One of the
benefits about these historical epic films from the Shaw Brothers is that
it sends me off to Wikipedia to see how much of it is true and to understand
its historical significance. I knew as much about the Shang Dynasty as I
do about the infinitely expanding universe. Now I know a little bit. A fraction
of a fraction but at least enough to put this film into its place in Chinese
history. It existed from about 1600 BC and ended about 1000 BC. They are
the first Chinese dynasty in which there are written records about them from
the time that were found in burial sites and other excavations. They made
strides in math, bronze, ceramics and came up with a 360-day calendar. But
much of their history is very murky and unknown. What seems to be agreed
upon is that the dynasty came to a crashing end when King Di Xin became so
unpopular that the Zhou army from the west under King Wu gathered enough
forces to overthrow him in the Battle of Muye. And that is pretty much the
extant of my knowledge on the subject.
How does that fit into this film? Well,
a little bit. Most of it is fiction but this is about the end of the dynasty
and the conquest from the west. This is a Shaw co-production with Korea and
like all the Shaw epic films it has lavish sets, wonderful period costumes
and tons of extras. It ends with the Battle of Muye and it is a big set-piece
with hundreds of extras charging the walls and the city burning down. But
this isn't really the gist of the story. They bring it down to a personal
level in which a woman badly wronged seeks revenge. And by doing so brings
down the Shang Dynasty. The power of a beautiful woman. The power of Linda
Lin Dai. She was Shaw's biggest star in a series of weepies and operas. She
glistens in this film and glides rather than walks so gracefully. Unfortunately,
she was to commit suicide after the completion of the film and this was released
after her death. In a way it signified the changing of the guard among the
actresses. Among the dancing girls in the film was Shaw's future. A more
eagle-eyed observer than me on HKMDB identified Cheng Pei-pei, Chin Ping,
Li Ching, Margaret Hsing Hui, Fang Ying, Angela Yu Chien, Alison Chang Yen
and Lili Li.
In this she is Tanji, the daughter of a
tributary (Tien Feng) to the emperor Zhou. When floods damage his region,
he is unable to pay a tribute bringing about the wrath of the Emperor who
then kills him with his own sword. The Emperor is played by Korean Shin Young-kyun
with an annoying lack of subtlety. I expect it must be the fault of the dubber
but every line is belted out and he is constantly maniacally laughing louder
than a locomotive. He only stops laughing on occasion to kill someone and
then begins laughing again. He does much more ogling than ruling. With all
those dancing women, can you really blame him.
With her father dead, Tanji wants to kill
herself but her maid Zhiyan (Pat Ting Hung) stops her by saying - before
we die, let us get revenge. Zhiyan is the brains and Tanji is the bait and
the beauty. They move to the palace and put their plan in motion. Seduce
the Emperor, kill off his top advisor, make him love you so much that he
ignores his duties and spends enormous amounts of money on you thus bankrupting
the country. Tanji is all flirts and smiles, playing games with him, taking
a bath for his viewing pleasure. It works. The hunk in the film is a man
she bonded with before all this took place by playing the qin together. He
turns out to be the son of the Viscount of the West who has been imprisoned
and tortured. Ji Ha is played by another Korean actor, Nam Koong-won. This
is not an opera as some sources state - a solid palace drama that takes off
near the end. It is directed by Yueh Feng.
Tanji is based on a real character named
Daji who was a courtesan of Emperor Zhou. History though has given her a
much more interesting story than this film does. She was later considered
a fox spirit who seduced the Emperor and drove him crazy with sex. I wonder
if there have been other films or TV that get closer to her story whether
fiction or true. This is what Wikipedia has to say about her.
"King Zhou became extremely infatuated with
Daji and started to neglect state affairs in order to keep her company. He
used any means necessary to ingratiate himself with her and please her. Daji
liked animals, so he built her a zoological garden with several rare species
of birds and animals. In addition, he ordered musicians to compose and choreograph
lewd music to satisfy her musical tastes. He also constructed his "pond of
alcohol" and "forest of meat" specifically for Daji. At one point, King Zhou
gathered 3000 guests to his wine lake. He allowed the guests to play the
cat and mouse game nude in the forest to amuse Daji. When one of King Zhou's
concubines, the daughter of Lord Jiu, protested, King Zhou had her executed.
Her father was ground in pieces, and his flesh fed to King Zhou's vassals.
Daji also enjoyed torture and executions,
and would reportedly laugh at every execution. According to stories, she
also appeared to be quick to torture. At one point, she noticed a farmer
walking across ice barefoot, and so she ordered his feet cut off to understand
why he was resistant to low temperatures. In another story, Daji had a pregnant
woman's belly cut open so that she could find out herself what happened inside.
Bi Gan, King Zhou's uncle, reportedly received an unfortunate end at Daji's
hands by having his heart cut out and examined to determine if the ancient
saying of "a good man's heart has seven apertures" was true.
Daji was best known for her invention of
a method of torture known as the Bronze Toaster. This is described as a bronze
cylinder covered with oil heated like a furnace with charcoal beneath until
its sides were extremely hot. The victim was forced to walk on top of the
slowly heating cylinder, and he was forced to shift his feet in order to
not burn. The oily surface made it difficult for the victim to maintain their
balance, and if the victim fell into the charcoal below, they would be burnt
to death.
Daji was executed on the orders of King
Wu of Zhou after the fall of the Shang dynasty".
Not quite the Tanji of the film. If only.
Some of these bits find their way into the film - eating human flesh and
having a heart cut out - but in the film at the bidding of the King. This
needs a remake.
