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| Pai Cheng-Tien (Hsiao-Tien Yuan) and Chien Fu (Jackie Chan) |
Went to see The Snake in Eagle's Shadow (1978) this afternoon. It was the first film playing in the Jackie Chan retrospective at the Munroe Film Center of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. It's about the deadly rivalry between the Snake and Eagle schools of Kung Fu.
The 35mm print was pretty faded with a yellowish-tan look overall, and had a fair number of scratches. So it was a bit of a grindhouse experience visually. But the reel(s) with the climactic fight at the end was in much better shape, which was very nice.
And, hey, it's Jackie in a great comic kung fu performance, the kind that would pretty much define his style for years to come, so I didn't really care all that much about these visual flaws. Plus it was directed by Yuen Wo-ping, probably best known to non-aficionados as the action director of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
All-in-all, it was a terrific experience, shared with a decent-sized and very enthusiastic, into it audience.
Complete information about the remaining films, showtimes, and ordering tickets for the thirteen film Jackie Chan retrospecte, which runs through Thursday, June 27th is available here.
