Saturday 8 February 2014

18: Another Path (2.06)

1978; 49 minutes
Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written by Nicholas Corea; Produced by Nicholas Corea
Directed by Joseph Pevney

Stormy night and David is on the road.  Against the driver's consent he hitches a lift in the trailer of a heavy goods vehicle, unaware that a) there is an old Chinese man, Li Sung, in there sheltering also, and b) the driver is a bit of a sadist.  The trailer is actually a huge refrigeration unit and to teach David a lesson he switches it on, not realizing of course that David's alter ego will soon teach him a lesson...  

After the inevitable carnage the two stowaways discuss life, control, and meditation before joining up and heading to San Francisco where Li Sung began a philosophical group years before to teach people better ways through ancient techniques.  While he has been gone the student who took over has turned it into a more nefarious martial arts club and is holding the whole area to ransom.

Another Path appears to be an attempt to capture some of the limelight of the martial arts craze of the time.  David sticks around Li Sung because the meditative techniques that he teaches can possibly help to control the monster that lurks within.  Aside from the fact that the new club owner recognizes a deterioration of discipline consuming the culture in which he has grown up, the idea of a racket is a little boring, leading to an episode that engages the viewer less than it should.  This is unfortunately despite the core concept of non-technological, traditional approaches to overcoming or reversing physical problems being one of great interest.  A later follow-up episode brought David back into contact with Li Sung: The Disciple.

Number of Fists: **

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