Tsui Hark is back

harry_tk_yung

Not sure if I can call it a "misfortune" but director TSUI Hark certainly faces the predicament of having made "Mountain Zu". For those who have watched it, it is difficult not to fall into the thinking of "well, if he could do this in 1983, what wonders will he be able to do in the 21st century". It's a tough benchmark.

Zu II (2001) was a disappointment, flashy but little else. In "7 Swords", however, director Tsui finally got it all together again, and for a good reason. Zu, a fantasy without a really strong story, was sustained essentially by the novelty and dazzling special effects. Zu II, despite Tsui's attempt, still lacks a good story to sustain it and ends up with special effects that look quite hollow. "7 Swords", on the other hand, has good human stories.

Although "7 Swords" is inspired by Leung Yu-sang's novel and characters, it's nowhere near to following the complex stories in the novel. It follows rather the familiar plot of seven heroes leading a group of oppressed against the oppressors, as in Seven Samurai, as in The Magnificent seven and, most recently, as in King Arthur.

In such ensemble stories the lead characters do not dominate the entire plot. Reasonable coverage is given to a large number of other characters and their stories.

The storyline between top billed Leon Lai (as "second sword" Yang Yun-chong) and Charlie Yeung (as Wu Yuan-yin, a village girl who becomes one of the seven) is delightfully simple and natural. It's rather Yang's own history that carries for a while as a mild suspense, and I like the refreshing theme of "no revenge".

Unlike many Hong Kong movies that follow the fashionable trend of having a foreign (Korean or Japanese) actor playing a Chinese character through dubbing, Kim So-yeon from Korea is cast to play a Korean slave girl Luzhu, speaking Korean. Donny Yen's character, "first sword" Chu Zhao-nam, is originally a Korean. (I don't know if the Korean portion of Yen's lines are dubbed or spoken by himself but it's most probably the latter judging from the voice). In contrast to the gentle, barely perceptible affection between Yang and Wu, the passion between Chu and Luzhu is fiery.

Added to this is village girl Liu Yufang's infatuation for Chu which briefly interrupts her relationship with fiancé Han Zhi-ban, who has become one of the seven swords. Another of the seven swords, loner Fu Qing-ju (played by veteran martial artist Liu Chia-liang), has his own painful history which made him vow never to kill again. The remaining two swords are younger characters who have not been given a particular story of their own but have characteristic that make them recognizable.

Other than Kim, the cast is split between actors form Hong Kong and the Mainland of China. This is a well balanced ensemble, with no weak link. My worry that Leon Lai might be a bit too contemporary in looks proved unfounded as he certainly came though with a solid Yang Yun-chong. As for Charlie Yeung, this is not her first martial art appearance, but I doubt if many will remember Wong Kar-wai's "Ashes of time" in which she plays a minor and non-fighting role. In "Seven Swords", Yeung has delivered a very likable simple village girl turned expert swordsman.

Donny Yen and Kim So-yeon have the chemistry to fuel the strong emotion portrayed in their story. The two most notable in the Mainland cast are Sun Honglei who plays the villain Fire-wind and Zhang Jingchu who plays Liu Yufang. In particular, Zhang reminds me of top Taiwan actress Renee Liu, who in her younger days would have been perfect for the role, which Zhang handled very well.

In addition to these main ones, there are a lot more characters and stories to cram into the 140 minute movie. Overall, director Tsui has managed to keep good track of this proliferation of characters, stories and events, through crisp editing and occasion montages of flashbacks to recent occurrences. Those looking for breathtaking photography will not be disappointed. The background music does its job the way it should. Action sequences are well designed. Director Tsui has put it all together in this very respectable epic. Tsui Hark is back.

score /10

harry_tk_yung 20 August 2005

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1155519/