For the uninitiated, Wuxia is the term used for fantastical Chinese films- almost always kung-fu- that were huge in the 1970s. As the great IFC documentary of Chinese Cinema discussed, the thing was so big that directors would shoot three movies a day, alternating between breakfast, lunch and dinner. These films were almost all period pieces and full of men with weird, pointed side-burns. Stories dealt with love, revenge...and usually more revenge.
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I begin my week-long celebration of Chinese absurdist, action cinema with a film that has mostly been forgotten. It has gotten a re-release on DVD in the last couple of years, but that is not enough. I want this film to get some real notoriety for just how strange and fun it is. I bring you...
The movie begins in a sort of inauspicious fashion by trying to introduce about 100 characters in fairly quick succession. It feels a bit like if you ever read stuff in the Old Testament where one chapter is set aside just to explain the lineage of someone. If you can get past the long introductions and stodgy seriousness at first, you will find a much better film ahead. We learn that there is some sort of intrigue going on, but we won't find out what for a while. The big news is that, apparently, two of the greatest swordsmen ever are going to fight a duel to the death! This plot set-up will be used again in another film that I will review this week. We are introduced to a few main characters that will be important, two of which are the leads. One is a rich guy who never uses a sword- ever! He goes through the whole film fighting hand-to-hand, smirking all the damn time. The other one is a dopey, older guy who does most of the investigating. Of course, there are also the two swordsmen and ninety-nine other superfluous characters. Try to keep up!
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The movie is full of loads of both plot and action. The latter is quite good and varied amongst locations and combatants. You get some fighting in a temple, in a bar and outside. Swords, spears, arrows and nets all make appearances at some point. The plot leads our characters from one fight to another, even when the set-up is pretty weird. Take, for example, the bit where they are trying to find out who one of the conspirators is. They find where he was, but the man who saw him is dead. All he left behind was a group of clay figurines. Why? Because the man makes figurines of everyone he sees, of course! One of them is smashed, so our heroes go to another figurine maker in the hopes that he can fix it. They go to see him, but he is- wait for it- an impostor! Our heroes dispatch the assassin and do not get much farther with that lead. They do investigate a tomb where they run into more guys to fight. The pair agree to only fight the killers in certain colored outfits (yellow, red, etc.). Only in Wuxia does this ever happen!
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I will give you the whole ending part here because I earned the right- you know how confusing this is yet?!? Basically, some lower-ranked nobles want to assassinate the Emperor and take over. Their plan is to stage the amazing duel in order to lure most of his guards away. To make things worse, one of the two swordsmen is actually an impostor as well! They use some blackmailing tactics to force the real one to lead the assault. His wife is ill and, for some reason, he cannot just get the cure for her ailment himself. In the process of trying to find this out, our hero is nearly killed, but escapes thanks to some elaborate planning on his part. He manages to escape both a poisoning and an explosion! The fight between the real and fake swordsman goes on and the assault on the Emperor does as well. Our heroes manage to save their leader and help the swordsman out of his deal. We do get the real fight between the two swordsman, who fight 'blind' by flying at each other whilst separated by a large piece of cotton. Again, only in a Wuxia film. They make a point about how the men don't like their own reputations and what comes with it, but deal with it anyway. We get some Shakespearean death before the resolution. The End.
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This movie is good, but definitely not for everyone. It is a very plot-heavy film and features a few (read: a lot) too many characters. The action is good though, provided you enjoy the typical Wuxia stuff. People fly, but usually pretty low to the ground by Wuxia standards. The swordsman stuff is as absurd as ever, although it does not go nearly as far as some of the stuff you will see this week. People still fight at least a dozen at a time, never once being hit though. It is very steeped in Chinese traditions and that may turn some people off. Casual viewers will want to stick to some of the other stuff in this week's selection, but this is highly-recommended for hardcore HK Cinema fans. Good stuff.
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Up next, a tale of kidnapping, swordplay and...a transsexual? Stay tuned...
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