Director: Wong Fung
Year: 1976
Rating: 7.5
Dubbed.
What a very nice surprise this 1976 kung-fu film turned out to be. Even
though there is really not a huge amount of action – and Angela Mao is only
in one lengthy fight – the production values are terrific and the story is
complex enough to be involving. The film was directed by Huang Feng - the
man who discovered Angela and directed a few of her films - and the action
choreography was from Sammo Hung – who also appears in a small role - and
Han Ying-chieh. The two of them teamed up like this a few times. The old master
and his protégé. And for historical purposes, let’s mention
that one of the extras and stuntmen was Jackie Chan well before his eyelid
operation. Some of the other minions who get involved in the action are Yuen
Wah, Billy Chan and Corey Yuen. The future of Golden Harvest is here.
The prologue states that Golden Harvest had
to travel to Nepal and Tibet to find the students from the Mi School who
still had the knowledge of a certain style of fighting to perform in the
film. Hmmm? I am not sure what that meant as nearly all the fighting is performed
by well-known actors from either HK or Taiwan, but certainly much of the
film appears to have been shot in Nepal and there are some lovely scenes
of the mountains and temples. In fact, one fight takes place on the steps
of an ancient temple which strikes me as a bit tacky – though admittedly
visually stunning.
A splendid festival takes place in which the
uncle of Angela's father is looking for a groom for her. He is played by
Han Ying-chieh and the father is Kwan Shan – the father of Rosamund Kwan.
A melodious Indian/Nepalese song is performed, a horse-racing contest takes
place where you have to spear a live chicken at the finish line and in which
Sammo participates - looking more like a pirate on the Seven Seas than anything,
and there is a little friendly martial arts contest between a prospective
groom and bride. That is an intriguing custom – sort of getting them prepared
for married life! After the festivities are over the young man (Ling Hon)
is asked if he would be willing to marry Angela. He is reluctant but his
brother accepts on his behalf. They will return later for the wedding.
Ling is in love with his cousin while Dorian Tan is in love with Angela.
He is a servant and has been Angela's kung-fu sparring partner since childhood
but he is not of high enough status to marry her.
The villain of the story – there always has to be one doesn’t there – is Chen Sing and he has other ideas for this happy day. He comes up with this complex plan to seize power and steal the wealth from Kwan Shan. It is his brother who has been chosen to be the groom but on the way to the wedding he kills him and replaces him with a double. The two of them get married and are fairly happy but somehow in all this time and one assumes the pleasures of the marriage bed, Angela never notices that the mark on his forehead that the dead brother had has been painted. Chen sets his devious plan in motion - he is truly evil in this one with that smile of his and willingness to kill anyone in his way. It is almost Shakespearean when it all comes crashing down. With the help of a servant/ plaything, Angela Wang (who gets topless and has a sex scene with Chen in the film) he murders his fake brother and brilliantly frames Angela for it and for having an affair with Dorian. Her father Kwan Shan is forced to sentence her to death – the method - being tied to a raft sent down the rapids!
Needless to say, she is rescued by Dorian and the two of them plot their
revenge. First though they realize that neither has the kung-fu skills to
defeat Chen and so they beg a Shaolin priest to teach them his skills that
seem to comprise primarily of . . . breath control. Yes that deadly
weapon – breath control! So the two of them spend hours trudging up and
down a hill carrying a load of rocks - and blowing against a piece of paper.
Finally, Angela is able to blow a hole through the paper and blow out a
row of candles - and they feel that they are ready to take on Chen! It’s
great for party tricks but I don’t really see how this prepared them for
a fight to the death. Strangely enough though, this blowing ability does
come in handy in a very odd wonderful way during the final fight.
This last fight is terrific and extended and
Sammo gets involved as a minion of Chen beating up the elderly Kwan Shan
which just felt cruel. Both Angela and Tan Tao show some stunning moves –
Tan Tao is a terrific kicker and delivers a blizzard of kicks - and Angela
performs a few flying kicks (one to poor Sammo) that are amazing. Overall
this is an excellent film though a lot more fighting from Angela would have
been welcome and the training period goes on for too long. There were a number
of other smaller fights as well. A lovely one between Chan Sing and a blackmailer
played by Tony Lou Chun-ku on the high steep steps of this gorgeous temple
and the blackmailer rolls down every one of them. The final freeze frame
of the film is a bit of a slap in the face – almost a social indictment of
the class structure. A good mix of drama and action and fabulous location
shooting.
