The next flick we've got for you here at Hai!Karate is a classic staple for all lovers of fight cinema, One Armed Swordsman!! This film stars Jimmy Wang Yu, Lisa Chiao Chiao, Tien Feng and Ku Feng among others. The legend Cheng Cheh sits in the director's chair for this film from Shaw Studios.
One Armed Swordsman opens with a group of
villains entering the manor of Qi Ru Feng
(Tien)with the purpose of defeating him
and the Golden Sword School. His servant
Fang Cheng(Feng) valiantly fights them off,
and is mortally wounded. Before he passes
however, Master Qi Ru Feng swears to take
his son Fang Gang in. We fast forward to
seeing Fang Gang(Wang Yu)all grown up,
tending to the estate and learning from
Teacher Qi. Teacher's daughter Qi Pai Er
(Violet Pang Zi-Yi)is a spoiled little
thing who alternates between dislike and
liking Fang Gang. Fang Gang? He mostly
remains aloof. After a good deal of being
picked on, Fang Gang, rather than be the
source of any unrest in the school, decides
to leave one night. Pai-Er and two other
classmates track him down and claim he's
dishonoring the school by running away.
(Seriously?)Pai-Er decides she wants to
scrap, and Fang Gang deftly blocks her
attacks and knocks her over as if to say,
'Silly Rabbit.' Pai-Er cries, embarrassed.
So much so that when Fang Gang tries to
help her up, SHE CUTS THE HOMIE'S ARM
CLEAN OFF. Cue the wild dramatic music
sequence. After he stumbles off into the
snowy forest hinterland, Teacher comes
up and just scolds everyone in the trio.
That's it. He just yells at them.
Fang Gang stumbles and stumbles until he
falls off a bridge...into the boat of
Xiao Man(Chiao Chiao)She slowly nurses
him back to health and in doing so, falls
in love with him. After he heals, Fang Gang
and Xiao Man are discussing the future
when two rowdies start harassing Xiao.
Gang tries to fight them off to no avail.
They're only stopped when Master Smiling
Tiger(Tong Dik) waves them off. Xiao Man,
against her own dislike of martial arts,
gives Gang a sword manual left to her by
her father. Due to a fire, all that's
left are left-handed sword techniques.
Meanwhile, Smiling Tiger, the sworn enemy
of the Golden Sword School, has unleashed
a new weapon that can defeat the school's
64 techniques called a sword lock. With
this, Smiling Tiger and his pupils go on
to terrorize Qi Ru Feng's students. That
is, until Fang Gang shows up. He soon
realizes the fate of the Golden Sword
School is in his hands. And along the way,
he gets to throw some serious shade to
Pai-Er who's still acting bratty.
One Armed Swordsman is a highly
acclaimed martial arts film and it's a
groundbreaking one on a couple of levels.
First, it was the first Hong Kong film
to gross one million dollars due to its
popularity. The next point of appeal
lies with its charismatic young star,
Jimmy Wang Yu. Jimmy was just setting out
on the apex of his flashy and lengthy
career, a far cry from being a swimming
champion. It's worthy to note that he had
NO martial arts training whatsoever. Yes,
that's right. None. He looked the part
thanks to the action direction of the
great Lau Kar Leung(who you can spot as
an extra in the flick)and Runme Shaw himself.
Wang Yu would go on to utilize the one-armed
style effectively throughout his career,
even going up against famed Japanese
character Zatoichi in a 1972 flick. And
lastly, the style that Chang Cheh brought
to One Armed Swordsman was the beginning
of a new wave taking place in Hong Kong
cinema. It was a wave that borrowed from
the chambara genre wildly popular in Japan.
It also owed some influence to westerns
by Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone. You can
see it in the camera angles and precise
editing jumps, whereas in previous films
most shots were long drawn out set pieces
and takes. Take note also on how the film
backdrop by Johnson Tsao helps tell the
Story of Fang Gang's development from the
harshness of losing his arm in winter to his
return to the Golden Sword School to face
Smiling Tiger in the summer.
Of course, there are a few things that catch you off guard. For one, Pai-Er seems to have been an early ancestor to those broads you see on shows like 'Bad Girls Club'; always upset, hiding her true feelings in certain rash moves. Xiao Man doesn't fare that much better even in a sympathetic love interest role. She tends to fall over herself weeping a lot. Given the charges against Cheh's depiction of women that we've spoken of on this blog, this seems to be ground zero for it. 'Dames can't be trusted.' This also is possibly a reach back to Hollywood cinema in the days of film noir. And after Fang Gang gets his arm cut off - how did this cat not pass out right there on the road? The sword lock is another curious point, but one you can overlook for the sake of the film. It also would be the origin point for Chang Cheh's love of crazy-ass weaponry.
If you haven't seen it yet, make it a
point to watch One Armed Swordsman. You
get a better understanding of the beginnings
of Chang Cheh and his style that would become
synonymous with the Shaw Brothers Studios
for the next couple of decades afterward.
And it's a nicely paced action film with
enough captivating drama no matter how
often you watch it.
DRAGON PUNCHES: 4.5 out of 5
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