THE SWORD (CASUAL REVIEW)

Here is my second casual review. In these installments I just do quick immediate reactions to films after viewing them. I hope to do more in the coming weeks and months.

The Sword is a 1980 wuxia film directed by Patrick Tam, that stars Adam Cheng and Norman Chu. It also stars Jade Hsu, Tien Feng, Eddie Ko, Bonnie Ngai Chau-Wah and Jojo Chan. It was recommended by John in our wuxia media group.  

I loved The Sword. Right from the opening, where Tien Feng, playing Hua Qian Shu*, goes to a blacksmith who has made him the Hanxing Sword, I was hooked. There he shows the black smith a blade called the Qiwu sword, believing they could make a good pair, but the black smith warns him the sword was forged in hatred and brings ill-fate to the person who wields it. Some time later, after Hua Qian Shu has retired because so many people want to kill him, the movie follows Li My Ran, played by Adam Cheng, who wants to fight the retired swordsman so he can take his own place at the top of the martial world. Along the way he is gifted the Qiwu sword, by a woman Hua Qian Shu gave it to for safe keeping. Li Mu Ran is also in love with Xiao Yu, played by Jojo Chan, but she is married to Lian Huan. The pursuit of these two goals, leads to a tragic path of blood and doomed romance. 

What struck me was the focus of The Sword. It is almost a wuxia chamber piece. The movie follows a small number of characters. And while it does have many locations, these are not particularly important and they aren't the focus. It is the drama among the characters that matters. 

The music, the visual tone, the action, everything fits perfectly for me. This is exactly the type of wuxia film I look for. The action is all well edited, and sharp. It is mostly swordplay, with plenty of spins and people flying through the air. But it never feels ridiculous. It always seem to have its feet planted firmly on solid ground. That isn't to say it is not extravagant with the bloodshed. There are a handful of key over the top moments. But this is restrained. It isn't cranked to 11 the entire time. 

It does an excellent job at maintaining mood. In the end it is a cathartic film. And I think the theme song really helps tie everything together. As a wuxia film it leaves me feeling very satisfied. Perhaps not feeling happy in the end, but like I've had a complete movie experience. It has everything, from tragic misunderstandings to a love triangle and a deliciously evil villain. But there is still something about it that is quite straight forward and simple. Nothing feels extraneous. 

The performances are good but the two that stand out are Adam Cheng as Li Mu Ran and Norman Chu as Lian Huan. Lian Huan is a properly evil villain. He is sophisticated and plays the gentleman, but other than that there is almost nothing redeeming about him. People are disposable to him and all he really seems to care about is having the Hanxing and Qiwu swords so he can be the number one swordsman. Li Mu Ran is a quiet hero who learns the hard way, and perhaps a bit too late, that fame and glory are just illusions. Adam Cheng gives a very good performance in my opinion. Both physically and emotionally. He is the stoic wuxia hero who occasionally brims with an overflow of emotion that just barely breaches the surface, but it is there. And there is something kind about his character. He is stoic but not Jimmy Wang Yu stoic. Eddy Ko was also very good as Lian Huan's black garbed henchmen (he spends much of his time trying to assassinate Li Mu Ran, or otherwise cause him turmoil). 

The women too have pathos in this movie. Though I would say this is a film that is definitely more about the men. Yuen Chen played by Bonnie Ngai Chau-Wah, I found the most interesting. She seems to be the lover of Hua Qian Shu, and is the one keeping the Qiwu sword for him. She has one of the more moving scenes in the movie. 

Visually this is also a very compelling movie. There were lots of moments where the framing of a scene caught my eye. And again the editing in the fight scenes seemed well done to me. 

I highly recommend The Sword. At least on a first viewing it was great. I want to see it again soon and hopefully it holds up on multiple views. I wish I had been able to get it on disc, as I would love to have access to extras and learn more about it. However I had to watch it on prime. The quality there was good.

Rating: 9

*In the version I saw the name of his character was a bit different in the subtitles but using the Hong Kong Movie database name list for consistency.