruthless commander whose ambition and taste for betrayal turn against him when his protégé Tsao Man seeks power for himself. Stripped of his position and his family, Hou Chieh finds shelter at the Shaolin temple he once treated with contempt. There he trains in martial arts and Buddhist teaching under the monks and the temple cook Wudao, and when Tsao Man's violence spreads, he and the monks prepare to act against him.
Benny Chan directed the film, which sits between City Under Siege and The White Storm in his filmography, from a screenplay by Tan Cheung and Alan Yuen; Han Sanping produced it. Andy Lau plays Hou Chieh, Nicholas Tse plays Tsao Man, Fan Bingbing plays Madam Hou, Jackie Chan plays Wudao, and Wu Jing and Yu Shaoqun play the monks Chingneng and Chinghai among a credited cast of 50. Made for about 29 million dollars, it earned roughly 34 million worldwide.
Audiences rate it similarly on both platforms, 6.8 out of 10 on IMDb from 21,000 votes and 6.8 out of 10 on TMDB from 423 votes. A critics' rating of 6.1 out of 10 from 26 reviews places it somewhat below those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The prototype for the deputy, Cao Man, who betrayed the main character – General Hou Jie and sold national historical treasures to the English at the cost of his people’s lives – is likely the Zhili Clique and the notorious traitorous warlord Shi Yousan, who in 1928 ordered the complete burning of the Shaolin Monastery. Unique ancient manuscripts stored in the monastery were destroyed in the process.
- The prototype for the main character – General Hou Jie – is Yuan Shikai, who actively participated in the overthrow of the imperial dynasty in China in 1911, but then himself attempted to become emperor. Through his dualistic policies, he engendered the warring military cliques of the “Era of Warlords”.
- The film's plot is fictional, however, allegorical parallels can be traced between its three main characters – generals dividing the city of Danfeng and betraying each other – and the “three revolutions” in China, as well as the three real military cliques of the so-called “Era of Warlords in China” which ended in 1928. In the same year, Shaolin was practically completely destroyed.
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