Overview: Ti Lung reprises his role as outlaw martial arts hero Wu Song for Chang Cheh’s spinoff/prequel to THE WATER MARGIN (1972). Both THE WATER MARGIN and DELIGHTFUL FOREST are Shaw Brothers-produced screen adaptations of chapters from the literary classic “The Water Margin.” This was China’s first complete wuxia novel.
DELIGHTFUL FOREST focuses on Wu Song’s exploits leading up to his branding as an outlaw. It begins with Wu Song tracking down and killing the second of two men responsible for his brother’s murder. He willingly turns himself over to the authorities and is sentenced to prison. Due to his past heroic exploits and renown as a skilled martial artist, Wu Song is shown favor by the prison warden. The warden’s son (Tien Ching) convinces Wu Song to help him deal with a thug named Chiang Chung (Zhu Mu) who has been bullying and extorting business owners in a bustling commercial district known as The Delightful Forest. Wu Song agrees to take on Chiang Chung on condition that he is allowed to have a drink at every tavern along the journey. Wu Song arrives drunk but willing and able to defeat Chiang Chung in a fight. Chiang’s boss Chang Meng-fang (Chiang Nan) invites Wu Song to his home and sets him up to look like a thief. Wu Song is sentenced to exile but Meng-fang sends men to ambush and kill Wu Song on the road. Wu Song defeats them and returns to kill Meng-fang and his lackey.
This is one of Chang Cheh’s earliest films to incorporate noteworthy amounts of what the kung fu fandom community would refer to as “shapes” fighting, or traditional kung fu forms. Most of Chang’s previous films contain fight choreography modeled largely on Japanese chambara films, Hollywood stage fighting and Chinese opera. From this point on, most of Chang’s period martial arts films featured similar southern fist fighting adapted from the southern Shaolin fighting techniques practiced by the likes of action directors Lau Kar-leung and Leung Ting.
AKA: Fai wut lam, Kuai huo lin,《快活林》
Genre: Kung Fu, Wuxia
Companies: Shaw Brothers
Release Date: September 20, 1972 (Hong Kong)
Producer: Runme Shaw
Director: Chang Cheh, Pao Hsuen-li
Action Director: Tang Chia, Lau Kar-leung, Lau Kar-wing, Chen Chuan
Cast: Ti Lung (Wu Song), Tien Ching, Zhu Mu, Yu Feng, Chiang Ling, Chiang Nan
