You should
probably bring a pad for notes if you watch a film directed by Chor Yuen,
scripted by Ni Kuang, based on a story by Gu Long and with the word "clan"
in the title. You know it will be a cascading confusing story of clans with
various wonderful names that mean nothing to you. Trying to keep it all straight
can be complicated. Chor Yuen loved these types of films because they allowed
his imagination to go wild. No more than in this brilliant wuxia that doubles
as a murder mystery. He brings in character after character to keep the narration
moving along and keep the viewer guessing. The Sherlock Holmes of the story
is Chu Liu-hsiang played by a charismatic Ti Lung with a ready smile and
a twinkle in his eye. Over 200 films were based on either the novels
or scripts of Ni Kuang. A huge variety of films from wuxia to drama to sci-fi.
Many of these for the Shaw Brothers beginning with One-Armed Swordsman for
Chang Cheh. He had a remarkable life. Left behind by his parents when they
migrated to Hong Kong, he joined the Chinese Army and was sentenced to jail
as a counter-revolutionary in 1956. He escaped and made his way to Hong Kong
where he began to write and write and write.
This has the usual Chor Yuen style - magical
artificial sets, beautiful strong women and elegant sword fighting - choreographed
by Tong Kai and his new partner (after years with Lau Kar-leung) Huang Pei-chih.
Even if you didn't know who the director was, it would take about one minute
to guess it was Chor Yuen because his style was so distinct. The head of
three clans are murdered by a mysterious man in red with a theatrical mask
on - one of his weapons of death is Magic Water that kills within seconds.
Liu-hsiang is entertaining two guests on his white nifty spacious houseboat
in which three young women serve him. What their relationship is not
clear. His nickname is Thief Master. His guests are the famous poet Monk
Wu Hua (Yueh Hua) and the head of the Beggar Clan (Tin Ching). Dinner is
interrupted by a boat that draws up with Kung Nan Yen from the Palace of
the Magic Water on it claiming that Liu-hsiang is the killer of the three
clan leaders and gives him one month to solve it. Or die. She is played by
Nora Miao in one of her very few Shaw films.
The rest of the film has Liu-hsiang running
down clues that lead him to one person and one fight after another. An assassin
(Ling Yun) has been paid to kill him and they keep meeting and fighting to
a draw. Like in any good mystery, witnesses turn up dead. Friends turn out
not to be friends. Everyone wants him dead because the rumor has been spread
that he is the killer. One of them is the daughter of one of the murdered
men played by Li Ching who has a deadly sword but a deadlier pout. It all
seems to stem from the death of a Japanese Ninja (Yuen Wah) years ago.
A portrait of an unknown women (Nancy Yen)
that all three clan leaders loved is also part of the mystery. The film keeps
you on your toes with all the twists and turns, the many characters, a hermaphrodite,
a lesbian love affair and betrayal all around. It is stuffed like a Thanksgiving
turkey with goodies. Showing up as the Princess of the Magic Water Palace
is Betty Pei Ti who had been in Chor Yuen's classic Intimate Confessions
of a Chinese Courtesan in which she had lesbian tendencies as well.
