Films like The Kung Fu Instructor.

The Kung Fu Instructor (1979) reads as Sombre, breathless, measured kung-fu / shaw-brothers, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, intimate, measured. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

The Delightful Forest (1972) poster
1. The Delightful Forest1972

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The New Shaolin Boxers (1976) poster
2. The New Shaolin Boxers1976

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Victim (1980) poster
3. The Victim1980

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Long Riders (1980) poster
4. The Long Riders1980

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Shaolin Plot (1977) poster
5. The Shaolin Plot1977

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Pirate (1973) poster
6. The Pirate1973

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Disciples of Shaolin (1975) poster
7. Disciples of Shaolin1975

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Association (1975) poster
8. The Association1975

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Bodyguard (1979) poster
9. Bodyguard1979

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Tea House (1974) poster
10. The Tea House1974

Keeps the grounded, familiar shape and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

Shaft (1971) (1971) poster
11. Shaft1971

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Savage Five (1974) poster
12. The Savage Five1974

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

These are The Kung Fu Instructor’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

Find my film for tonight — 60 sec →