Film Descriptions
Come Drink with Me
Hong Kong (1966), 35mm, 94 minutes, Mandarin w/English subtitles
Director: King Hu
Cast: Cheng Peipei, Yue Hua, Chen Honglie, Li Yunzhong, Yang Qiqing
Producer: Run Run Shaw
Martial Arts Directors: Han Yingjie
Show Time: 4/18 at Midnight at the Riverview Theater
4/20 at 5pm at the Metro State Auditorium
Renowned swordsman Golden Swallow (Zheng Peipei) appears in town to "negotiate" the return of her brother who was kidnapped by the Jade Faced Tiger gang. The gang promises his safe return only in exchange for the gangs' imprisoned leader. Though Golden Swallow remains confident she can secure her brother's release, she soon realizes that her own life is now in danger. But meeting a loud, annoying drunk known as "Drunken Cat" proves to be her secret guardian from harm. Indeed, the two must joint forces to fight the Jade-Faced Tiger.
Widely considered among the best Hong Kong films ever made, Come Drink With Me is the martial arts debut of one of the genre's most influential directors-King Hu (In 1975, he becomes the first Chinese to win the Cannes International Film Festival grand prize for his direction of A Touch of Zen.). Throughout the film, King Hu keeps a "feminine" style (in contrast to director Chang Che's muscular approach) and he revivifies the female warrior figure (in drag) and imbues action sequences with the rhythms, poses and music of the Beijing opera. Cheng Peipei shines in this film as a tough and beautiful warrior in this romantic exposition of Taoist and Confucianist mores of moral conduct. With its incredible cinematography and ingenious use of settings, this is the film to which all kung fu and wire fu movies are indebted.
Zheng Peipei (Cheng Pei-pei)
This Shanghai-born former ballet student made her screen debut (in male drag) in The Lotus Lamp (1963). She made more than 20 films under contract with the Shaw Brothers, most notably Come Drink With Me (1966), Hong Kong Nocturne (1966), Golden Swallow (1968) and The Lady Hermit (1971). Her many portrayals of the highly skilled "xia nü," or female knight-errant, throughout the 1960s paved the way for such latter-day female action stars as Michelle Yeoh. Later, Zheng returned to prominence as the villainous Jade Fox in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
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