The Trail of the Broken Blade (1967)

Chang Cheh

Hong Kong

104 min, color, Mandarin (English subtitles)

This is one of the earliest Chang Cheh films and should be treated with caution. It is a strange blend of the more traditional Chinese movies that he revolted against and the new style he was then still in search of. As such, it is an oddly unbalanced film that is nevertheless amusingly entertaining.

Jimmy Wang Yu ready to kill Fighting still quite stylized

In contrast to the predominant females on screen, Chang Cheh wanted to create a real masculine character, a hero that he believed viewers would like. In this film there is not one, but two of those. First, the idealistic Li (Jimmy Wang Yu) who avenges the unjust death of his father by murdering a prime minister, resulting on him becoming a fugitive from the imperial law. Second, the honorable Fung (Kiu Chong), who falls in love with a girl only to dedicate his life to the search of her beloved.

The virtuous Kiu Chong Flying Fish Island Idiots

There are also two women, but they are both somewhat peripheral and in love with the same man, Li. First, the stereotypical romantic love between Li and Miss Liu (Chin Ping), complete with flashbacks of them growing up together, frolicking in gardens, and playing with sharp objects. Of course, these love birds are doomed when Li takes the fatal step of revenge. Because he does not want to expose Liu's life to the hardships of a life on the run, he disappears on her, affirming the male right to make decisions for the good of the female without bothering to let her decide for herself.

Chin Ping in a moody sequence... ...piling romanticism high

The other love is unrequited: Hsiao Mei (Chiao Chiao) falls hard for the handsome Qi without realizing that he is the fugitive everyone is looking for. Her love he cannot return for a combination of reasons, two most important being that he does not love her and he does not want to expose her to aforementioned hardships anyway. Overall, this Li character is quite concerned with everyone else although curiously denying them any opportunity to participate in his life.

Dramatic not-love confession Yeah, we're his... friends!

The honorable Fung can make a man puke. When Liu tells him that her heart belongs to another, his reaction is to become her "bosom friend" and then set out to look for the other guy in the hopes of bringing the two together. Maybe, but then again maybe not. He is repeatedly lied to, tricked, and assaulted by his friends and enemies, but he never loses the annoying smile or his perpetual dignity. It is totally unbelievable and there is nothing in his character that one can relate to.

Chiao Chiao as the love uninterest Let's "share water"

To make Fung's search a bit more dramatic, a bunch of villains from Flying Fish island are in hot pursuit because Fung killed the son of their leader. The incredible string of coincidences then leads to the gang, Li, Fung, and everyone else to end up in the same small village. It is so incredible that Fung's character is persuaded that Qi is not Li by the argument that the coincidence would have been incredible! At least the director was well aware that he was pushing the limits of the suspension of disbelief here.

And now I will be raping you, miss Jimmy Wang, acrobat extraordinaire

Of course, given the confluence of events, Li is forced to choose between revealing his true identity and letting his new friend die ignominiously. To top it off, his selfless behavior causes Hsiao Mei to reconsider her own motives, and she sets out to look for Miss Liu in the hopes of reuniting the two love birds, bringing the count of unbelievable characters to two. Quite incredibly, she is nearly raped by Chen Hung Lieh when Miss Liu shows up to save the day. This apparently forces Hsiao Mei to realize that this affable fat guy (Fan Mei Sheng) pining for her is probably not such a bad match after all.

Gratuitous shot of Chin Ping Old school interrogation technique

The fighting techniques are still in their infancy here. There's some wirework, all of it quite bad actually. The swordplay is slow, deliberate, and without much bravado. Despite gallons of the red liquid, the proceedings still look a lot like a theatrical set up, and the camera work is still subdued, making it all the more apparent that the actors don't really know what they are doing. Chin Ping's fighting in particular was atrocious. Still, Jimmy Wang Yu does display some of the agility that we all like him for.

Jimmy Wang Yu in a bind Long before Star Wars

Nothing much by any stretch of imagination, The Trail of the Broken Blade does offer an interesting peek into the transitional period between the old-style opera-derived swordplay and the new school that Chang Cheh went on to establish. One question remains: what was this "broken blade" business about? I do not recall anyone breaking any blades whatsoever.

The Celestial Pictures DVD is awful. The widescreen picture has been blown up for a fake anamorphic enhancement, with artifacts a-plenty and quite visible, especially during the darker scenes. There is some color bleeding and instability caused by the compression as well. Quite disappointing. The Dolby Digital 5.1 Mandarin soundtrack is quite nice though, and the English subtitles are error-free. In addition to the usual extras --- still gallery, talent files, trailers --- this disc includes a brief documentary on director Chang Cheh, which is quite entertaining actually.

December 15, 2003


And now I will be raping you, miss	Jimmy Wang, acrobat extraordinaire


Gratuitous shot of Chin Ping	Old school interrogation technique