King of Beggars

Infobox Film
name = King of Beggars


image_size = 180px
caption = "King of Beggars" DVD cover
director = Gordon Chan
David Lam
producer =
writer = Kin Chung Chan
narrator =
starring = Stephen Chow
Cheung Man
Ng Man Tat
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = 1992
runtime = 101 min
country =
language = Cantonese
Mandarin
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0100963

"King of Beggars" is a 1992 Hong Kong comedy film directed by Gordon Chan and David Lam, starring Stephen Chow, Cheung Man and Ng Man Tat.

ynposis

So Chan is the lazy son of a rich general during the Ming period of China. Though illiterate and largely clueless, he excels at martial arts. While attending a brothel, he falls in love with Yu Shang, a prostitute who dares to treat him rudely. He competes for Yu Shang's services with Chui, a powerful magician and courtier. In doing so, So Chan inadvertently foils Yu Shang's attempt to assassinate Chui for killing her father. In order to get rid of So Chan, Yu-Shang agrees to marry him if he can become the most powerful martial artist in China.

To win Yu-Shang's hand, So Chan enters the trials to become China's Scholar of Martial Arts. His father helps him cheat his way through the written exam, while So Chan's martial arts expertise carries him through the physical tests. Just before the Emperor grants him the position, however, Chui reveals that So Chan is illiterate, proving that he cheated in the written exam. The outraged Emperor decrees that So Chan and his father be stripped of their possessions and remain beggars for the rest of their lives.

So Chan's life on the street breaks him physically and emotionally. After his father signs them up for the Beggar's Guild, he is humiliated to find himself reunited with Yu-Shang, whose family runs the Guild. He spends most of his time sleeping, but makes some attempts to learn to read and write. After a wise and elderly beggar attempts to cheer him up, So Chan has a dream in which the spirit of an ancient beggar teaches him a new style of martial arts that allows him to fight while asleep. When Yu-Shang is captured by Chui, So Chan cons the Beggar's Guild into becoming their new leader. His improved literacy allows him to learn 17 new stances from the beggars' ancient martial arts manual.

Chui attempts to use Yu-Shang as a puppet to assassinate the Emperor. So Chan leads his beggar army to thwart Chui and save Yu Shang. As the beggars attack the rebels, So Chan rescues Yu Shang just before the Emperor's guards can kill her. He then faces Chui in single combat, using his sleeping style and all 17 stances he learned from the beggars, but they prove insufficient. When Chui summons a magic wind, So Chan realizes that the beggars' manual forms a flipbook that animates the secret 18th stance. So Chan destroys Chui and saves the Emperor.

When asked to name his reward, So Chan choses to remain the King of Beggars. The Emperor worries that So Chan has too much influence, but So Chan reminds him that as long as the Emperor governs well, there will not be enough beggars under So Chan's influence to pose a threat. Years later, So Chan and Yu-Shang support their large family by using an imperial seal to force rich people to give him money.

Cast

* Stephen Chow as So Chan
* Sharla Cheung as Yu-Shang
* Ng Man Tat as General So
* Norman Chu as Chui
* Wai Lam as Seng Ko Lin-Chin
* Peter Lai as Uncle Cheng
* Yuen King-Tan as Madam Pimp
* Chan Pak-cheung as Minister of Justice
* Lawrence Cheng as Professor

External links

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