The Reckless Cricket [奇門怪招爛頭蟀] (1979)
Starring Hon Kwok-Choi, Yau Chui-Ling, Lo Lieh, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Addy Sung Gam-Loi, Chiang Tao, Wong Shu-Tong, Lee Hoi-Sang, Ng Hong-Sang, Mak Wa-Mei, Lau Yat-Fan, Wong Ching-Ho, San Kuai, Kara Hui Ying-Hung, Chang Gam-Chai, Liu Hok-Ming, Lai Kim-Hung, Aai Dung-Gwa, Mama Hung
Directed by Kuei Chih-Hung
Expectations: I spent over a year working on the subs for this, I know pretty well what to expect!
I could attempt an objective review of The Reckless Cricket, but I would fail no matter how hard I tried to compartmentalize my experience with this movie. There’s no way for me to look at this as “just another Shaw Brothers movie.” For those unaware, I set myself along the path of attempting to create my own English subtitles for The Reckless Cricket in March 2024, and I have been hard at work on them since that time. I’ve seen every scene of this movie frame-by-frame multiple times; I know the lines and the story so well, I can now watch it without subtitles! So while I can’t really be objective, I will do my best to offer my unique impression of the movie, as always.
The Reckless Cricket tells a very basic story of our main character, Lan Tau-Seot AKA Reckless Cricket (Hon Kwok-Choi), and his struggle to marry Zyu (Yau Chui-Ling). The name “爛頭蟀, laan tau seot” is Cantonese slang for someone who refuses to give up; no matter how much the odds are stacked against them, they will fight until the bitter end. Our hero is the epitome of this, leading to a variety of comedic situations where his headstrong nature gets him into trouble. His call to action comes when he visits his father-in-law’s home to wed Zyu. Instead, he finds another suitor has his father-in-law’s favor, an effeminate man named 蛇形刁手 se jing diu sau (the Chinese title of the 1978 Jackie Chan film Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow). He’s unable to defeat the Snake, so he vows to learn real kung fu instead of relying on the “Cricket skills” he picked up on his own.
There are obvious parallels between this character and myself, plowing ahead into a translation of a language I had no substantial knowledge of. I’m well aware that I have no business doing such a thing, but I also knew that with my determined personality, my desire to learn, and my inner librarian spirit, I might be able to pull it off with the right resources. 16 months later when I finally watched The Reckless Cricket straight through for the first time, the film’s message struck me in a way it never did while working on the film at a detail level.
Throughout the movie, many people tell Cricket to “eat some late night congee,” Cantonese slang for practicing kung fu late into the night. Cricket eventually does put in the time, and is rewarded for his efforts. I should’ve seen it coming, but focusing on individual moments I never digested the larger narrative. It’s literally how the majority of kung fu movies go, but he starts as such an incompetent fighter I never considered that he’d achieve his goal by training like traditional kung fu heroes. I just sort of assumed he’d win by other means. To see him overcome his obstacles by working hard felt especially powerful to me, and a fitting end to my subtitle journey. I don’t expect anyone else to have this specific reaction to The Reckless Cricket — it certainly isn’t a dramatic powerhouse — but I did.
Comedy, like beauty, will always be in the eye of the beholder. Generally, HK comedy doesn’t seem to resonate with most Western fans. So I don’t expect most people will find The Reckless Cricket to be their cup of tea. I obviously knew when the jokes were coming (at least the ones I caught in the translation), but I still laughed and had a huge smile on my face through the film. After working with it so long I knew I’d enjoy it, but I was still overcome by just how much fun it was. The accompanying elation of just seeing the fruits of my labor helped, too, but it wasn’t just that. The movie moves at a quick pace through its episodes, with each new struggle delivering something unique. “Episodic” is generally used in a negative way in regards to films, but in this case I think it works to the film’s benefit. Each episode leads into the next, like a great serial, with Cricket meeting new characters and getting into new troubles. It’s episodic, but with a through line that keeps it on track.
The Reckless Cricket should be viewed as a comedy above all else, but the action does escalate in quality over the course of the movie, mirroring Cricket’s growth as a fighter. It’s never “pure action,” though — it doesn’t excite in the way traditional action does — and it’s more overtly comedy than anything generally defined as a “kung fu comedy.” That being said, I was still surprised by the choreography and how they were able to vary Cricket’s techniques to show multiple styles alongside the jokes. Don’t go in expecting Jackie Chan; this is more like if The Three Stooges made a kung fu movie, but there’s only one stooge. Like I said, I expected him to eventually win by other means, perhaps talking his way out of a fight or something, but to see him just go to town in full-on Reckless Cricket mode was really fun. A lot of this works because Hon Kwok-Choi is a genuinely good physical performer. I assume he was trained in some kind of Chinese opera, as his acrobatic abilities are quite strong (or he was well doubled). His ability to make wild faces also adds a lot of comedic charm to scenes that might fall flat otherwise.
There’s a lot of talent in the trio responsible for the choreography, too: Hsu Hsia, Wong Shu-Tong, and Addy Sung Gam-Loi. Hsu Hsia was the most accomplished, starting as a stuntman in the mid ’60s and eventually going on to direct a number of Shaw films in the ’80s like Lion Vs. Lion and Kid from Kwangtung. He also worked a lot with Yuen Woo-Ping, co-directing action with him on The Invincible Armour, Broken Oath, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master! Wong Shu-Tong plays the Snake in Reckless Cricket, and he was also a background actor and stuntman through the ’60s and ’70s at Shaw & Golden Harvest and in independent films. He also choreographed Tsui Hark’s debut The Butterfly Murders and was the assistant director for the Yuen Clan movie Taoism Drunkard, in addition to some other action directing credits. Addy Sung Gam-Loi plays the Southern Fist, Northern Leg character in Reckless Cricket, and is another actor who featured in tons of ’70s HK movies in the time-honored roles of “Thug,” “Bandit,” etc. He went on to direct action in a number of independent movies in the late ’70s/early ’80s. I’m not familiar with most of the titles, but Kung Fu from Beyond the Grave stands out. He also directed four movies of his own in the late ’80s & early ’90s, and was apparently an accomplished Cantonese opera player who returned to that after his film career was over.
The Reckless Cricket might not be the West’s cup of tea, but it did fairly well at the time in Hong Kong. It placed #41 (out of 100) amongst local films with HK$1.195 million. This puts it above Venom Mob films like The Kid with the Golden Arm, The Magnificent Ruffians, and The Daredevils, as well as Tsui Hark’s debut The Butterfly Murders, John Woo’s Last Hurrah for Chivalry, and King Hu’s Legend of the Mountain. In fact, out of the 23 Shaw films on my list for 1979, Reckless Cricket comes in at #11.
In any case, I had a great time researching, translating, and eventually watching The Reckless Cricket, and I hope anyone who watches it is able to find some joy with it as well. It’s meant as a fun diversion, a send-up of many popular kung fu films of the era, and in my opinion it succeeded very well.
If you read this and still want more Reckless Cricket content, make sure to check out How (and Why) I Translated The Reckless Cricket, as well as my Translation Notes for my subtitles. You can also find the movie with my subs by visiting here, or watch it on YouTube!
In related tidbits, while researching the film I also stumbled upon three other films with a character named 爛頭蟀 Lan Tau-Seot. The first was the main character played by Chan Kam-Tong (described as 烂头蟀左嵩 “Reckless Cricket” Zo Sung on Chan’s Chinese Wiki entry) in the 1955 Cantonese film The Blood-Stained Swords of Shaolin (血洗少林刀). Next were a pair of Kwan Tak-Hing Wong Fei-Hung movies! The first was Sek Kin’s character in the 1957 film, Wong Fei-Hung, King of Lion Dance (黃飛鴻獅王爭霸) [available without subs on YouTube!], followed by Simon Yuen’s character in the 1969 film, Wong Fei-Hung in Sulphur Valley (黃飛鴻浴血硫磺谷) [also available on YouTube without subs]. I bring these up to say that perhaps this type of character had existed in films prior, and that director Kuei Chih-Hung and screenwriter Sze-To On were consciously bringing back an element of previous Cantonese films. I believe they did this previously with 1976’s Mr. Funny Bone. Obviously I’m not sure, but Sze-To On also wrote Wong Fei-Hung in Sulphur Valley so maybe? In Pleco’s CCCanto dictionary it notes that laan tau seot is “someone who fights ferociously, especially a gangster,” so it could also be that Reckless Cricket is a comedic spin where previous incarnations are more sinister. Anyway, just thought this was interesting!
Next up in this chronological journey through the Shaw Brothers Martial Arts catalog is Chang Cheh’s second film of 1979, Shaolin Rescuers! See ya then (hopefully without another 17-month gap 😛 ) Should be quicker, I don’t have to translate this one. Hmmm, it was originally produced in Cantonese… maybe I should!