Back with a vengeance

One of the most popular martial-arts actors of the 1970s, action superstar David Chiang came to Bangkok this week to promote four of his classic films, which are being screened throughout this month on Celestial Classic Movies (CCM).

Looking fit and dapper – and a lot younger than his 67 years – Chiang was happy to give interviews to the media, pointing out that the press have always been able to make or break a film.

“Of course, the media have changed. The reporters are perhaps not as respectful as they were 40 years ago but actors and reporters still need each other,” he says.

Chiang, who was born Chiang Da-Wei, grew up in a family of movie stars. His mother Hung Wei and father Yen Hua, both well known actors on the mainland before moving to Hong Kong in the late 1940s, were happy to let their son appear in movies as a child and he made his first appearance at the age of four. He starting out as a stuntman for the Shaw Brothers Studio in the ’60s and director Chang Cheh quickly recognised his potential.

 “I actually wanted to be a pilot,” says Chiang with a grin. “But acting runs in the family and as I hated studying, I figured I wouldn’t have to go to school anymore if I became an actor.

“Chang Cheh discovered my acting talent long before he found out that my parents were movie stars. By then, even though I could earn more as a stuntman than as an actor, I was determined to be like my parents. Then as now, stuntmen worked at different levels. I wasn’t skilled enough in martial arts to fight a leading actor but could easily portray an old man falling off a cliff.”

In 1969, Chiang was cast in his first leading role and he never looked back, starring in a succession of Chang Cheh’s swordplay and kung fu films including “The Heroic Ones” and “The Generation Gap”. He was also the hero in “The New One-Armed Swordsman” films and was recognised with a Best Actor Award for “Vengeance”. 

“My kung fu performance wasn’t very serious. It was nothing like as skilled as the martial art performed by Shaolin monks. But I worked hard to improve,” says Chiang, who today serves as a martial arts adviser.

He dies at the end of “The Heroic Ones”, ripped to shreds by five horses in what is still remembered as a remarkable scene.

“Everyone was shocked yet excited. Most remarkably, director Zhang Che was able to introduce a romantic mood to a very bloodthirsty scene.”

For “The New One-Armed Swordsman” also known as “Triple Irons”, Chiang replaced Jimmy Wang Yu, who starred in the first two films of the series, “The One-Armed Swordsman” and “Return of the One-Armed Swordsman”.

“Wang Yu, who was very popular, had already been cast for the sequel but left Shaw Brothers to set up his own film company and produce similar movies. Although I didn’t want to do it, I couldn’t refuse. But at the same time, I was proud to do so. I remember how hard I worked training myself to use my left hand to fight with the sword.”

Chiang names “Vengeance” as his favourite of the martial arts films. The first of  “Blood Brothers” movies and pairing the deadly duo of Chiang and Ti Lung, it won Best Movie at the 1970 Asian Film Festival as well as the Best Actor prize.]

“Everything about the movie was great – the script, the director and the entire cast. And it was great fun starring alongside Ti Lung.

In 1971, Chiang and Ti Lung starred in the Bangkok-set “Duel of Fist” with Thai actress Pawana Chanajit, an habituee of the Hong Kong action movie scene and often referred to as “the Asian Pearl”.

“I was very excited about working with her and we developed a good professional relationship,” he recalls. 

Chiang moved behind the camera later in the ’70s directing “The Drug Addicts” and “A Mad World of Fools”.

“I think all actors dream of being a director, and I was no exception. But I wasn’t all that successful and quickly came to realise that I was better as an actor. That said, if I’m ever offered the opportunity to direct an action movie, I’ll leap at it,” he says.

Asked about the changes he has witnessed in the Hong Kong film industry over the last 40 years, Chiang points to the technology.

“I think the film industry isn’t very different from how it was when I started though of course technology and special effects now dominate. Personally, I would like to see our industry develop and be as much of a leading player today as it was in the past.”

Still an active force in the industry, Chiang has just wrapped up a TV series and stars in a new sequel to “The Storm Riders”.

 

High kicks, high jinx

_ Celestial Classic Movies, available on on TOT iptv 262 and CTH 78, screens Shaw Brothers’ movies starring David Chiang every Saturday in October at 8pm.

_ It all kicks off tonight with “The Heroic Ones” and continues next Saturday with “The Generation Gap”. “The New One-Armed Swordsman” shows on October 18 with “Vengeance” completing the line-up on October 25 .

_ For details, see www.cmclassic.tv.