Overview: This is Chang Cheh’s second teen drama and is decidedly more upbeat than DEAD END (1969), the film that introduced stars David Chiang and Ti Lung. This time, the screen duo is joined by THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG star Chen Kuan-tai in a story of rival teen sportsmen competing for love and popularity at a Hong Kong high school. While lacking the bloody violence and dark tone of Chang’s better known martial arts films, YOUNG PEOPLE has just about everything else to offer including comedy, dancing, singing, basketball, kung fu, and go cart racing.
The film is less plot driven and more a series of musical and sporting vignettes that are loosely strung together by the interactions of three different cliques in a high school. It begins with a young girl named Po-erh trying out to join her school’s music and dance club which is run by Hung Wai (David Chiang), a teen drummer.
The focus shifts to Lam Tat (Ti Lung), captain of the basketball team, and his growing rivalry with Ho Tai (Chen Kuan-tai), head of the martial arts club. Fueling this discord is Princess (Irene Chan), Ho Tai’s fickle girlfriend who is only interested in dating the school’s most popular athlete. With Ho Tai leading his team in the school’s championship game, she loses interest in Ho Tai. Despite this, Ho Tai uses his knowledge of traditional Chinese orthopedics to reset a dislocated knee that Lam Tat suffers during the game. This helps Lam Tat’s team win the game.
Meanwhile, the music and dance club is bullied and looked down on by both the jocks and the martial artists. When the club’s morale begins to suffer, Hung Wai reveals that he is the son of a famous martial artist and offers to train them in how to defend themselves. This doesn’t sit well with Po-erh who has a crush on Hung Wai and would rather be spending more time with him.
Ho Tai gets his chance to shine when he enters an intramural martial arts competition. During his match with the current champion, he starts to lose which prompts Hung Wai to offer helpful ringside advice. This helps Ho Tai win. Princess subsequently dumps Lam Tat for Ho Tai again which prompts the basketball champ and his teammates to pick a fight with Ho Tai and his fellow martial artists. Hung Wai and his music club pals step in to settle the dispute and they all become friends.
The three young men next enter a go cart race. Feeling indebted to their new friend, Ho Tai and Lam Tat agree to team up to help Hung Wai win the race. After the race is over, the film closes with another musical number featuring Hung Wai on drums and Po-erh singing.
Agnes Chan, who plays Po-erh, was a rising pop star in Hong Kong at the time. The first song she performs in the film is her first hit single, a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “The Circle Game.” It was recorded as a duet with her sister Irene Chan, an actress who plays the other girl in the film who keeps switching boyfriends. Agnes went on to co-star in another Chang Cheh film, THE GENERATION GAP, while Irene appeared in Chang’s SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS. Sharp-eyed viewers may spot future Shaw Brothers star Alexander Fu Sheng as one of the music and dance club extras.
AKA: Nian qing ren, Nin heng yan《年輕人》
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Martial Arts, Musical
Companies: Shaw Brothers
Release Date: July 7, 1972
Producer: Run Run Shaw
Director: Chang Cheh
Action Director: Tang Chia, Lau Kar-wing
Cast: David Chiang (Hung Wai), Ti Lung (Lam Tat), Chen Kuan-tai (Ho Tai), Irene Chan (Princess), Agnes Chan (Po-erh), Wang Chung, Wu Ma (Gao)
