"How could someone so beautiful, be so deadly" - George Takei never said these words in the Star Trek episode "That Which Survives", but for some reason, my siblings and I thought he did, and would delight in repeating that line while trying out our best Sulu voices (he actually asked the Captain how people could be so evil, and mentioned that she was so beautiful). I only share this adolescent memory because that misquote can be appropriated and more aptly applied to the martial arts.
Seeing the fluid movements of a body trained in a deadly art was a thing of beauty... and awfulness... the damage to life and limb - stabbed, beaten, crushed, blood spilled by the buckets! And yet, there was a ballet there, with people floating, spinning, flipping, posing... beautiful but deadly.
Wuxia stories have been shared throughout the ages in China, and they were perfectly suited to the medium of film, which embraced the subject in a massive way with the production of
Burning of the Red Lotus Monastery in 1928 - a 27-hour Chinese epic released in 18 feature-length parts over 3 years (sadly the film is lost). Before that, there was the martial arts, samurai movie
Orochi (1925) from Japan. And shorts, like
Jiraiya the Hero (1921) about a magical Ninja who could disappear or turn himself into a giant frog. (a version of this tale was filmed in 1966 as
The Magic Serpent)
From powerhouse studios like the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. To powerhouse directors and actors - who gave us stories of oppressors and protectors. And acts of cruelty countered by acts of vengeance. They showed us the paths of inner harmony, spirituality, and self-control, as well as discord - born of jealousy, greed or political maneuvering. The martial arts was about honing -and inevitably- proving your skill, your art, in combat or tournament. It was about the legends and histories - All of these qualities you'll find in the 50 films you chose as the best of the best.