'Kung Fu Soccer' draws backlash over mocking caricature of Korean women's football team

Hong Kong’s film star and filmmaker Stephen Chow's latest comedy, "Kung Fu Soccer," has come under fire for its seemingly mocking portrayal of a fictional Korean women's football team.

The film, which opened on July 11, follows an underdog women's football team that uses traditional Chinese kung fu to capture the "Invincible Cup," a fictional women’s football tournament.

Though the nations of origin of non-Chinese teams in the movie are not specified, the caricatured squads are given nicknames that make their nationalities clear enough.  

The obviously Korean team is called the Ewha women's football team, whose name is identical to that of Ewha Womans University, a prestigious women’s university in Seoul.

The players on the Ewha women’s football team wear pink uniforms, Korean-style makeup and colored contact lenses, often worn by K-pop celebrities, to distract their opponents. Its players are also depicted using dishonest means such as bribery, insults, provocation and seduction to influence referees into making favorable calls.

There is even a scene where the team’s members shout in Korean, "Referee, please help us!"

Cultural stereotypes define other fictional teams. The Japanese team shows off ninja-like agility, the Indian team demonstrates yoga-honed flexibility and the Australian team fields buff players.

However, the Korean team is distinguished primarily by cheating and misconduct.

The controversy erupted after reviews by Chinese media outlets and online users began circulating in Korean film communities on July 13.

Chinese outlet Sina News published a review of the film on July 13 with the headline, "Director Stephen Chow delivers a sharp critique of the reality of Korean football." The review compared the Ewha women's football team to the villainous Team Evil in "Shaolin Soccer.”  

"Since the 2002 World Cup, Korean football has become infamous around the world for fouls and biased officiating […] The Ewha women's football team's style of play immediately brings the Korean national team to mind,” said the review.

The article also accused Korea of employing "underhanded tactics" in other sports, such as short-track and speed skating.

A Chinese user on Weibo, China’s social media platform, mocked the Ewha team, writing, "The Ewha women's team has no real strengths and relies solely on opportunism," adding that it was "clearly meant to represent the Korean team."

However, Chinese reactions haven't been entirely favorable.

Sohu News wrote that "Korean audiences who watch 'Kung Fu Soccer' will probably lose sleep over it," arguing that Chow's use of familiar Asian football rivalries and cultural stereotypes was one of the film's major shortcomings.

The outlet also noted that despite its record-breaking box office performance, the film's visual effects — reportedly accounting for nearly half of its 380 million yuan ($56 million) production budget — have drawn widespread criticism.

The film earned 260 million yuan on its opening day and set a record for the biggest opening ever for a summer release in China, according to Chinese media outlets such as The Paper and Guangming Daily.

The film has generated considerable buzz as a long-awaited follow-up to Chow's hit film "Shaolin Soccer" (2001) and his first directorial effort since "The New King of Comedy" (2019).

The new film’s release also coincided with the FIFA World Cup. As of Saturday afternoon, the film had grossed more than 1.2 billion yuan in China in eight days, according to Chinese outlet Jiemian News.

Media outlet The Paper said the film's "underlying patriotism" had translated into commercial success. Chow has long expressed support for Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, once publicly declaring, "I will always be Chinese."

The film has also received mixed audience reviews. The film had a rating of 6.5 out of 10 as of Sunday on Douban, a popular movie review platform in China.

While some viewers described it as lighthearted entertainment, many criticized the film for "a bizarre promotion of nationalism" and for looking "as if it had been hastily made with AI."

Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post dismissed the film as a stale movie with only the gender of the players changed from 'Shaolin Soccer.'"

"Chow’s films are known for their silly comedy, but this one wasn't funny at all,” a Chinese film student in Beijing told the JoongAng Ilbo. “It felt awkward and even embarrassing to watch. The film's worldview feels stuck several decades in the past. I’ve been to Korea before, but the [Korean] characters in the film are far too exaggerated."

The student also said public opinion in China has shifted since the film's release.

"It received a lot of praise at first, but negative reviews have increased as time has passed," the student said. "Whenever someone says the movie isn't very good, people flood the comments with excuses like, 'The entire theater was laughing,' or 'Those are malicious comments from fans of rival films.' Those responses have become something of a meme online."

"Kung Fu Soccer" is scheduled to expand its release to Hong Kong, Singapore and other overseas markets in August.

"No matter how fictional a movie may be, it is simply wrong to repeatedly insult Korean sports by portraying events such as short-track, speed skating and football in this way," Seo Kyoung-duk, a social activist and a professor at Sungshin Women's University, wrote on social media on Thursday.

Seo also pointed to the short-track film "Fly, the Light on Ice" (2022), released by the Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau in commemoration of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, noting that it had sparked controversy for portraying Korean athletes as habitually dirty players.

"The problematic elements should be corrected ahead of 'Kung Fu Soccer's' overseas release in August," Seo said. "The film should stop crossing the line with offensive portrayals that harm neighboring countries."

BY NA WON-JEONG [[email protected]]