Da zui xia (Come Drink With Me, 1966)

King Hu

Hong Kong

91 min, color, Mandarin (English subtitles)

Review © 2003 Branislav L. Slantchev

By now everyone knows the spiel. King Hu revitalized the wuxia genre by introducing a new approach to the choreography of fighting that was at once more realistic and more stylized (refined) than the way it had been done back in the days where it was copied from Chinese opera. Moreover, Come Drink With Me was the film that started it all: the approach, the drunken master, and the astonishing female fighting heroine. All of these are now not simply easily recognizable, but they have come to define much of Hong Kong cinema for Western audiences.

The breathtaking reviews then usually go on to say that Come Drink With Me is not as good as the director's world-famous Touch of Zen but even with this caveat, it is still better than the pale imitation that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was. I beg to differ on that last count.

Jade Faced Tiger with the deadly fan	Does this look like a man to you?

The film is absolutely beautiful to watch although it is patently clear that both the director and Cheng Pei-Pei are still groping in the dark as to what exactly they are trying to accomplish. The fight scenes are definitely good although by modern standards they appear slow and sometimes fake. This was back when Pei-Pei still did not know how to fight and Hu did not know hot to hide it very well. However, the stylized martial arts that would come to dominate HK cinema are already in evidence here. The characters are more interested in gliding gracefully, dancing, and striking poses than simply bloodletting. There is also a lot of influence from Japanese chambara films, especially in the ways various people freeze up when struck by a blade before dropping dead.

Drunken Cat quitting his day job	Cheng Pei-pei as Golden Swallow

Although dated, the fight scenes are still beautiful, as is Pei-Pei. The image of her wielding two mean daggers has probably stayed with fans for years and will do so now as well. The skill-testing sequence at the inn near the beginning of the film will make a recurrence in Hu's later work but still stands out despite imitations. Audiences loved Pei-Pei back then and will love her now as well. Much of this probably has to do with said audience living vicariously through the exploits of the female heroine in a strictly male-dominated society. Still, with Pei-Pei, the floodgates to battling babes in HK cinema were opened.

Golden Swallow with the tiny dagger...	...dispatching countless extras

It is the story that sucked big time. I understand that it was a thin thread to connect the various fighting sequences and give some flesh to Pei-Pei's character, but still one would want to something better than this: A group of bandits kidnap an important government official to exchange him for their jailed leader. The government sends said official's sister Golden Swallow (Pei-Pei), dressed as a man (another recurring theme), who is a formidable fighter although she is lacking in the brains/patience department. The gang quickly realizes that she is not about the let the matter drop, and inexplicably tries to kill her. How this will help their cause remains unclear.

Why is everyone snickering?	Drunken Cat's mountain retreat/hostel

After being nearly roped in her bed but saved by a drunken guy called Drunken Cat (Yueh Hua), Swallow decides to milk him for more information about the whereabouts of her brother. Cat does not drink milk but drinks a lot of wine, which induces him to launch in pretty informative song puzzles. Fortunately, Swallow figures out one of them and ends up at the temple where the gang is hiding. There's another fight and Swallow barely escapes with her life when a poisoned dart hits her.

Protector of Weak, Holder of Bamboo Stick	The mean abbot Liao Kung and minions

Drunken Cat, now semi-sober, saves Swallow and instantly falls for her, although the sexuality of their encounter is a bit muted. Still, he does get to suck poison out of her wound, which I take it is a sure sign of mutual attraction. Turns out Cat is a formidable kung fu master but has run afoul of another formidable master, the abbot of the temple. That abbot is not the very religious sort because he is also the leader of the gang and stuff. Anyway, he wants the bamboo staff that Cat has allegedly stolen from their common master, now deceased, having been allegedly murdered by the abbot. That part of the plot is irrelevant except that it establishes why Cat is going to have to fight the abbot.

The alleged killer and alleged thief meet	Gratuitous shot of beautiful women

Unfortunately, when Cat actually does fight the abbot, the latter turns out to suck at fighting and is soundly trounced twice. It does not matter how much red paint Cat gets on his mug, it still looks too easy. Swallow recovers her brother, killing most of the bandits in the process. Cat walks away into the sunset, still carrying the bamboo staff. The love story never got off the ground.

Gratuitous shot of Cheng Pei-pei	Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-pei)

Light on drama or coherence, Come Drink With Me is still an enjoyable landmark film that modern audiences should be familiar with. If nothing else, one could at least make vaguely respectable references to it while disliking Crouching Tiger. I think that Ang Lee's film is a case of "standing on the shoulders of giants." It is excellent and it is mostly so because it owes so much to the many that preceded it.

The Celestial DVD is predictably good given that they wanted to make the film an ad for their remasters of the Shaw Brothers catalogue. The non-anamorphic 1:2.35 picture looks amazing, awash with vibrant color, and almost free of dust and scratches. A dolby digital stereo Mandarin soundtrack holds up nicely as well, and the English subtitles are bright, readable, and almost error-free. They do tend to flicker on and off once in a while, but that's something that one can get used to. The extras include interviews with Pei Pei, Bey Logan, Paul Fonoroff, and some woman (all in English), as well as one with Yueh Hua (in Chinese with no subtitles). There is an audio commentary by Bey Logan, who is at his usual best. A bunch of useless stills and the original poster round up the package. There are some trailers and previews but I rarely watch these. An excellent buy at $11.

June 1, 2003