Actualités

Lady of Steel

Directed by Ho Meng Hua

Written by Liang Yen

Hong Kong, 1970

Movies whose stories are set within the parameters of grand scale wars can tell one of two types of stories. Either the film speaks to the grandiose nature of the conflict, with the themes and ideologies concerned with the overall attitudes towards war in general, or they will concentrate their efforts on sharing a specific, more personal story that in some is a microscopic version of the epic battle that unfolds. Some prefer the former because the featured action is often more epic in scale, but the latter may provide with a more intimate storyline for which characterization is more pertinent than lofty themes. Ho Meng Hua, with his 1970 action film Lady of Steel, goes for the second option, exploring how one woman’s quest for revenge relates to the oncoming invasion of a massive army.

The Sword and the Lute

Directed by Hsu Tseng-Hung

Written by San Kong

Hong Kong, 1967

After Temple of the Red Lotus and The Twin Swords both emerged onto the Hong Kong cinema scene in 1965, showcasing several brand new, soon to be insanely popular actors moulded by Shaw Brothers studios, among them Lo Lieh, Jimmy Wang, Ivy Ling Po and Chin Ping, director Hsu Tseng-Hung and writer San Kong removed themselves for 2 years from the world of Scarlet Maid, the Gan family and the fantastical poisonous lute before finally concluding the trilogy of films in 1967. By this time Jimmy Wang was a powerful name in the industry, appearing in numerous films and having starred in one of the studio’s most famous adventures, The One Armed Swordsman, with Golden Swallow to come shortly thereafter, which may in part explain why in this third and final chapter he is more of a...

Come Drink With Me

Directed by King Hu

1966, Hong Kong

There is always something thrilling and fascinating about a movie that defies ones expectations, giving audiences something they never saw coming. Given that Come Drink With Me is the first film to be reviewed in this series, few expectations existed beforehand. Nevertheless, King Hu’s efforts in putting interesting twists on specific characters and narrative elements does not go unnoticed, and while the film does experience some slight turbulence, the end result makes for a memorable 90 minutes.

Set in an unspecified past, a party of men transporting a general’s son across the mountainous countryside is cleverly ambushed by a hoard of gangsters, whose intentions are to offer the son back in exchange for their currently imprisoned leader. It is only a matter time before the general’s daughter and cunning warrior, code name Golden Swallow (Chang Pei-pei) is given...