More Than Kung Fu

The Wandering Swordsman is a prime example that Chang Cheh’s movies didn’t succeed because of their originality but because of their stars.

In my review of Chang’s 1969 film The Flying Dagger I talked a bit about the repetitious nature of Chang Cheh’s films. Unsurprisingly The Wandering Swordsman, Chang’s first film of 1970 looks an awful lot like his movies from 1969. Except for one major difference – Wandering Swordsman is a ton of fun to watch.

Swordsman‘s energy comes solely from its star, David Chiang who paints the directionless hero with a combination of indolence, arrogance and charm. After stumbling into a robbery, he robs the robbers only to give the loot to a group of destitute farmers. From there he lopes from crisis to crisis, relying on his quick wits and a sheepish, wolf-hiding grin to keep him out of trouble.

This laid-back approach works pretty well until he crosses “Fail-Safe” Kung (Chang Pei Shan) and his band of wonderfully gimmicky criminals (which include Wu Ma in a ridiculous beard and some guy wearing gigantic gold hands) who are plotting to steal treasure form under the nose of security expert Chief Jiang (Cheng Lei) and his sister Siao Jiang Ning (Lily Li).

If you’ve seen any Chang Cheh film, the rest of the plot is obvious. But even with the film’s ending a foregone conclusion, David Chiang keeps the movie bopping along with a maniacal grin. Performances like this are what give me hope for all the Chang Cheh movies I have yet to watch.

The Wandering Swordsman
Dir: Chang Cheh
Released: February 4, 1970