Xia ke hang

Before you watch this movie, you have to be aware of that it isn't your regular Chang Cheh/Venom mob-flick per se. Most of the venom posse isn't in this movie at all or only in it for cameo appearances and the mode of the movie is more in tune with Wu-xia movies of the late 60's than the usual male-bonding/bloodshed mayhem that came out of the Chang Cheh factory at the time. The action isn't really the main attraction here, and the movie wouldn't have suffered THAT much had they removed the Kung Fu altogether as would have been the case with almost any other Hong Kong movie of the time. Also, you have to be at least somewhat accustomed to the unrealistic nature of the Chinese Wu-xia movies. That is, don't be taken back by extremely rushed plot development and just plain bizarre events and dialogue. In a sense, this movie genre is one of supernatural story telling and has a very unique atmosphere about it. Taking that into consideration, you are in for a real treat here. In many ways Ode to gallantry resembles "The sword stained with royal blood", another Wu-xia(ish) venom movie, although I'd say the former has a much better general story and characters, whereas the latter is superior in terms of pure action. All in all, I'd say they are equally good but for different reasons.

The story in OTG is complex and takes many turns, and need not be reiterated for the sake of a short review, but it consists mainly of a predicament of mistaken identity and is quite cleverly played out. Philip Kwok plays his role very well and he is a delight to watch as he comes out as not over-the-top but still amusing and charming. The only other main venom to play a big role is Sun Chien who is one of the main figures of a martial arts group Kwok get's involved with by accident. Chiang Sheng makes a short but memorable role in the last 10 minutes of the film, during the end fight, which is (as other reviewers have pointed out) the Kung Fu-feast we are used to when we hear about a venom-movie.

I sincerely recommend this movie, I just bought it off the internet and intend to watch it many times myself. You'll have both laughs and moments of intensity and sadness. A rare experience from start to finish.

My love affair with classic Shaw Bros martial arts movies continues, and it's a good thing that the Esplanade Library has a decent selection. In continuation of my recent hunt for stories based on Louis Cha's novels, I chanced upon Ode to Gallantry (Xia Ke Xing) on the shelves, and despite it being cast with a relative bunch of lesser known names (of today), there's one name on the credits that compelled me to watch this: Director Chang Cheh.

My memory of the story dates back to the early 80s, based on the TVB series starring Tony Leung as the lead twin characters Shi Po Tian and Shi Zhong Yu, in a classic tale of mistaken identities. The story begins with Shi Po Tian aka the Bastard, a beggar of sorts, stealing a bun which contains the Black Iron Token, created by skilled pugilist Xie Yanke, who grants the holder one wish, and includes not killing the wielder of the token. As they say, the Heavens smile on the Idiots, and having been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, Shi Po Tian slowly learns formidable skills while under the tutelage of Xie Yanke.

Given that my memory is likely to be faulty, I can't really compare this movie to the original novel, but like all movies based on Louis Cha classics, it's usually a condensation of themes and characters, but unlike The Proud Youth, this movie doesn't overhaul the characters and allow them to undergo name changes. Strong in its theme of Gallantry, embodied by the dim-witted Shi Po Tian, the movie does move along quite fast with little time devoted for depth.

Acting chops are nothing spectacular, and as the usual martial arts movies of the time goes, romance takes a backseat, even though you have a female character Dingding Dangdang (Candy Wen Xue-Er) having the hots for our lead twin characters, played by Philip Kwok Chun-Fung.

But of course the main deal here is the martial arts. There are not many wire work here, and the fights are a combination of weapons and palms, as well as a great deal on evasive techniques, as Shi Po Tian is a reluctant fighter, who sees no rational behind fights and the taking of lives. Expect the usual blood fests from Chang Cheh, reputed for his generous dose of fake blood usage.

Like all movies of its genre, the ending is usually weak, as if after the big fight, there's nothing left to do, and no purpose in life, and it ends just there. As mentioned before, the novel is a rich source, but having to translate it for the big screen, can be daunting at times. The crux of it gets a treatment, but the rest got forgotten. Remember though, this was made in the early 80s, so story telling techniques have evolved loads since then.

This Code 3 DVD produced by IVL contains the usual extras you expect from their packaging of Shaw Bros classic movies. You have a few production and movie stills, one original poster which is quite small in size, a one page one paragraph worth of production notes, the theatrical trailer and other trailers of the same genre, which have undergone an update (I doubt they are the original trailers), and a very short cast and crew biography.

Perhaps the best bit of extras here is a documentary on director Chang Cheh himself, running at 17 mins and 20 secs. It contains interviews with stars of today and yesteryears, as they recount their memories and experiences with working together with the great man who have revived the martial arts genre, and other genres in the Hong Kong movie industry. Definitely not to be missed, though it could have been done with a little bit more detail. For those who have not watched most of Chang Cheh's works, be warned of the loads of spoilers (character deaths especially) featured in it.

Thankfully too the documentary also comes with English subtitles for those who cannot understand Mandarin/Cantonese, and Mandarin/English subtitles are also available on the feature film, restored decently in the DVD (you can see how picture quality had degraded in the documentary above).

Towards the end of Chang Chen's time at the Shaw Brothers studios, his films had evolved from very stagy Sword dramas to vast historical epics to fantastic superhero period kung fu films. Along the way he dabbled in gangster dramas. The one connecting trend in his career was the extreme violence and gore that permeates most of his films and his obsession with male bonding. By the end of his career he was making films without any women in the cast and the men were parading around in revealing open torso outfits with shiny chests. Make of that what you will however this film is a welcome exception in the trend. Based on a popular book, Chang Cheh keeps his predilections low this time.

Kuo Choi (Phillip Kwok) is the lead in this film as he plays a righteous bumpkin named "Bastard" by his mother. He happens to resemble the leader of a criminal clan that is being stalked by a master martial artist who single-handedly punishes clans for their misdeeds. Bastard is kidnapped by the gang to replace their missing leader and hopefully take the blame for their misdeeds when the master shows up. That's about all I'm going to explain as the plot is very convoluted but somehow makes sense while you watch it. Let's just say that the simple Bastard is mistaken by the parents and the wife-to-be of the clan leader also, plus he learns super martial arts along the way.

The film is kooky and the plot swerves all over the place but is fun to watch as the pace is very brisk without being too fast. Kuo Choi is very funny in the role and carries the film. He does struggle to appear to not know martial arts but when the plot finally allows him to let go at the end, it's his usual excellent work. The two other venoms, Chiang Sheng and Sun Chien, have minor roles and don't do anything until the last ten minutes of the film. This is not the martial art fest of "The Crippled Avengers". There are good but modest fight scenes throughout, however the last ten minutes have the excellent choreography and Venom action you are looking for. You will just have to accept the crazy situation the film suddenly throws at you to set up the scene. Unusual for a Chang Cheh film, there are four important female characters but except for one of them they are portrayed as either manipulative, deluded or outright evil. Also the gore is low key for a Cheh film but that doesn't mean that we don't get to see lots of swords sticking out of bloody victims along the way.

Not bad at all, the light comic tone keeps the film from bogging down. Recommended for Shaw enthusiasts.