1995, Hong Kong. Starring Zhao Wen-zhuo, Moses Chan, Man Cheuk Chiu, Valerie Chow, Collin Chou, Jason Chu, Michael Tse, Chi Fai Chan, Ray Chang, Ricky Ho. Written by Koan Hui and Tsui Hark. Directed by Tsui Hark.

Vietnamese born, American trained, and Hong Kong famed director/producer Tsui Hark is a curious fellow. One of a handful of film makers in Hong Kong who seem genuinely interested in the art instead of the just the business, Hark revolutionized Hong Kong films with the release of his fantasy epic Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain. He went on to direct many of the best films of the Hong Kong new wave, including Once Upon a Time in China, the film that made a major star out of Jet Li.

His role as director is dwarfed only by his role as producer. Under Hark's guidance, films like A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Chinese Ghost Story, and the Swordsman saga all made tremendous impact on the film scene and made megastars of guys like John Woo, Ching Siu-tung, and Chow Yun-fat. After teaming with dean Shek to create Film Workshop, Tsui Hark solidified his position as one of the most important people int he history of Hong Kong cinema.

It's no surprise then that Hark is characterized by the fiery temper and personality that marks many of the world's great artists. No man is perfect, after all, and Hark's often overbearing personality cause his professional break-up with men like Jet Li, John Woo, and Ching Siu-tung. Hark could create stars, but he couldn't keep them. Strangely enough, each man would go on to great stardom in their post-Hark career, but few would make films as great as the ones made while they worked with Tsui Hark.

Tsui Hark's personality and politics have always been at the forefront of his films. He is a man with great need to express political and social discontent working in an industry that places little or no value on such lofty things. In Hong Kong film, just as in Hong Kong music, it's about entertainment and profit, and there is no independent film circuit like there is in Europe, Japan, or the United states. Thus, Hark's most ambitious films like the scathing downer Don't Play With Fire met with less than negative criticism. They met with total disregard, as if they'd never been made.

It's a trend that would no doubt frustrate Hark throughout his career, which would be peppered by box office hits and punctuated with a daring and meaningful total flop. In the latter half of the 1990s, with the Hong Kong film market in a severe rut and most of the established talent heading for the greener pastures of Hollywood int he face of Communist reunification, the ardently anti-Communist Hark chose to remain behind in Hong Kong, directing a series of films that, for various reasons, didn't do much of anything. His comedy Chinese Feast was a tremendous hit both in Hong Kong and the US, no doubt as much because it starred current flavor of the month Anita Yuen as it was simply a great little film.

On the flip side, Hark's decidedly darker romantic tragedy, The Lovers, met with slightly less success than the peppy Chinese Feast despite starring up and coming talent Charlie Yeung and teen heart-throb Nicky Wu. No one wanted to see them suffer and die. Tsui Hark's return to fantasy, Green Snake was a flop, but not so great a flop as his return to the world of martial arts. THE BLADE did so poorly in Hong Kong that many Chinatown theaters here int he United States didn't even bother to release it. Kungfu was no longer in style, and the best days of the martial arts epic were long forgotten in favor of Category III sleaze and Young and Dangerous clones.

A case of bad timing for all involved, since the tremendous failure of The Blade is by no means an accurate gauge by which to measure the quality of the film, which is, I think, one of the greatest martial arts films of all time, and one of the most impressive accomplishments of Tsui Hark's amazing career.

The failure of The Blade was partially a result of the unpopularity of kungfu films when it came out. It was also partially due to the fact that the film is one of Hark's most savage, bleak, and violent films to date, an angry scream at a time when people only wanted lustful moans or wacky laughing. Anxiety over the 1997 reunification meant people didn't want to receive more anxiety from a film.

The Blade is a remake of the Shaw Brothers classic One-Armed Swordsman, which was, in it's day, one of the most violent and shocking martial arts dramas ever made. It made a star of young Jimmy Wang Yu, who built a career on playing one-armed guys. It was a beautifully filmed, tragically moving testament to how good a martial arts film can be. I don't need to tell those of you reading this review that martial arts films are almost always dismissed as utter crap by a population who can't separate a good film from a bad one or recognize that poorly dubbed cheapies on late night television do not speak for the whole genre.

Not that we have anything against poorly dubbed late-night cheapies. I just think it's a shame that kungfu films never got the proper respect lavished on other martial arts films, primarily the samurai film. Plenty of shitty samurai films got cranked out, especially during the 1970s, but no one lets that drag down brilliant work like Hidden Fortress or the Samurai trilogy. for some reason, though, kungfu never got the same acceptance, not even by it's own makers. It's too bad that Hong Kong film studios don't have the same respect for their product as Japanese and American film makers. Hundreds of classic Hong Kong films are rotting away in warehouses, disregarded by an industry that has no interest in the old or int he value of the films as a work of art. Too bad for all of us.

Zhao Wen-zhuo assumes the title role of On, an orphan who is adopted by a master swordmaker and blacksmith. Zhao Wen-zhuo is best known as Jet Li's "replacement" in the role of Wong Fei-hong in Once Upon a Time in China parts four and five. The timing of his career is nearly as tragic as the downfall of Tsui Hark. Zhao is a tremendous talent. He's in great shape, possessed of amazing martial arts ability, and is an incredibly sexy, attractive man on top of all that. every woman I know who has seen him in a movie swooned, and more than a few guys found themselves possessed of mysterious "urges" as well. Whether you are hetero or homo, there's no denying that Zhao Wen-zhuo is an amazing person to behold.

He's a good actor as well, possessing charisma and presence. Unfortunately, he was making a name for himself in the martial arts genre, which was a dying genre. when your star rises in a falling sky, there's not much you can do. Thus, Zhao will probably be relegated to the back pages of popularity, a side note when he should have been a whole chapter.

On and his best friend Iron Head spend the day stripped down and sweating in the forge. Just as Hark's previous film, Green Snake explored the sexual energy between two women (Joey Wang and Maggie Cheung), The Blade repays the female favor with tons of male-male sexual tension. There are plenty of naked male asses and bare, muscular chests on display for all to behold.

Ling, the daughter of the forgemaster falls in love with both the reserved On and the fiery but good natured Iron Head. She's a tragic young woman who has grown up without any friends, moving from town to town, slowly growing to hate humanity, desperately seeking companionship while at the same time utterly despising it. She is, as the film reveals, a victim of the grandiose delusions of heroism that fuel the men around her.

She decides to amuse herself by pitting both On and Iron Head against one another in a battle for her affections. Unfortunately, the bond between the two men is strong, and her manipulation is overshadowed by the fact that On is named as the new head of the foundry. This creates tension among the workers, many of whom see him as a charity case and not deserving of the post.

While in town one day, On and Iron Head witness a heroic monk beating the asses of a gang of thugs. When the monk is later ambushed and murdered by the gang, Iron Head flies into a fit of uncontrollable rage and challenges the thugs to a fight with the men at the foundry.

On also discovers that his father was murdered by a bald, tattooed assassin with the ability to fly, or so they say. The broken blade that serves as the symbol of peace and prosperity for the foundry is the blade of his slain father, who fought the villain alongside the foundry master.

He is overcome with rage confounded by the fact that he wants to prove himself to the other workers. He decides to ride out and confront the gang on his own. Ling tries to stop him but is captured by the gang. On fights valiantly, dispatching dozens of baddies before his arm is caught in the signature weapon of the gang -- a steel bear trap attached to a chain. His arm is severed at the elbow and he is knocked off a cliff just as his brothers from the factory arrive to finish the fight.

A wounded On is discovered by a freaky sidekick, a girl I think, but you can't be too sure. She looks sort of like that freaky Rust character from Tetsuo. But take note here. If you ever intend on becoming a vengeance-seeking stranger, you need to have a freaky teenage sidekick or, like Chow Yun-fat in Full Contact, a really ugly little dog. The girl (I think) lives in the ruins of her family farm. Like On, she is an orphan.

On decides to forsake vengeance and help the girl on her farm, living as a recluse. Ling goes even more insane than she was to begin with, and she and Iron Head set out to find the missing On. Nothing goes very well for any of them. Iron Head keeps picking fights with thugs and being seduced by malicious women who hate the men around them. For good reasons, mind you, as most of the men are scum. Ling refuses to accept Iron Head but hates him for eying other women.

In the meantime, On and Black Head, the name he gives his often dirt-covered new friend, find their home is in the migratory path of some spooky bandits in Arabic garb. They burn the house down, beat up Black Head, and try to flay On alive. On is frustrated by his lack of an arm until he discovers a charred martial arts manual depicting a unique "short sword" style. He takes up his father's broken blade and begins developing a new style based on the manual. The next time the bandits ride by, On is ready for them and dispatches them all with bloody skill.

The leader of the brigands hires the bald, tattooed assassin to take out On and settle a score with the men at the sword foundry. Iron Head and his men fight valiantly but are no match for the bandits. Only On can stand up to them and, in the process, avenge his father's death.

The final scene is a poignant exploration of Ling's deteriorating mental state as she, now an old woman, indulges her self in the delusion that Iron Head and On often come to visit her, and that despite all that has happened, they laugh and remain good friends. In reality, of course, she is as lonely an old woman as she was a young one.

The film is quite bloody and savage. Hark's diretcion is superb, perfectly capturing the scenes of intensity and rage and capturing every emotion on camera. It makes for a breath-taking, dark, mentally exhausting film. He also manages to capture some moments of real beauty. The whole cast is great, but Zhao really shines as the humble man wrestling with his newfound rage.

The martial arts are pretty good. Hark makes use of some camera tricks and wire work, but none of it is gratuitous or obvious. For the most part, he uses technique to augment the action, to make it even more unnerving and brutal. At no point does the film degenerate into the "human yoyo" style of martial arts filmmaking in which actors are just hoisted all over the place and look plain goofy. The choreography fits the bleak mood of the film perfectly. i liken it in many ways, both the action and the overall mood, to the equally furious Liu Chia-liang film Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, another film that sort of served as the end point of an era.

I'm pleased to see that despite being a financial and critical flop, a lot of fans are embracing and celebrating this film as a monumental acheivement in the genre. It certainly deserves the praise. The second half of the 1990s have been a sad time for Hong Kong films, and especially for martial arts films. With absolute dreck like Donnie Yen's Legend of the Wolf pretending to speak for the current state of the genre, it's refreshing to find something like The Blade that features great acting, compelling writing, relentless action, and Tsui Hark's signature cynicism and bleak outlook on human nature.

Labels: Country: Hong Kong, Director: Tsui Hark, Martial Arts: Wu Xia, Year: 1995