Jimmy Wang-yu plays Hamlet in this Shaw Brother
wuxia from 1968. Or a version there of. At least for the first 80 minutes
of this 105 minute film before he turns into the Jimmy Wang-yu that we have
become familiar with by turning into Zatoichi. He does Zatoich proud. Three
years later Wang-yu as the One Armed Swordsman was to take on Zatoichi in
a film. But I found it frustrating getting there as for much of the film
he is a kung-fu master who just can't make up his mind - should he get revenge
or not, should he kill a man or let him go, should I leave or should I stay.
Come on. You are Jimmy Wang-yu. Of course, you get revenge. That is your
brand. This film came after he became a huge star with One-Armed Swordsman
and Golden Swallow in which he left bodies by the hundreds to rot on the
ground. And here he is dithering. Needless to say, this is not directed by
Chang Cheh who went for the body count from minute one but by Cheng Kang.
Kang was new to Shaw and would knock off a few solid martial arts films -
The 14 Amazons, The Twelve Golden Medallions and Killers Five over the next
few years. To Cheng's credit, as slow as this is to get to the action, he
delivers an unrelenting grim story to the end.
Jenshiau (Wang-yu) is a student of Master
Mui (Ching Miao) who runs a small school of martial artists. But he has the
Sword of Swords in his possession. In the opening scene, we see why it is
called that and why it is desired by everyone. His carriage with his wife
and daughter is attacked by a large group of men and he simply waves his
sword back and forth to vanquish them. That is my kind of sword. No fuss,
no muss. He is helped by Fang (Tien Feng), a stranger passing by. Or is he?
He becomes a student as well and clearly is trying to discredit Jenshiau
so that he becomes the Master's favorite and can be passed the Sword that
he desires. That has been his plan from the beginning.
But his plans fall apart and the Master
wisely gives the Sword to Jenshiau and makes him promise to deliver it to
a Hero who is fighting the barbarians to the North. Much of the rest of the
film is Fang trying to get the Sword by hook or crook or torture or kidnapping
Jenshiau's wife Bai (Li Ching). Everyone is telling him he has to be a man
and go rescue his wife and he keeps telling them no, my first priority is
to follow my Master's instructions. But he just never does. Damn man, you
have the Sword - go kill all the bad guys and save your wife. That never
occurs to him and it isn't until he is blinded by two well directed darts
that he decides to. Blind?
Yup but as a child reminds him, you can
still hear. Ah. He is soon catching mosquitos and have the children hide
and throws hats on top of their heads. And throws darts through petals falling
from a tree. Now he is ready to take on the zillions of villains and the
Sword. By the end, it is hard to move without stepping on a dead body. That's
more like it. Overall, a little disappointing. Shu Pei-pei who was an action
star in some films does none here and Li Ching has a pretty flower vase role.
Action choreography is from Lau Kar-leung and Tong Kai as they were transitioning
from Cantonese films to Shaw Brothers. They don't spare the blood.
