Rating: 3.5/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2024 | 48/52 | John Woo
A fool's bravery can bring down the entire kingdom. An unjust heart can only do evil with the sword.
Folks gather at the Kao Villa to celebrate Lord Kao Pang’s marriage. Suddenly, a stealth of ninjas forms at the entranceway. Following behind is Pak Chung Tong, a sworn enemy of Kao Pang’s father. Though uninvited, Pak unveils a present for the young Lord: a pig’s head. A fight breaks out. The blood of swordbearers from both sides paints the walls of the villa. Kao Pang fights his way through, but his men knock him unconscious so they can take him to safety.
While Grandmaster Chen Guan Wu tends to Kao Pang’s wounds, Kao Pang vows vengeance. Chen Guan Wu won’t let him fight in his condition. Instead, the Grandmaster encourages him to hire the Divine Blade, Chang San.
Kao Pang tails Chang San to observe his mettle. They observe Chang San protecting children, caring for his mother, and fighting on behalf of Tsing Yi. But when a traveling swordsman named Pray challenges Chang San, Chang San runs. Kao Pang approaches Pray with an offer, setting off a complicated game of deception, revenge, and honor.
Before John Woo became known in Hong Kong for his heroic bloodshed films, he made this film as a tribute to his mentor, Shaw Brothers director Chang Cheh. Woo’s choice to make a wuxia pian in the age of kung-fu films was unfashionable, especially for Golden Harvest, who released the film. But Woo had already made a name for himself as a young director who knew how to transform genre.
Here, we see several of Woo’s preferences: a heroic duo, high body counts, and graphic violence. Though present in Cheh’s films, Woo also draws from Sam Peckinpah and Akira Kurosawa. Woo lets the camera roll to convey fully the actor’s skills.
With so many fight sequences, several have fun set pieces to help them stand out. For example, Tsing Yi is an avid wine drinker, drinking from a pot of wine while taking out a hoard of men. In another fight, Chang San holds a flag to block hits from his opponent, and the flag gets shorter as the fight continues.
Though Woo’s hypermasculine (see homoerotic) take on wuxia loses some of what I enjoy about the genre, I still appreciate the inventive craftwork here and had a lot of fun.