The distinctive balletic interpretations of martial arts films could be witnessed in the work of King Hu (1932-1997), chiefly in 1969's A Touch Of Zen (Xia nu), The Fate of Lee Khan (1973) and 1974's epic The Valiant Ones, or the superlative philosophical swordplay thrillers directed by Chu Yuan over at Shaws.
The martial arts films that were internationally revered star the charismatic Bruce Lee who died prematurely in the year 1973. However it is a series of three comedies that pointed to the development of a new cinematic era for Hong Kong, Michael Hui Koon-man, an erstwhile television personality and Shaw Brothers actor turned director helped supply a newfangled twist to the low-life Cantonese comedy Games Gamblers Play (1974), The Last Message (1976) and the raucous The Private Eyes, which centered humorously on the problems of survival in contemporaneous China.
Hui was a old hand in the studio and would form a bridge between the Hong Kong cinema veterans with their mainland backgrounds and a group of fresh new filmmakers many of whom have both international film school and television experience. These younger filmmakers found that the stringent financial climate during the middle of the 1970's and the concomitant unadventurous nature on the part of the major studios blocked any hope of entering the industry. Directors such as Allen Fong with Song of Yuen Chau-chai and Foo Ji Qing in 1981 and proponent of the Hong Kong New Wave, Ann Hui with 1979's The Secret and the subsequent Boat People (1982) attempted films that spoke with some urgency to the situational life of Hong Kong while never forgetting the island's legacy of ancient culture and the lively grassroots industry where drug and embezzlement scandals became instant thrillers. As China opened up during the 1980s the paradigm would surely shift.