The Magnificent Swordsman
Griffen Yueh Fung’s explicit remixing of Japanese chanbara, American westerns and Italian Spaghetti westerns continues here. And though I think his subsequent film The Bells of Death does it better, it’s clear that Yueh Fung has learned a lot since his first attempt The Rape of the Sword.
Putting Huang Tsung-Hsun in the lead is a great choice here. He plays the character as quiet, almost reluctant, but with a look of steel when required. There are some great shots of him holding stock still with his Zatoichi-style sword held at the ready. Seemingly perfectly composed, but ready to strike. He’s really good in this. Especially when combined with Yueh Fung’s eye for natural backgrounds.
If only it hadn’t been edited by a blender. I do not know what happened here. In one scene some film runs backward, making it look like a guy that just fell into a lake has magically floated out of it. This is not a wuxia effect, either. It’s clearly an accident. Lots of scenes, both action and dialog, jump awkwardly from beat to beat. Moments don’t flow together at all. Characters just magically know things.
I can not tell if this was intentional, with Griffen Yueh Fung trying to cut this movie down to the bone (it’s barely 80 minutes long) or if it was due to problems during production. I can’t blame the editor, Chiang Hsing-Lung, who was Shaw’s main editor for decades. HKMDB lists him as the editor for 642 films. He knew how to put together a picture.
This was a film made using Shaw’s ‘apprenticeship’ model where an experienced director “co-directs” the film with a newcomer. Cheng Kang was the newcomer this time, and though he’d worked on other films this was his first time directing a wuxia picture. It’s entirely possible that the odd editing is due to Cheng Kang learning on the job. Hard to say.
I don’t know if all versions of the subtitles have this, but my copy loved calling the hero a “Weirdo Swordsman”. For example:
- “We’re looking for a famous weird hero”
- “Have you seen a weirdo in your village?!”
- “Where’s that weird swordsman”
In terms of plot and construction it’s a bit of a mess, but visually and stylistically there’s a lot to like here.
Ian Whitney
Published: 2025-06-03