Return of the One-Armed Swordsman

Title: Return of the One-Armed Swordsman

Director: Chang Cheh

Released: 1969

Starring: Jimmy Wang Yu, Lisa Chiao Chiao, Chung Wa, Cheng Lui, Hoh Ban, Tien Feng, Ku Feng, Tung Li, Tong Gai, Lau Kar-wing, Lau Kar-leung, Yuen Cheung-Yan, Ti Lung, Wang Kuang-yu, Wu Ma, Fong Yau

Plot: Following on from the events of the first film Fang Gang (Wang Yu) the One Armed Swordsman has been living in peace with his wife, happily carving out a life for himself as a farmer. However its a short lived peace when the Eight Sword Kings a band of tyrannical sword masters arrive with plans to dominate the rival schools. Now recruited by the students of the local schools whose teachers have all been captured by the Eight Sword Kings, he must come out of retirement to stop them.

Review: Reuniting the original director and star of the Shaw Bros classic for this direct sequel to the original film which manages the rare accolade of being better than the original which spent most of its run time having Fang Gang trying to deal with losing his sword hand before mastering his left handed fighting style and ultimately defeating the long-armed devil.

With the setup handled by the first film director Chang Cheh wastes little time in throwing the audience into the action as we are quickly introduced to the members of the Eight Sword Kings who all come with their own unique weapon reflective of their name such as “Mighty Blade” who welds a giant to handed sword and “Thousand Blade” who is not only the only female member of the group but also welds numerous throwing knifes which she hides in the sleeves of her robe. The real strength of the villains of this film though is just how cunning they are with their planning, as they start by holding a tournament to capture and kill off the top fighters of the surrounding schools and essentially leaving them exposed. To further rub salt in the wounds of their enemies they demand that the students cut off their sword arms or risk their teachers being killed.

Of course despite all this happening Fang Gang is initially reluctant to pick up his sword again as he is content living a life of peace, only for the students to eventually convince him to take on the Sword Kings who soon come looking for him regardless as they dispatch the black and white swordsmen to take him out. From here though it seems that Sword Kings unleash a constant wave of henchmen at Fang Gang and the students as they make their way to the fort which the Sword Kings have captured for their base of operations as here Chang Cheh ramps up the energy of the film so that it feels that a fight scene is never far from happening at any given point in the film.

This increase in action and pacing really helps the film, especially when one of my main criticisms of the original film was just how plodding it felt throughout, which certainly isn’t an issue here, more so when the villains all have their own unique fight style making you wonder how Fang Gang will beat each one. At the same time many of these battles with the Sword Kings are mass brawls with numerous combatants fighting at the same time which somehow manages to still look clean without key characters being lost in the fray. For those who like their Kung fu bloody this film certainly has plenty to offer with the violence quota being cranked up from the first film and the heroes all dressing for some reason in white robes the violence is only accentuated where possible throughout the film and while you might think that you’d hot a point where seeing countless combatants being reduced to bloody heaps it surprisingly never comes.

While perhaps this might be far from the most subtle entry in the Shaw Bros. Catalogue its so much fun and packed with Chang Cheh’s usual style and energy that your hardly going to complain especially when it’s this much fun.

The One-Armed Swordsman

Title: One-Armed Swordsman

Director:  Chang Cheh
Released:  1967
Starring: Jimmy Wang, Lisa Chiao Chiao, Tien Feng, Angela Pan, Yeung Chi-hing, Tang Ti, Fan Mei-sheng, Wong Sai-git, Cheng Pooi-saan

Plot: Fang Kang (Jimmy Wang) a student at the Chi school of Golden Sword Kung Fu finds himself being driven away by a group of his fellow students in a confrontation that also cost him his arm. Developing a one armed style of swordplay he is soon called out of exile when he learns of a plot by the bandit Long Armed Devil (Yeung Chi-hing) to kill his master Qi Ru Feng (Tien Feng)

Review:  Another legendry Chang Cheh film this first “One-Armed Swordsman” movie would go on to inspire several sequels, a cross over with Zatochi while also being remade by Tsui Hark as “The Blade” in 1995. The film is equally noteworthy for being the first in a new breed of Wuxia movies which saw more of a focus on violent and frequently bloody swordplay something which this film more than delivers on. This film was also the first film to make over one million at the Hong Kong Box office.

From the start its clear that things aren’t exactly going well for Fang Kang seeing how his fellow student resent him for his poor background with his master having token him on as a student to repay Fang Kang’s father for sacrificing himself to save him during the opening attack by the bandit Long Armed Devil and his followers. Fang Kang however is as honourable as his father and makes plans to leave the school to avoid any potential trouble to his master despite the fact that Qi Ru Feng seeming has no problem with having his as a student.  

For some unknown reason Fang’s fellow student are not quite content with driving him out of the school as he runs into a trio of them while walking away from the school lead by his master’s daughter Pei Er (Angela Pan) who fail in their attempts to attack him but not before Pei Er cuts his arm off in a fit of rage. What is surprising about him losing his arm is that it’s not to the villain he will inevitably have to face in the finale but more of an accident seeing how the crucial blow is struck afer he refuses to first Pei Er.

Taken in by local peasant girl Xiao Man (Lisa Chiao Chiao) whose boat he falls into while staggering away from the fight which just cost him his arm and soon she will also proves to be the source of his redemption as he is forced into exile. Interestingly despite having every reason to set out on a quest for revenge against the student who cost him his arm Fang Kang instead chooses to focus on living a life of peace as he learns how to fish with one arm, while also with the help of a half burned manual develops a one armed swordfighting style to get him out his spiral of depression as he views himself as being a “useless cripple” which he no longer feels with this new and surprisingly stronger style while also making plans with Xiao Man to become a farmer.

Of course things don’t go to plan as Fang Kang finds himself having to rescue Pei Er from the bandits when they kidnap her, while he is ultimately set on course to return to his former school and save his master from Long Armed Devil. The twist here being that Long Armed Devil and his men have developed a sword which has a “Sword Lock” which cannot be beaten by the Golden Sword Kung Fu style. Of course Fang Kang now a left handed swordsman proves to be the one man who can defeat Long Armed Devil and his followers.

Chang Cheh once again really gives us something different with the fight scenes are these are far from frenzied hack em up’s with each fight scene being played like a violent game of chess with each competitor looking for their spots and the result gives them a much more intense feeling to them while looking stunning to watch, even if they don’t contain any of the artistic flair of a film like “Hero” while Cheh makes even the less skilled members of the cast somehow look good here.

While the plot could easily have turned this film into a simple tale of revenge, the journey which Fang Kang goes through here is really where the interesting aspects of the film lye. True the film does sag slightly in the middle and perhaps as a result it could have benefited from some trimming off the run time. Still this film’s status amongst the classics of the Shaw Bros. catalogue is well deserved and making it one certainly worth checking out.

Boxer From Shantung

Title: Boxer From Shantung

Director:  Chang Cheh, Pao Hsueh Li

Released:  1972

Starring: Chen Kuan Tai, David Chiang, Cheng Young Hip, Ching Li, Wang Ching

 

Plot: Ma Youngzhen (Tai) and Xiao Jiangbei are a pair of labourers from Shantung who are struggling to find ther fortune in Shanghai. However when Ma encounters the local crime lord Tan Si (Chiang) he finds himself using his fighting skills to rise through the criminal underworld ranks.

Review: When it comes to naming influential directors especially in Hong Kong Cinema, Chang Cheh should be at the top of that list especially when he directed close to 100 films for the equally  legendry Shaw Bros including many of their key titles including Five Element Ninjas, The One-Armed Swordsman and the Five Deadly Venoms.

Joining “The Sexy Killer” which memorably remade “Coffy, this film plays essentially like the kung-fu version of “Scarface” even though it was shot nine years previous to the release of that film. However unlike Tony Montana; Ma doesn’t set out with any kind of plan to be a crime boss as he refuses a hand out from the honourable crime boss Tan Si after impressing him with his fighting abilities.  In an unusual twist it’s actually his own good intensions which see him still being drawn into the dealings of the local underworld, while soon seeing Tan Si almost as a mentor figure especially when he start imitating Tan Si’s style right down to his trademark cigarette holder.

As Ma’s power and influence rises he sound finds himself being targeted by the hatchet welding mobster lead by Boss Yang whose territory Ma and his followers are moving in on, as Ma refuses to muscle in on any territories run by Tan Si out of mutual respect. This of course leads to several large scale confrontations which is where the film especially gets interesting as Chang Cheh uses some great cinemography to elevate the film being just another kung fu flick, especially when he gives us moments such as Ma being surrounded by a group of knife welding mobsters, only to turn the camera away at the key moment they strike, almost as if he is interpretating the audiences reaction and forcing them to look away from a potentially gruesome scene.  Ma of course is a martial arts powerhouse as he frequently takes on multiple opponents with little hassle.

The fight scenes throughout the film are all certainly memorable with the highlights here seeing Ma take on a towering Russian strongman while ending on an absolute high with the Tea house showdown which plays not unlike the Scarface finale with Ma taking on overwhelming odds as he battles up and down the two floors of the teahouse with most of the fight spent with a hatchet embedded in his torso in what might be one of the bloodiest fight scenes I have ever seen especially when the bodies just appear to be piling up on the floor of the teahouse, with Cheh constantly managing to find new and ever more inventive ways to maintain the hold he has over the audience as the sequence plays out.

Working with a much longer run time at two hours than your standard kung fu movie, this film also avoids the usual revenge seeking student learning new styles path to instead give us a tale of a man trying to find his way in the world and generally do the right thing which is clear from the start as we see Ma and Xiao being forced to sleep on the floor of an Inn because they can’t afford a room and yet neither of them lets their situation beat them down, despite the innkeeper certainly taking a good shot at it. Its these humble beginnings which makes Ma’s corruption from power all the more believable especially when he suddenly goes from having nothing to suddenly having a tea house and a steady stream of protection money coming in. While this plot line is perfectly satisfying, it does however never take advantage of the relationship between Ma and the tea house singer Ms. Jin played here by Ching Li whose despite having some nice scenes never feels as if she is being fully used.

While perhaps alittle overlong for your more casual viewer watching this expecting some light hearted chock socky, but for those willing to brave the run time this is a rewarding experience, while the engrossing story really ensures that the runtime really doesn’t drag more so when each of the fight scenes seems to top the last with the finale which really has to be seen. This truly is the work of a master firing on all cylinders with this film really proving a highlight of his heroic bloodshed period which would go on to inspire both John Woo and Quentin Tarantino and here the influence is certainly clear.