Forgotten Classics - Lam Nai-Choi's Men from the Gutter (1983) and the changing face of Hong Kong Cinema

Men from the Gutter was made in 1983 towards the end of Shaw Brothers Studios successful run of films. Beginning in the early 1950’s and running up until the company decided to mainly suspend the film making division of their company in the latter half of the 1980’s.

Shaw Brothers ended up turning their interests elsewhere, concentrating mainly on television, producing shows through its subsidiary Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB). There would be a number of films produced after this and throughout the 1990’s, but nothing on the scale of what they were producing in the past. There were a number of early Chow Sing Chi films such as Look Out, Officer (1990), a lacklustre remake of the earlier Sammo Hung movie Where’s Officer Tuba (1986). They also produced Hero (1997), a remake of their earlier success Boxer from Shantung (1972), and the later Drunken Monkey (2003). It wouldn’t be until 2009, with the production of Herman Yau’s Turning Point (2009) that Shaw Brothers would resume consistent film production, going on to produce movies like 72 Tenants of Prosperity (2010) and I Love Hong Kong (2011).

In their heyday Shaw Brothers were probably best known for producing martial arts and swords play dramas. Some of their most famous films are by famous directors like King Hu, Lau Kar Leung and Chang Cheh who between them made classics such as Come Drink with Me (1966), The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) and One Armed Swordsman (1967). Shaw Brothers also had a host of contracted stars like Alexander Fu Sheng, David Chiang , Cheng Pei Pei and Jimmy Wang Yu who all went on to have considerable success. They were only overshadowed at the time by superstar Bruce Lee, who had signed for competing production company Golden Harvest.

Men from the Gutter manages to stand out from the crowd, being a modern day set action movie, with very little in the way of martial arts. Shaw Brothers had made modern set action films before, such as Chang Cheh’s films Police Force (1973) and Chinatown Kid (1977) amongst others. Unlike Men from the Gutter, although action packed, these films focused mainly on martial arts with sometimes a little gunplay thrown in. Overtaken by rival Golden Harvest, and the popularity of classical martial arts dramas wavering they started to produce a number of modern day thrillers that could be compared to what their competitor was successfully making at the time.

Men from the Gutter falls under the new wave of Hong Kong cinema that was starting to emerge at the tail end of the 1970’s. Directors like Kirk Wong and Tsui Hark, who were trained in America and took that influence back to Hong Kong and implemented it into their productions.

Kirk Wong would go on to make The Club (1981), a very realistic Triad thriller that went to lengths to show the actual way of life of a Triad member. Starring real life Triad Chan Wai-Man who no doubt advised Kirk Wong on how the Triads should be portrayed, The Club would unfortunately be overshadowed later by more famous gangster films such as A Better Tomorrow (1986). Chan Wai Man had complained in an interview that audiences would not be interested in seeing the realistic workings of a Triad, that they would rather see Chow Yun Fat being shot 100 times. Looking at what was popular in the latter half of the 1980’s, he isn’t really wrong, although Chan Wai-Man starred in a good number of heroic bloodshed films himself.

Tsui Hark would also add to the new wave by directing The Butterfly Murders (1978), a seemingly straightforward wuxia that melded into a strange murder mystery incorporating science fiction and fantasy. He would follow that up with the equally strange We’re Going to Eat You (1980) then on to Dangerous Encounter of the First Kind (1980), an extremely nihilistic thriller that ended up being heavily cut by the government. The cut version was released under the title Dangerous Encounter – 1st Kind or alternatively Don’t Play with Fire. Either version of the film has an extremely bleak outlook; the third film of Tsui Hark’s is probably closest in style to Men from the Gutter.

Directed by Lam Nai-Choi, Men from the Gutter focuses on two very different cops, who are out to capture a local drug boss. The two cops go about their job differently, one of them doing everything to the letter of the law and the other not caring and doing whatever it takes t get the job done. Throughout the course, the by the book cop realises his way doesn’t always get the job done, and he may have to side with his partner if he wants to take down the drug boss. There is also a hit-man on the trail of the drug boss due to a prior incident. He ends up getting mixed up in the Police’s investigation, which leads to an extremely violent confrontation, with the action and stunt packed finale involving all the main characters coming together, none of them leaving the film unscathed.

There is also a subplot regarding a group of criminals involved in a number of robberies who end up planning a heist on an armoured truck. This subplot ends up tying into the main film, climaxing with an excellent car chase.

This was the third film directed by Lam Nai-Choi. Before becoming a director he had worked as a cinematographer, working on some of the more famous Shaw Brothers films such as The Avenging Eagle (1978) and the Deadly Breaking Sword (1979), both of which starred one of Shaw Brothers biggest stars Ti Lung. Choi had no interest initially on becoming a director until he was invited to co-direct One Way Only (1981), which he co-directed alongside the film’s star Danny Lee. He followed that up with crime drama Brothers from the Walled City (1982), which is closest in tone but not style to Men from the Gutter. He started to prove himself with Men from the Gutter, which in my opinion is still his best work as a director. One of the elements, other than the performances and fantastic action that sets out Brothers from the Walled City and especially Men from the Gutter is the fact that he decided to shoot them on location. This adds to the overall realistic and gritty feel of the films, and sets it apart from other Hong Kong films at the time, especially those produced by Shaw Brothers.

Lam ended up leaving Shaw Brothers in the mid 1980’s and based himself at Golden Harvest, where he spent the remainder of his career. Whilst there he moved away from the crime genre, moving into more fantastical films, going on to direct popular and well known films such as The Seventh Curse (1986), starring Chin Siu Ho and Chow Yun Fat in the role of Wisely, a famous Hong Kong literary character. A number of films regarding the character of Wisely have been produced, including The Legend of Wisely (1987), Bury Me High (1991), The Cat (1992), Young Wisely (1993) and Young Wisely 2 (1994). There is also the more recent The Wesley’s Mysterious File (2002), directed by Andrew Lau and starring Andy Lau in the title role. Unfortunately even with the star power of Andy Lau and a considerable budget, it proved to be the poorest entry in the series.

Some of Lam’s films have gone on to attain cult status, which, although enjoyable, are more due to the crazy tone of the films than the actual overall quality. This is especially the case for Killer’s Nocturne (1987), which is mainly memorable for having Chin Siu-Ho boxing a kangaroo.

A number of Lam’s films also fit under the Category 3 banner due to their violent content. As well as the already mentioned Seventh Curse, he also ruffled a few feathers with the rape revenge saga Her Vengeance (1988), which has many brutal scenes of violence. During his time at Golden Harvest he would also make three adaptations of famous Manga’s, directing the films Peacock King (1989) and its sequel Saga of the Phoenix (1990) both of which were based on the Manga Spirit Warrior and starred Yuen Biao. He would then follow them up with the infamous Story of Ricky (1992), based on the extremely violent Manga Riki-Oh and starring Fan Siu-Wong. The film did not skimp on the over the top gore or violence of its printed counterpart, including a scene where Fan Siu-Wong ties together the tendons of his arm together with his hand and teeth. Although a failure at the time it has went on to gain a massive cult status in the West.

Lam seemingly retired in 1992, with his last released film being the extremely weird The Cat (1992), which saw him return to the Wisely character, this time played by Waise Lee. It fails to live up to Lam’s earlier Seventh Curse, being possibly even stranger which goes in some way in alienating its audience. It’s a poor end to what was at that point a decent career.

Of the three main lead characters, Jason Pai Piao is the most impressive. Playing the vengeful hit man Zi Jian, he gets involved in a number of the films action scenes and seemingly carries out his own stunt work, some of which is extremely painful looking. Even though a hit man you end up rooting for his character more than the main heroes, and due to the amount of punishment he goes through you hope he succeeds in getting his revenge. Pai Piao has appeared in numerous films throughout the years, going back to the late 1960’s. Most of the films he made in this period he failed to make much of an impression, appearing in small roles and as an extra in films such Chang Cheh’s Have Sword, Will Travel (1969) and Vengeance! (1970).

Due to his failing film career, Pai Piao ended up signing a contract with television company CTV, starring in a number of martial arts shows for the station. Through this he started to become a household name, and would go on to work on other television shows for other stations after the collapse of CTV. In this time he would also work on the Amsterdam Connection (1978), a truly terrible martial arts movie which is still notable as Pai Piao also worked on the action choreography along with co-star Bolo Yeung, as well as having a very early appearance by a young Fan Siu Wong.

Pai Piao would end up returning to work with Shaw Brothers towards the end of the 1970’s, becoming one of their most used actors, appearing in a range of films such as The Duel of the Century (1981) for director Chor Yuen as well as What Price Honesty? (1981), acting alongside a very young looking Danny Lee. After Men from the Gutter he would continue to work with Shaw Brothers, finishing up his time with them by starring in director Taylor Wong’s Pursuit of a Killer (1985). Pai Piao has consistently worked since the end of Shaw Brothers, although in much smaller parts than he was getting in the past, with one of his more recent appearances being in Tsui Hark’s Seven Swords (2005).

Lo Meng portrays the edgy Sergeant Zhou. Meng will no doubt be most famous to audiences as one of the venoms, made famous in the West by Chang Cheh’s The Five Venoms (1878), although they had been introduced previously in Cheh’s film Shaolin Temple (1976), but were not the primary focus. This was the first film to put the five venoms together, consisting of Lu Feng, Kuo Chui, Sun Chien, Chiang Sheng and Lo Meng himself. In matter of fact there were sometimes 6 venoms, with We Pai cast in five of the venom films before he left to work for competing company Golden Harvest.

Lo Meng was a prominent fixture with Shaw Brothers throughout the 1970’s and 80’s, working especially well with director Chang Cheh. He appeared in 18 of Cheh’s films as well as working with a number of other contracted directors within the company. With his career moving into the 1990’s and Shaw Brothers filmmaking arm taking a rest, Meng would move into television continuing his association with Shaw Bothers by working for TVB. He would still make film appearances such as John Woo’s Hard Boiled (1992), Wilson Yip’s Bullets Over Summer (1999) and most recently working with Wilson Yip again on Ip Man 2 (2010) and Ip Man 3 (2016). One other film of note would be Gallants (2010), a real throw back to Shaw Brothers films, which any fan of them should look out for.

The role of Zhou requires Lo Meng to stretch himself as an actor, with his character being a bit more complex than his usual martial arts drama although it is a very physical role. Unlike his usual martial arts films, the action involved in Men from the Gutter is more of the rough and tumble variety. His training serves him well though, as the action scenes he is involved with are all excellent.

The dependable Michael Miu gives able support as Zhou’s partner, the more level headed Qui. Although not an established martial artist like Jason Pai Piao and Lo Meng, he still throws himself into the action, and is probably the better dramatic actor of the three leads. He is certainly better used in this film than he would be in the Lucky Stars series, a role that he was good in but didn’t exactly stretch him as an actor. At this point in his career Miu was better known as a television star, working for TVB on a number of drama’s such as The Lonely Hunter (1981) and the popular wuxia drama The Legend of the Condor Heroes (1983), which also had appearances by future Hong Kong stars like Francis Ng and Chow Sing Chi and featured behind the scenes work from Johnnie To and Ching Siu Tung.

During Miu’s TVB days he was part of the famous TVB’S Five Tigers, which contained five of the channels most popular young actors at the time, Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Kent Tong, Felix Wong and lastly Michael Miu himself. He would reteam with four of the five tiger’s years later on the triad drama Brothers (2007), which wasn’t worth the wait. Starring in a host of films and television shows throughout the 1980’s until now, Miu has consistently been in work, even gaining a reputation as a business man due to his investment in a glasses company.

The remainder of the cast is made up of regular Shaw Brothers actors such as Wong Yung, Chan Pui-Sai and Lung Tin-Sang amongst others. Fans of Hong Kong cinema will also recognise actor Parkman Wong in a minor role. Wong has appeared in numerous Hong Kong cinema classics with Men from the Gutter being one of many. He also made notable appearances in City on Fire (1987), The Killer (1989) and Organised Crime & Triad Bureau. His film career has slightly tapered off lately but he does still make the odd feature film appearance.

Mona Fong is the sole credited producer. She had worked on over 100 films for Shaw Brothers, starting as an assistant producer before working her way up to production manager and then on to become Shaw Brothers main producer at the start of the 1980’s. Unfortunately this was at the end of the company’s successful period, even though she did manage to fit in some classics like Human Lanterns (1982), Legendary Weapons of China (1982) and House of Traps (1982) as well as a few others.

In 1997, Mona Fong went on to marry Shaw Brothers co-founder Run Run Shaw. She is now the deputy chairman of TVB.

The script was the work of two screenwriters, Tony Leung Hung-Wah and Keith Lee. As a writer this is probably the best work to come from Leung Hung-Wah, with none of his other writing credits being especially noteworthy, other than his co-writing credit on the category 3 exploitation movie Taxi Hunter (1993), a film in which he also produced. Leung Hung-Wah has also worked as an actor, and director. As an actor it is mainly small roles, with his work as a director being even less prolific, with his films being bottom of the barrel productions like Rascal Agent (2003) and PTU File – Death Trap (2005). It could be argued that his best film is A Lamb in Despair (1999), a category 3 thriller starring Anthony Wong which is at least watchable. That is about the strongest recommendation I can give it.

Keith Lee went on to co-write the excellent hostage situation thriller People’s Hero (1987) along with the film’s director Derek Yee. Before Men from the Gutter he had also written the martial arts comedy Kid from Kwangtung (1982), another Shaw Brothers production. As a writer he would only work on one other movie, coincidentally another Shaw Brothers production, Drunken Monkey. It is also the last credited film that Lee has worked on. It would seem Shaw Brothers is where Lee was most comfortable, as he had worked on other Shaw productions in various capacities be it assistant director, script supervisor director or planner. He would also work again with Men from the Gutter director Lam Nai-Choi as a planner on Seventh Curse.

The violent and bone crunching action scenes were choreographed/directed by two of the more underrated people in the business, Yuen Bun and Yuen Wah. Yuen Bun has been working as an actor, action director and director since the early 1970’s.Originally part of the same Peking Opera Troupe as Jackie Chan, he would go on to appear in over 100 films as an actor, mostly in small roles in big films such as Dragon Inn (1992), Expect the Unexpected (1998) and Running on Karma (2003), the three of which he also served as action director.

As action director he has created some of the most memorable action sequences in Hong Kong cinema working with director Tsui Hark a number of times on the Once Upon a Time in China series, even taking over the franchise as director with Once Upon a Time in China 4 (1993). He would continue to work with Tsui Hark, assisting with the action for The Chinese Feast (1995), The Blade (1995), Love in the Time of Twilight (1995), Knock Off (1998),The Legend of Zu (2001), Black Mask 2 (2002), Missing (2008), Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010), Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011), Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013) and lastly The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014). Throughout this time he also worked on countless other Hong Kong films which would take too long to list. Even after all this excellent work, his action in Men from the Gutter still stands out as some of his best work, especially the 20 minute finale.

Yuen Wah should need no introduction to Hong Kong fans. Part of the Seven Little Fortunes Opera Troupe, Wah has been working in the Hong Kong film industry since the early 1960’s, working in various capacities, be it as a stuntman, action director or actor. I have noted in the past about him being stuntmen to Bruce Lee before becoming an actor himself. His most famous roles would be alongside his Peking Opera Troupe pals, appearing in The Millionaires Express (1986), The Iceman Cometh (1989) and Police Story 3 (1992) amongst others. Later in his career he had a scene stealing role in Chow Sing Chi’s Kung Fu Hustle (2004) and also played the main villain in Chen Kaige’s Monk Comes Down the Mountain (2015), which gave him a chance to show how well he could still move.

As an action director he has worked alongside many notable action directors such as Lam Ching Ying, Mang Hoi and Yuen Kwai. He also carried out action direction on Tsui Hark’s The Master (1989 released 1992) which he co starred with Jet Li. Although the plot is no great shakes, there are a number of excellent and surprisingly brutal fight scenes throughout the film. Men from the Gutter still manages to stand out from the crowd of other films he has worked on due to it being quite different from his usual fare. He would carry out action directing duties again on other hard hitting crime films such as On the Run (1988) and In the Blood (1988), but they don’t stand up as well as Men from the Gutter.

Upon its release, Men from the Gutter was a financial failure, grossing under 3 million Hong Kong dollars, which is poor when compared to what Golden Harvest were taking in with their Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung films.

For years Men from the Gutter was hard to track down, until Celestial Pictures acquired the rights to Shaw Brothers back catalogue, with them releasing the majority of its 1000 films. Men from the Gutter was released with restored image and sound quality giving people a chance to see this forgotten gem how it should be seen.