''The Prodigal Son'' (Chinese: 敗家仔) is a 1981

Hong Kong martial arts Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese culture, Chinese and Culture of Hong Kong, Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling an ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Yuen Biao Yuen Biao (born Ha Lingchun; 26 July 1957) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist and stuntman. He specialises in acrobatics and Chinese martial arts and has also worked on over 80 films as actor, stuntman and action choreographer. He was one of t ...

and directed by

Sammo Hung Sammo Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and Film director, director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreog ...

, who also co-starred and wrote with

Barry Wong Barry Wong (20 November 1946 – 16 October 1991), also known as Wong Ping-Yiu (黃炳耀), was a Hong Kong screenwriter, film producer and actor. He was hailed as one of the most prolific screenwriters of Hong Kong cinema penning scripts ...

. The film was released on 22 December 1981 and grossed HK$9,150,729. ''The Prodigal Son'' was nominated for two

Hong Kong Film Award The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, act ...

s and won the award for Best Action Choreography. The film tells the story of Leung Chang, the son of a wealthy man who is half-heartedly studying kung fu. Leung Chang's lack of expertise forces his father to pay people to lose to him in fights. After Leung Chang discovers that his father has been deceiving him, he becomes inspired to study martial arts more seriously and attempts to convince a kung fu expert to take him on as a student.

Plot

Leung Chang is a young man in a wealthy family living in

Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...

in the mid-19th century. He is a martial artist trained by two instructors in his father's employ. He has fought over three hundred times in Foshan and won every fight, but unbeknownst to him, his father has arranged for his servant Yee Tung-choi to bribe Chang's opponents to lose to him in order to protect him. This has caused Chang to believe that he is a world-class fighter, but in truth he hasn't even mastered the basics of kung fu and any real fighter could easily defeat him. Everyone knows this but him, giving him the nickname "The Prodigal Son" behind his back, because of the money he is costing his parents who pay to keep him from getting injured. One night, three of Chang's friends attend a performance by the Lok Fung Lin

Chinese Opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

troupe. One of Chang's friends is attracted to the lead actress and asks her out on a date after the performance. She refuses, but he insists and even harasses her. She reveals herself to be a man,

Leung Yee-tai Leung Yee-tai was a Wing Chun master of the late Qing Dynasty. Background Leung Yee-tai had become associated with Tiandihui and anti-Qing Dynasty resistance. He was a strong boatman who steered a riverboat by pushing a long pole against the ri ...

, a master of

Wing Chun Wing Chun (Chinese: 詠春 or 咏春, lit. "singing spring"), sometimes spelled Ving Tsun, is a concept-based fighting art, form of Nanquan (martial art), Southern Chinese kung fu and close-quarters system of self-defense. In Mandarin, it is ...

. He beats up and humiliates Chang's friends. Chang challenges Yee-tai to a fight to avenge the insults to his friends. As usual, Yee Tung-choi tries to bribe Yee-tai to lose, but Yee-tai refuses, easily defeats Chang, and reveals the truth about his martial arts ineptitude to him. Chang, desiring to learn real kung fu, asks Yee-tai to teach him Wing Chun. Yee-tai refuses because he thinks Chang would probably misuse it, but Chang has his father buy the Lok Fung Lin troupe and gives himself a job as Yee-tai's personal assistant, insisting on following Yee-tai everywhere until Yee-tai agrees to teach him Wing Chun. This continues for six months. The Lok Fung Lin troupe travels to Canton. There, Yee-tai's Wing Chun skills are witnessed by Lord Ngai Fei, the son of a

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

duke, who is also a martial arts master and is hunting for a worthy opponent. Ngai forces Yee-tai to fight him. Ngai and Yee-tai are evenly matched until Yee-tai has an

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

attack. Ngai stops the fight and postpones it until Yee-tai is healthy and fit for it. It is revealed that Ngai is also a "prodigal son"; unbeknownst to him, his father has ordered his bodyguards to protect him from anyone who might beat him in a fight. However, their methods are more ruthless and brutal than the bribery employed by Chang's parents; they resort to assassination. During the night, Ngai's bodyguards and a team of assassins infiltrate the Lok Fung Lin theater, massacre the troupe, and burn down the theater. Yee-tai is having trouble sleeping because of his asthma, and he sees light reflected off an assassin's blade through his eyelids and reacts in time to escape along with Chang. The assassins think they died in the fire, as does everyone else. Yee-tai takes Chang to the home of his martial friend Wong Wah-bo. With Wah-bo's help, Chang finally convinces Yee-tai to teach him Wing Chun. Chang trains under both Yee-tai and Wah-bo; Yee-tai trains him in Wing Chun and Wah-bo trains him in freestyle fighting. Over time, Chang achieves proficiency in martial arts, but Yee-tai's asthma is worsening. Chang takes Yee-tai back to Foshan to see a doctor. There, Ngai learns that Yee-tai is still alive, and he visits him. Yee-tai reveals that Ngai's bodyguards have been assassinating everyone who might beat Ngai. The bodyguards murder Yee-tai. Ngai, horrified, has his bodyguards executed. Chang challenges Ngai to a fight. Using everything that Yee-tai and Wah-bo taught him, he manages to beat Ngai.

Cast

Wong Wah-bo Wong Wah-bo was a martial artist and an opera singer of the late Qing Dynasty. Wong Wah-bo is a notable figure in development of martial art Wing Chun, which is known for its poorly documented history, and is recognized as being part of various co ...

as Leung Chang, known as

Leung Jan Leung Jan (born Leung Tak-wing; 1826–1901) was a Chinese martial artist and Wing Chun practitioner from Heshan, Guangdong. He was known in Foshan as ''Mr. Jan of Foshan'' and ''King of Wing Chun Kuen''. Leung Jan is one of the earliest well ...

Lam Ching-ying Lam Ching-ying (; born Lam Gun-bo (); 27 December 1947 – 8 November 1997) was a Hong Kong stuntman, actor, and action director. As a practitioner of martial arts Lam starred in a number of notable films that found recognition outside Hong Kong ...

Frankie Chan Frankie Chan Fan-kei (born 1951) is a Hong Kong-born Chinese martial artist, actor, film director, producer, action director, and composer. Chan is best known to Hong Kong action cinema fans as the main antagonist in Sammo Hung's '' The Prodiga ...

as Ngai Fei *Chan Lung as Yee Tung-choi *

Chung Fat Chung Fat was born on (December 2nd, 1953) and is a native of Guangdong, He is also a Hong Kong film actor, choreographer, producer and director. He primarily stars in jiangshi fictions and martial art movies . Performing experience Chung Fat ...

as Mr. Law *

Dick Wei Dick Wei (, born April 15, 1953) is a Taiwanese actor, director and writer who specializes in martial arts and action films. Early life and career A Hakka, he was born in the town of Pingtung in southern Taiwan and began studying martial art ...

as Mr. Suen *Wai Pak as Au Ru Kwai *Chin Yuet-sang as Kung fu teacher *

Hoi Sang Lee Lee Hoi-sang (born April 15, 1941) is a Hong Kong martial arts film actor and martial artist, known for his roles in ''The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'' (as Abbot Li Hai Sheng) (1978), '' Shaolin Challenges Ninja'' (1978), ''The Incredible Kung Fu M ...

as Kung fu teacher *

Wu Ma Fung Wang-yuen (22 September 1942 – 4 February 2014), better known by his stage name Wu Ma, was a Hong Kong actor, director, producer and writer. Wu Ma made his screen debut in 1963, and with over 240 appearances to his name (plus 49 directoria ...

as Brick Man * James Tien as Broken right arm fighter *Cheung King-bo as Troupe manager *Ho Wai-han as Twiggy *Chan Yau-hau as Leung Chang's father *Lin Jin as Leung Chang's mother *Wang Hsieh as Duke *Ding Yue as Magistrate *Cheung Hei as Doctor

Production

In ''The Prodigal Son'' the depth and framing of the shots were a radical change from the two-dimensional approach to filming that had been used in Hong Kong at this point.

Release and reception

''The Prodigal Son'' was released in Hong Kong on 22 December 1981. The film grossed a total of HK$9,150,729 at the Hong Kong box office. In the Philippines, the film was released by Season Films Universal on 11 January 1989. ''The Prodigal Son'' was released on DVD by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 ...

on 15 June 1999. It was later released again by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

in 2004 on DVD. At the 2nd Hong Kong Film Awards,

and

Billy Chan Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a youn ...

won the award for Best Action Choreography for their work in ''The Prodigal Son''. ''The Prodigal Son'' was nominated for the

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

and

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

(Hung) awards, but lost both awards to

Ann Hui Ann Hui On-wah, (; born 23 May 1947) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in Hon ...

's ''

Boat People Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...

''. In 2012, '' Time Out'' placed ''The Prodigal Son'' at number 54 on their list of Top 100 Hong Kong films.

Notes

External links

* * *
''The Prodigal Son''
at

Hong Kong Movie DataBase The Hong Kong Movie Database (HKMDB) is a bilingual (English and Chinese) website started in 1995 by Hong Kong resident Ryan Law to provide a repository for information about movies originating from Hong Kong and the people who created them. Th ...