Han Ying-Chieh makes a credible threat as a boss or imperial agent. We value him most in King Hu’s films, where his work as actor and choreographer helped make the fighting worth watching for its own sake.
Fi1m perspective
Bamboo and swordplay demand equal attention in A Touch of Zen (1970). We were absorbed by the battle because Hu gives the landscape as much care as the combat. Han Ying-Chieh plays Chief Commander Xu Xian-chun and also worked on the martial arts choreography, so his contribution extends beyond his appearances as an antagonist. The film can lose momentum across its three hours, though the bamboo sequence earns the time spent on it.
His earlier collaboration with Hu, Come Drink with Me (1966), makes the value of that second job clear. Han plays Jade Faced Tiger’s Man and helped choreograph the tavern fight, bringing opera-derived acrobatics and rhythm to the action. Hu’s rescue proceeds through a series of rooms, with Cheng Pei-pei giving the film its assurance as she moves through them. The second half becomes less secure when the beggar takes over; the fighting remains persuasive, but the change of focus weakens the film.
Dragon Inn (1967) continued his work with Hu as both actor and martial arts choreographer. The move into early kung fu films brought Boss Mi opposite Bruce Lee in The Big Boss (1971), directed by Lo Wei, where his credibility as a fighting opponent was especially useful. Fist of Fury (1972), also directed by Lo Wei, kept him alongside Lee and again combined acting with work on the action. Bosses and imperial agents were recurring parts, and he supplied the physical threat those titles promised.
There is a danger in giving the actor credit for everything the choreographer helped achieve, particularly in films so strongly shaped by Hu. Cheng’s assurance in Come Drink with Me belongs to Cheng, and the bamboo battle is a collaborative achievement. Watching for Han’s contribution means paying attention to the fighting as well as to the man playing the authority figure. Start with Come Drink with Me, then set aside an unhurried evening for A Touch of Zen.
Biography
Han Ying-chieh (also credited as Han Ying Chieh) was a Hong Kong Chinese actor, stuntman and martial arts choreographer. Born in Shanghai in 1927, he trained in Peking opera in Beijing before entering the film industry in Shanghai in 1946 as a stuntman.
He worked with Shaw Brothers and later collaborated with director King Hu on Come Drink with Me (1966), in which he appeared as one of Jade Faced Tiger's men, and A Touch of Zen (1970), as Chief Commander Xu Xian-chun. He also appeared in The Big Boss (1971) as Boss Mi and Fist of Fury (1972) as Feng Kwai-sher, both with Bruce Lee, and in New Fist of Fury (1976) with Jackie Chan. His final screen role was in Swordsman (1990). He died in Hong Kong in 1991.
