The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter

The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter is a 1984 Hong Kong film by Shaw Brothers, directed by Lau Kar-leung and starring Gordon Liu, Kara Hui and Alexander Fu (in his final film appearance). It was released as The Invincible Pole Fighters outside of Hong Kong and Invincible Pole Fighter in North America.

The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter
The Hong Kong movie poster.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese五郎八卦棍
Simplified Chinese五郎八卦棍
Directed byLau Kar-leung
Written byLau Kar-leung
Kuang Ni
Produced byMona Fong
Run Me Shaw
Run Run Shaw
StarringGordon Liu
Alexander Fu
Kara Hui
Ko Fei
Music byStephen Shing
Distributed byShaw Brothers Studio
Release date
  • 1984 (1984)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese

Alexander Fu died in a car accident before the filming of The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter was finished. The script was partly re-written after his death and Fu's character does not appear in the final showdown as originally written in the script.[1]

The film is based on the Generals of the Yang Family (Yeung family in Cantonese) legends.

Plot

With help from the treacherous Song dynasty general Pun Mei, the Khitan-ruled Liao dynasty army succeeded in trapping the loyal Song general Yeung Yip and his seven sons at Golden Beach. Yeung Yip and his sons were all killed or captured in the ambush, except for the 5th son and the 6th son who managed to escape. The 6th son returned home, but was severely traumatised by the events resulting in tantrums. Meanwhile, the 5th son sought refuge in a monastery in Mount Wutai, but the monastery leaders initially did not consider him calm enough to be a Buddhist monk. As blades were not allowed inside a monastery, he used his training in spears to practice with a pole, eventually developing the unique eight diagram pole fighting technique. When he finally appeared to have put his anger and past behind him, news broke that the Khitans had captured his younger sister, Yeung Baat-mui, who was looking for him. Now he must break his Buddhist vows, which include not killing any living being and not being bothered by worldly affairs, to save Baat-mui and exact his revenge.

Cast
Note: The characters' names are in Cantonese romanisation.
Cast Role Description
Lily LiSe Choi-fa"Taai-gwan", Yeung Yip's wife
Wong YueYeung Ping"Daai-long", Yeung Yip's 1st son
Lau Kar-wingYeung Ding"Yi-long", Yeung Yip's 2nd son
Mak Tak-lawYeung On"Saam-long", Yeung Yip's 3rd son
Hsiao HoYeung Fai"Sei-long", Yeung Yip's 4th son
Gordon LiuYeung Dak"Ng-long", Yeung Yip's 5th son
Alexander FuYeung Chiu"Luk-long", Yeung Yip's 6th son
David Cheung Chin-pangYeung Zi"Chat-long", Yeung Yip's 7th son
Kara HuiYeung Kei"Baat-mui", Yeung Yip's daughter and 8th child
Yeung Jing-jingYeung Ying"Gau-mui", Yeung Yip's daughter and 9th child
Lam Hak-mingPun MeiSong dynasty general
Wang Lung-weiYe-leut LinLiao dynasty prince
Chu Tiet-wohGun KwaiLiao dynasty general
Ko Feiabbot of the Ching-leung Monastery
Ching ChuMaster Ji-hungsenior monk at the Ching-leung Monastery
Yuen TakYang Loyalist with the golden blade
Lau Kar-leunghunter

Production

Actors Alexander Fu Sheng, his younger brother David Cheung Chin-pang and Wong Yue were involved in an automobile accident in which Fu Sheng died. At the time of his death, he had not finished filming his role after which the director subsequently rewrote Fu's parts for Kara Wai's 8th child character.[2]

Awards and nominations

1985 – 4th Hong Kong Film Awards

References
  1. "Alexander Sheng Fu". 12 May 2013.
  2. Exclusive Kara Hui Interview Part 3 - Favorite Role, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 2 April 2020
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