Shaolin Soccer

I couldn’t believe it when a friend reminded me of the film I’m about to talk about today. The truth is that we may not get to remember all the films we’ve seen on TV till much later in life. Like years and years later. So, it was with a lot of joy that my close friend and I reminisced on this film which was more or less the most epic Asian film of that time.

Shaolin Soccer (2001)

Directed by Stephen Chow, Shaolin Soccer is a Hong Kong sports comedy film that tells the story beginning with Fung who gets offered a bad check unknown to him for his team to lose. When that is done, spectators break his leg in a fit of anger. Two decades later, a mistreated Fung finds Sing, a Shaolin Kung Fu master whose classes are refused due to how dirty and poor he is. Somewhere else is Mui, a lady with severe acne who makes steamed buns using Tai Chi.

Fung soon discovers how talented Sing is and offers to coach him in Soccer. Sing, in turn, recruits his Shaolin brothers to join him in training. Although they seem pretty useless at first, they are finally able to harness their powers and eventually enter into the Open Cup Soccer competition. But now, they’re faced with opponents who have superhuman strengths and abilities. Can Kung Fu see them through?

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I think the most nostalgic moment for me was seeing Mui, the lady with severe acne. I remember how she constantly hid her face and looked down on herself, till she got that makeover, and then how she showed her true strength when she shaved her off and joined the guys on the soccer team to become their goalkeeper. Sorry, no spoilers, but I genuinely believe that there’s hardly anyone who hasn’t seen this production. Hehe.

I think I was about eight years old or less when I first did, and I kept asking my parents if it was possible for me to be enrolled in a Kung Fu class, so I would have all those skills and they assured me that it wouldn’t be like that at all. I was insistent and it was only when the boys in my class told me some mythical story about India beating Nigeria in a soccer match 99 goals to 0, that I realized it wasn’t wise to have skills so powerful and dangerous.

My friend, however, said he watched his purely for comic relief. I guess he was wise enough to clock it early that none of those abilities were real or even possible. So, it was easy for him to laugh it all off which wasn’t my situation, sadly. But besides the theatrics, effects, and obvious exaggerations, I think martial arts is a skill everyone should have in some form or the other, and the beauty of that was highlighted greatly in this film, at the beginning, middle, and most of all, at the ending.

So yeah, there’s not really too many big lessons to learn from this film, especially if you see it now. You may not even find it funny. But, it’s one of those epic films you’ll remember fondly. If not for anything, at least the sheer comedy of it all. Plus, the strong spirit of brotherhood, determination, and perseverance shines brightly. So, there you go. What are your fondest memories of Shaolin Soccer?

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