Roving Swordsman (Daai hap sam sing yi, 1983)

Chu Yuan

Hong Kong

83 min, color, Mandarin (English subtitles)

Review © 2005 Branislav L. Slantchev

A relatively recent (by Shaw Brother standards) outing helmed by the prolific Chu Yuan and scripted by Chin Yu (although one may be forgiven for thinking the story to be yet another Ku Lung potboiler). If you have seen one of Chu Yuan's swordsman films starring Ti Lung and various babes (although usually that would mean Ching Li), then you have seen them all. This one happens to be particularly formulaic although at 83 minutes it does not tax one's patience too much.

The first of many, many inconsequential fights	Cool pre-Face/Off skin masks

As usual, Ti Lung is a virtuous swordsman (Shen Sheng Yi) although he did not strike me as particularly roving. In fact, he was positively attached to Master Bai (Kwan Hoi-Shan) in the latter's efforts to protect his treasure from the evil designs of a rival clan. The treasure happens to be multifaceted: first, there's his absolutely delicious daughter Bai Bing (Ching Li), and second, there's the secret manual with instructions about making of firearms. Obviously, the evil clan leader would want the latter, but to acquire it, she might need to abduct and ransom the former.

Dugu Ngan snickers at the Murang clan	Do not adjust TV set, focus is soft

A little background story is in order here. The Murang clan was not especially evil or anything, and about a century ago from the timeless age in which the film is set, it actually managed to produce a handful of worthy martial-arts leaders. But the clan's fortunes have declined and now all that remains is Murang Gunfan (Cheng Ke-wei) and her maid Zhi (Huang Mei-Mei). Well, almost all. They are supported by Master Chameleon (Ku Feng) and, after a successful recruitment campaign, by the assassin Dugu Ngan (Ku Kuan-chung). They also live underwater. In a palace. Reachable by a cavern route protected by a nice rotating rock. Did I mention the palace was underwater?

Gratuitous shot of Ouyang Pei Shan	The famous stranger-on-my-ass maneuver

The first part of the film sets up the plot and traces the recruitment of the assassin plus the first attempt by the Murgang clan to snatch Bai Bing. The convoluted plan is so complicated that even the hirelings seem to get confused. The basic idea is sound: send a fake note declaring an intent to abduct the girl, then stage a fake attempt, introducing the now heavily disguised assassin as an opportunely appearing helping hand, then invite the grateful Bai people to a banquet and show them a rare crystal statue, then stage another fake attempt that would cause a commotion during which Bai Bing would be snatched, and replaced by a double, who will pretend to be the real thing until everyone calms down, and then make the escape using two different routes, one of them involving a recently dug tunnel laced with explosives, and totally booby-trapped so that any attempt to follow the plotters would trigger an enormous blast that would undoubtedly kill everyone, including Master Bai who is supposed to ransom his kidnapped daughter for the manual. Oh, wait! Damn!

Ti Lung is a gentleman	Continuing the red-shirts tradition...

Needless to say, the plan goes to hell in the very end but it's one of those things where if one part gets compromised, the entire thing falls apart. In this case, the part that got compromised was the booby trap. Despite an ingenuous cord cunningly stretched close to the floor, and despite the near-tripping by Bu Yanfei (Ouyang Pei Shan), swordsman Shen's partner, the incomparable Shen stops the disaster at the last second. What's more, he knows where to find the kidnappers. (It will later be revealed how he obtains this super-knowledge but it won't be any more convincing than saying that a little birdie told him so.)

Your sword smells familiar...	Ku Feng in a somewhat less goofy beard

Well, when Shen and the Bais track the Murangs to their meeting point by the lake, it would appear that everything is over. As the swordsman nicely put it, Murang's problem was not that she had picked the wrong people to execute the plan, but that her opponent was the ever modest Shen himself. Another epic battle ensues but somehow the Murangs make their escape. We are now barely 20 minutes into the film, but it is obvious what's going to happen next: there will be more attempts to kidnap Bai Bing, some of them thwarted by Shen, and so on.

Obligatory gratuitous shot of Ching Li	Shen in the mirror maze

This, of course, is precisely what happens. Without telling the rest of the story, it would suffice to say that it includes double, triple, and quadruple crosses, more switched identities, some comedy of errors, a pretty neat labyrinth of mirrors, more booby traps to give Indiana Jones a cold sweat, some decent pyrotechnics, and lots of inexplicable pauses during duels so that characters can exchange meaningful musings. This latter thing seems to be a Chu Yuan special: it's only in his films that a brutal fight can stop so that the opponents can tell each other how they have managed to trick the other into doing something stupid which invariably turns out to be a trick that undoes the original one, which then turns out to be a misleading move anyway. With a plot like this, one needs all the help just to make sure one even knows what's going on in a particular scene (let alone how the scenes connect).

Smoke and mirrors (and explosions)	Interminable inconclusive duels

Still, an enjoyable fantasy with romantic painted sets, and Ching Li in soft focus brandishing swords or shyly peeking at Ti Lung through a frame of rose petals. The ever amazing Ti Lung gets to prance about with yet another beautiful woman who is rarely seen (Oyuang Pei Shan) and although the Murangs are not that stunning, the heavy female slant of the casting is evident. That's not to say that women can get by without the man. Even the supposedly excellent fighter Bu Yanfei calls on Shen to rescue her when she is trapped under a chandelier (don't ask). Performances are what one can expect from a film like this: it's amazing the actors manage to keep a straight face. I chuckled several times but could not contain a hearty laughter at the end when the protagonists boogie-boarded across the artificial pond amid the ruins of what used to be the underwater palace.

After a Xena-style pressure point trick	Victorious surfer dudes

The Celestial DVD is anamorphic at 2.35:1, with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Mandarin soundtrack only. The optional English subtitles are good and nearly error-free. The extras are thin: a photo gallery accompanied by talent files and a hilarious synopsis that somehow finds the idea of an evil clan leader wanting to dominate the world innovative. There are new trailers for a bunch of similar films which is disappointing since the old trailers were usually more informative about the cast. For Chu Yuan collectors only.

January 10, 2005