Xu lao hu yu bai gua fu

The team at full steam in this Shaw Brothers 'scope costume drama centering on salt pirates violating the royal monopoly, with appropriate historical background about the court needing to pay off the reparations due at the end of the war with Japan and forming an enforcement police.

The leads are well show cased, with a demure Tanny getting possibly her most elegant outing. One of the nearest to a sustained narrative among director Li Han-hsiang's films, the costumes and decor are the dominant element as usual, with wine jars, red candles, silk kimona and the salt treatment set built in the studio.

It's all about expectations. I sat down to watch "The Tiger and the Widow" expecting an action film, with Kara Hui (from countless kung-fu flicks, both old-school and new) and Tanny (from "Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold") getting a large share of the action. Wrong on all counts: the film is a talky drama, there is only ONE fight scene, and neither lady is involved in it. The problems begin with the premise: the movie is about an illegal salt smuggling ring run by Tanny and her male partner, who spend most of the movie arguing which one of them is going to sacrifice him/herself and surrender to the police. Did you get that? Salt smuggling. That ranks right up there with tax evasion as far as exciting "screen crimes" are concerned. The movie is pretty to look at and well-acted, but it is also incredibly boring. Kara Hui fans, in particular, should just ignore it completely. (*)