Bing tian xia nu

Li Ching is great as the orphaned girl seeking revenge for her parent's murder in this 1971 classic swordplay from Shaw Bros. This was the last film that Lo Wei directed for Shaw Bros. before moving to Golden Harvest.

Contrary to another review on this site - this is not a "kung fu" movie. If you are expecting endless fights and Jackie Chan-style action you will be disappointed. However, if you are a fan of classic swordplay/wuxia movies or are curious about the types of films that more recent titles like "Hero" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" were inspired by, you can't go wrong with this one. Just be sure to get the newly remastered widescreen DVD version with the original Mandarin audio.

Colorful martial arts saga; director Lo Wei's last film for Shaw Bros. It begins as a standard revenge story complicated by elements of regret and forgiveness, and turns into a quest fantasy as a crippled kung-fu mistress out to get her parents murderers, only to be offered to have her injured legs cured by one of them in a healing fountain in a distant snow field. Various political disputes between the factions involved in the original murder – which have to do with a rare jade sword owned by her family, and now used by the crippled girl – complicate the quest. I wasn't impressed by the acting and much of the dialog seemed very unrealistic; as the film opens it features a standard plot element in early martial arts films, about a heroine disguised as a man simply by wearing men's clothing – and nobody can seem to recognize that it's a girl despite obvious facial features and other feminine attributes, which always tends to destroy a story's internal logic for me. Much of the characters' behavior in the first half of the film also tended to stretch believability, but the film came around once the quest got going and the final confrontation is a wonderful, epic showdown atop the snowy mountain. As with most Shaw Bros films, the sets are gorgeous, large fight scenes beautifully staged (often from a static long shot, displaying excellent choreography as multiple fighters interact, although at the same time the long shots keep the viewer mostly at a distance), and the use of color is amazing. Released by Celestial in a beautifully restored uncut print in subtitled Mandarin (which spares us the horrible dubbing of the 1971 US release; and by the way, none of the elements complained of by the previous reviewer – about a snaggle-toothed woman teaching a girl kung-fu so she can get vengeance on her father – are extent in this version, and likely were enhancements made to the dubbed American print), this is a very enjoyable martial arts film that, despite some initial drawbacks, develops into an effective multi-layered story with a moving resolution.

Li Ching steals a gold bear claw glove, just one, to draw the attention of the Ge clan. Yueh Hua finds her displaying it. Instead of accusing her of theft, he has extraordinary manners and invites her to the home to settle the matter. Li Ching uses this access to start killing her way right up to the old master himself. It is all for revenge for her parent's death.

Once this plays out some controversy is added to the plot. The killing of the parents years ago is complicated and the family leaders disagree about the how and why of the past and what to do now.

The revenge plot is the most used plot in this genre. In this movie some twists and turns are added and a special sword is thrown in too. Our girl is also made more interesting by adding a disability. All that livens up the story line. A rubber nose is also added to Lee Kwan. That is just weird.

The crippled sword fighting choreography was good to start but a bit overdone by the end. This made the later fights look too much alike. Less would have been more in this case. There was also a lot more drama in this movie but the pace held up so the drama did not seem excessive.

My copy is the official Celestial release. I watched an unofficial release about four years ago and that copy ended abruptly about thirty seconds short. You have to watch every last second of this movie. I recommend it to all fans of the genre, rate it above average, and I will definitely watch it again sometime in the future as appropriate.