Dance, Kick, Twist!

A healthy mind in a healthy body — but what if that body is dressed in unhealthily gaudy rags and flashy breakdance creations? This exuberant Hong Kong time capsule of 1980s lifestyle excess simultaneously terrifies with its hyperaffectation and triggers waves of cringe through earnest humor, yet regularly takes your breath away with phenomenal choreography blending street dance with kung-fu performed by the obscenely young Donnie Yen.

This year's mental health theme at Otrlci manifests largely through cinematic dives into the twisted minds of murderers and maniacs — which also applies to the most colorful and raucous film in the program, except this time fashion taste will be murdered and madness takes the form of youthfully reckless optimism.

Dance, Kick, Twist! is a breakdance kung-fu romantic comedy from 1980s Hong Kong. The film is an early work of martial arts choreography genius Yuen Woo-Ping and future megastar Donnie Yen — but don't expect the elegance of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the otherworldly battles of The Matrix, or the mature dignity of Ip Man. In spirit it comes closest to Yuen's slapstick kung-fu comedies with Jackie Chan as the Master's son (Drunken Master, 1978), but it positively revels in the garishness and bizarreness of the eighties.

Supposed peaks of period dramaturgical incongruity like Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) or Flashdance (1987) are left in the dust by the Hong Kong challenger, kicked up by an absurdly large boombox cassette player. There's no BMX biking here, but tennis is played, remote-control cars serve to de-escalate relationship crises, and breakdance mixes with kung-fu into displays of physical prowess that inspire fascinated awe despite the fashion hell the characters are wearing.