L'hirondelle d'or

Being the second film I've seen from King Hu (the first being A Touch of Zen), there were definitely some clear differences with the ways both films handled the characters. The initial portrayal of Golden Swallow as formidable in combat and Fan as harmless, yet noble recalled the characters in A Touch of Zen, but as the film went on, the clearer it became that Fan had a lot to hide, both in regards to his superior fighting skills and his history with the bandit's leader. While Golden Swallow can fight well in combat by herself and kill a few bandits here and there (albeit taking some scratches in the process), Fan is shown to understand the craft far better than her and can kill his opponents much quicker. How surprising it will be when, given the strong emphasis on Golden Swallow's rivalry with Jade Faced Tiger, she gets overshadowed and pushed aside during the final fight by Fan's rivalry with Liao (a dynamic which was given comparably less screen time in the film). It's an unexpected change of focus and, while such an idea would normally be a flaw, it's a more than fitting narrative choice for this film, given how well Fan was developed throughout the film (if I could change one aspect though, I'd give Liao some more prominence since he lacked the memorable development which Fan had). Not sure I like this film more than A Touch of Zen, but the former film has sat better with me upon reflection. The idea of slowly revealing the true colors of a formidable fighter who eventually rips through the fabric of the narrative has resonated with me quite well.

Unintentionally hilarious English subtitles and occasionally clumsy editing aside (consider it part of the charm), Come Drink with Me is a fun, old-fashioned martial arts romp. The story is simple. A gang of bandits kidnap the son of a governor, in a bid to exchange him for their captured and soon to be executed leader. Golden Swallow, a fierce (and pretty) warrior and sister to the captured man, comes to free him. Lots of sword-fighting ensues. Oh, and she's aided by a beggar known alternatively as the Drunken Cat and the Drunk Hero, which is cool for reasons that surely don't have to be explained. 

If you enjoyed other Shaw Brothers films, Come Drink with Me will be a pretty sure bet for you. Maybe the fights aren't as satisfying compared to the complex choreography of today's martial arts epics, but it's got a classic charm that some will eat up. And many of the most revered martial arts movies of today were clearly influenced by what was done here.

Shaw Brothers. Shaw Brothers. Shaw Brothers. We meet again.

Okay, so one day I was sitting around browsing the internet, and I thought to myself, "Hmm, why don't I download a bunch of Asian films to watch later?" Just in case you haven't already guessed, this was one of them. After watching several of the others, I finally decided to sit down to this one. The reason this one caught my eye is because it starred the lovely Pei-pei Cheng, who you may know from "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon", where she played the not-so-lovely Jade Fox. Those of you who know me know I love watching women kick some ass in movies, and this was a Shaw Brothers film on top of that, so I just HAD to get up in that.

Yeah, it was pretty damn cool. Those of you who have to have some sort of deep plot and spellbinding visuals in every film you watch probably wouldn't get a whole lot out of this, but I have an open mind and this is my kind of film, so I instantly took a liking to it. Pei-pei Cheng was fascinating to watch and undeniably beautiful. She just has that sort of presence that draws you to her. Whenever she wasn't on screen, the movie definitely felt lacking in my eyes, but thankfully, she's on screen pretty darn often considering she's the main character. The fight choreography was obviously impressive, and there were some brutal scenes that will likely stay with me for a while, such as when a young apprentice is cruelly murdered in cold blood. For being as old as it is, this is also a very fast-paced film. Sure, there are some slow spots - not that they bothered me - but it's constantly moving forward, which made it all the more engaging. The story itself is solid for this type of film, but nothing too surprising. The print I saw had very good visual and audio quality, which was nice. Great, now I'm just stalling to make the review longer.

Well, it's simply a good film. I wasn't blown away, but I enjoyed it about as much as I'm capable of enjoying a martial arts film from the 60's these days. The fights alone are worth the price of admission, so if you haven't already seen this, what the hell have you been watching lately?

If you want to see the inspiration for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon this is it. I saw this after being opened up to wuxia (Chinese sword fight pics) by CTHD. Ang Lee was obviously inspired by Come Drink With Me. Remember the rooftop scene in CTHD?, the big bar brawl?, catching those little darts?, and the actress who played the Jade Fox (Cheng Pei Pei)? All are in Come Drink With Me. The story behind the movie is that Run Run Shaw of the legendary Shaw Brothers Studio wanted to make a Chinese version of a Japanese Samurai (Chanbara) movies. He hired a young, inexperienced, director now known to us as King Hu. The result was a movie that, for its time, was groundbreaking and it is still a lot of fun to watch today. Somebody PLEASE release a high quality DVD version though, because the only one I have found is AWFUL!

Cheng Pei-Pei was the Michelle Yeoh of the Sixties. A stunning action star who was as cold as ice in a fight. In this film she takes on around 40 or 50 guys and still manages to keep her cool. Seeing her two-fisted sword technique as the Golden Swallow is well worth the price of admission.