‘100 Yards’ Review – An Introspective Exemplification Of What Modern Kung Fu Cinema Should Be [TIFF 2023]

Directors Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng have on their hands a modern-day martial arts classic. Set in Tianjin sometime in the 1920s, 100 Yards focuses on Shen An (Jacky Heung) and Qi Quan (Andy On), two pupils of a wushu school, and the decision that must be made to settle on a successor for the school’s future. A private duel is fought between the two as their dying teacher watches and goads Quan on to defeat Shen An, the master’s son. Both men greatly desire the responsibility to lead the school, and in this duel, the expectations for what follows in terms of 100 Yards’s fight choreography are set.

We’re treated to magnificent camera maneuvers and fluid motions from all performers, each fight growing more dire in circumstance than any of the situations antagonists would ever let on. The loser of this duel will carry a grudge against the victor until another opportunity presents itself, but it is a grudge that changes qualities throughout the film in a wonderful display of depth that goes beyond mere jealousy or a desire for power. The feeling of pride in particular permeates the entire film and becomes the strength of Shen An, however its plans for Qi Quan are more complicated.

100 Yards is heavy on duels, but in featuring so many we see a level of respect pupils and teachers share between each other, and in contrast a lack thereof within the street gangs Quan hires to fend off Shen An. There is a level of honor agreed upon between the two warring martial artists, yet their approaches to their assumed power bring attention to their wildly uneven incongruencies. This becomes detrimental to Qi Quan, revealing that his obsession with uncovering this secret form is based entirely on rumor. With An not wanting to take over the school, he’s compelled to stop Quan, hell-bent on trying to understand Quan’s true motive for defending his stewardship to the circle so fiercely.

The wushu school has developed a protective circle surrounding 100 yards of the property, meaning that if any student or member of the circle were targeted and/or harassed within this boundary, the members of the circle would intervene. Outside of the circle, gangs and other dubious figures threaten the safety of others regularly. Although Shen An does face defeat in the opening duel for leadership of the school, he remains within the circle and catches the eye of a slingshot gang who fires warning shots of dust at him. Quan begins to align the school with street gangs that operate outside of the circle’s influence, drawing ire from the school’s governing members and distrust from Shen An personally.

What follows from here is the classic approach in martial arts films that obsesses over justifiable revenge. Haofeng taps into golden age kung fu influences wisely, evoking stylistic qualities that filmmakers like Chang Cheh or King Hu brought to the genre, utilized through the interpretations of people like Wong Kar-Wai (whose film The Grandmaster Haofeng co-wrote), but with a separate understanding all its own of the world it inhabits.

The look of 100 Yards in its cinematography and staging highlights a quality not unlike that of a fable with its excellent dramatic use of light, color, and shadow. In fact, at one point a character literally becomes locked in a tower, whom Quan extracts information regarding a highly-guarded secret fighting form. The frame is often permeated with some combination of the three in its dramatic sequences, but its fights receive similar gorgeous treatment — particularly a sequence in which Quan leads an ambush on someone he suspects in a bathhouse culminating in a stairway fight that displays staggering amounts of beauty in choreography and production design. Its classic yet revisionist feel is immediately reminiscent of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin, and almost as captivating.

The fight coordination is a delight, however, its multitudinous use of weapon combat is the true highlight of the action. The film is also not quite as self-serious as it’s made out to be here. A series of duels during the film’s climax does recognize the humor in the sheer advantage Shen An holds over a slew of hired fighters, who fight him one by one. After each one falls a medical team of sorts waits nearby with multiple stretchers, ready to transport the fallen to the closest source of medical attention. It’s funny to think that Shen An’s adversary planned this much ahead to provide such a service for his employees and that Quan expected a number of his warriors to be overwhelmed. The film ends where it begins, in a duel between the two with conditions of the future of the wushu school hanging in the balance. But its earnest nature of simplicity cannot be ignored or unappreciated, and its introspective nature evolved so carefully from martial arts classics from the past provides the perfect final piece to the puzzle of what modern period kung fu film could and should be.

100 Yards held its International Premiere as part of the Centrepiece section at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. 

Directors: Xu Haofeng, Xu Junfeng

Writers: Xu Haofeng, Xu Junfeng

Rated: NR

Runtime: 108m