Temple of the Red Lotus (1965)

Hsu Tseng-Hung

Hong Kong

91 min, color, Mandarin (English subtitles)

Review © 2003 Branislav L. Slantchev

Well, everyone seems to think that this is the film that "started it all" (tm), and not, as most of us ignoramuses thought Come Drink With Me. Whether this is so is probably only important for historical reasons, but judged strictly on its own merits, the film does not quite make it to 'classic' status, even falling short of the less-demanding 'cult' status as well. I hear its two sequels are infinitely better, which is not saying much. We shall see if that's the case as soon as Celestial releases them.

Jimmy and the Red Lady	Wu Ma in early spiritual role

Synopsis. Jimmy Wang is Wu, the young, naive, hapless, and not very skilled swordsman who almost gets himself killed during the credit sequence. The Red Lady (Ivy Ling Po) saves him so he can get himself killed later, which he persists in trying to accomplish with charming dutifulness. He is betrothed to one Lian Chu (Chin Ping), who is the daughter of the seriously disturbed Dragon Jin (Tin Fung). The only snag in the little arrangement is that they have not seen each other in ten years, so I'm guessing love is out of the question.

Young and Beautiful (and Clueless)	Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

As usual, I am guessing wrong. As soon as the two love-birds see each other, eye-lashes begin to flutter, lips begin to stammer, and we immediately know that these two are "meant for each other" (tm). It is, of course, useful to be reminded of that once in a while because the entire plot depends on them being thoroughly in love and devoted to each other.

Chin Ping training with Tin Fung	No, you can't kill the Red Lotus people!

Getting back to the disturbed Dragon Jin, I have to admit that he's not really disturbed. His entire family is insane. You see, once you enter the "castle" and learn some of his secret fighting techniques, you can never leave again. It's like Hotel California only without the beaches and with painted backdrops. Wu wants to leave badly because he is convinced that the family's business is highway banditry. He should be forgiven for this mistake because they did almost kill him during the aforementioned credit sequence.

Jimmy defeated by Liu Liang-Hua	Kao Pao-Shu shows tough love to Chin Ping

Wu quickly convinces Lian Chu to elope with him and the alacrity with which the ungrateful daughter abandons her entire family would make Confucius come out of his grave to paddle her behind with one of his commandments. The couple uses Dragon Jin's absence to sneak out but are beset by the proverbial Trials of Strength, this time in the persons of all female members of the household. One by one, each of them defeats Wu (who is really a shameful fighter) but then lets the love-birds go because they grovel so persuasively.

Jimmy defeated by Kao Pao-Shu	If you can't fight like a man, crawl like one

The penultimate test involves the old grandma, which Wu almost survives by leaping through a river in reverse motion like a swamp fly. This does not help but, as before, unmanly groveling does. The final test that he manages to fail is with Lo Lieh, who is secretly in love with Lian Chu. Lieh proceeds to beat and humiliate Jimmy Wang, including the ever-popular sticking face in the mud tactic, but his strategy backfires because Lian Chu has a soft spot for soft men. Finally, the couple is free of the clutches of the crazy family.

What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?	I shall tickle you until you pee yourselves

Naturally, as young clueless couples are apt to do, they run straight into the lair of the very bandits they have to avoid. Oh, wait a second, they are out to avenge the slaughter of Wu's family. But they don't know (yet) who's responsible for this. In fact, the Red Lotus clan is in a feud with Dragon Jin's people. Further in fact, Wu thinks that Dragon Jin has robbed the clan, which he did, but as it turns out, he was robbing them of money that they had stolen earlier. In final fact, Dragon Jin is a good Samaritan with unconventional methods, and was really doing a Robin Hood on behalf of the people whom the Red Lotus gang had originally deprived of the money.

Cruel but usual punishment	Give these two our 'special' tea

So, it is precisely in the Red Lotus Temple that the two end up. They tell everyone who they are, and so it is not surprising that the "monks" quickly try to poison them. The Red Lady comes to the rescue and then the two try to rescue a bunch of maidens in distress. All they succeed in doing, however, is get them all killed by the appalled"monks" who cannot believe this is what they are getting in return for the kindly tea offer. Everyone fights a lot and the Red Lady saves Wu and Lian Chu. They decide to go back to Dragon Jin's "castle" to learn how to fight before avenging anything. To be continued...

I have a bad feeling about this...	Honestly, we just want to talk

Muhahahaha. That's right, nothing is resolved in this particular episode. We never learn who killed Wu's family (although my strong suspicion is on the Red Lotus people). We never learn what exactly has kept the love flames burning for a decade, especially since the two lovers are, like, 18 right now. We never learn why Dragon Jin was helping that... guy, or who, the heck, that guy was. We never learn why Dragon Jin's family customs are so ridiculous and why the females conspire to let Wu off the hook. We never learn who the Red Lady is (although I am pretty sure she's Wu's long-lost aunt). We never learn why she's doing what she's doing---which involves mostly roof-hopping and sporting nice red garments. And nothing is resolved in the end too. I guess everything is in the sequels.

I have to say that the film is rather good considering that it is a 1965 production. The fight scenes are very stylized and the wire work is actually better than some of the later films. I did not care for Chin Ping's costumes or make-up that made her look not as attractive as she actually is. The painted skies were too surreal and obviously fake. The camera work is unnerving because of too much reliance on close-ups. The little limb chopping was hilarious: you could actually see guy tucking his supposedly cut off arm inside the sleeve. You could also easily tell that most of the actors can't fight at all.

Jimmy Wang, who was to become an action super-star, is a sniveling and whimpering anti-hero. He's young, of course, and it's all the director's fault anyway. He does have the moves, but he is not allowed to use them. It is totally unbelievable that the various females could force him to break into sweat, let alone defeat him. There was too much falling on his knees too. In fact, Chin Ping is positively the more active of the two for no good reason. So-so film with below average acting/

The Celestial Pictures DVD is typical. It has a non-anamorphic clean letterboxed video transfer at 2.35:1 and a remixed Dolby Digital 5.1 Mandarin soundtrack. English subtitles readable, bright, and reasonably error-free. Usual extras: photo gallery, two interviews, trailers, talent files. The one interesting thing about the pictures is that they show scenes from the sequels. The running time on the box is 100 minutes, which is incorrect. The film clocks in at about 91 minutes.

August 26, 2003