SEVEN SWORDS (2005) first. It had enough good stuff to make one regret it isn’t a better movie. At 153 min. (147 min. of film, plus 6 min. of end credits), it’s way too long and takes itself way too seriously. It’s basically a kung fu movie with a plot straight out of an old Shaw Bros. spectacle, the one about seven swordsmen protecting villagers from a marauding army, and based on a book by Liang Yusheng. However, Hark pumps it up with a lot of that overwrought style that HK directors seem to specialize in these days. Where’s the graceful, invigorating, imaginative Tsui Hark of PEKING OPERA BLUES, ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA, and GREEN SNAKE? A little simplicity, a little color, less hyperactive cutting and a few wide-angle lenses would have gone a long way in winning me over.

The interesting cast includes some great old-school kung fu people, including Lau Kar Leung, who’s also the action director, and Jason Pai Piao. There are some good fights along the way, but the movie gives us little reason to care about the participants. None of the male heroes gets much in the way of characterization. (It took me a long time to figure out which of them was Leon Lai.) In the “Making of” bits on the bonus disc, the actors all have volumes to say about their characters. They clearly grasp who they’re playing. Yet little of that knowledge is evident in what we see in the finished film.

The three main women characters are the ones we actually learn something about and they tend to get the most screen time. But their scenes tend to slow the film down, especially those with Green Pearl (So-yeon Kim), the Korean captive rescued from the villain’s lair by Donnie Yen, who also plays a Korean and is one of the seven. (Green Pearl only speaks Korean.) I was most impressed with Charlie Yeung (billed as Charlie Young), who’s the most reluctant of the “Seven Swords.” I’ve seen her in other movies (most notably Hark’s THE LOVERS, 1994), but never like this. She has quite a strong face with some awesome eyebrows and I believe she plays a few scenes without makeup. She’s starting to look a lot like Michelle Yeoh, always a good thing in my book. The villain, Fire-Wind, played by Sun Honglei, is an interesting character, too, much more so than any of the heroes, aside from Charlie Yeung. Jingchu Zhang plays the other female lead, the village chief’s daughter and teacher of the village children, clearly the character the film is most invested in, although it doesn’t quite follow through. Very interesting actress, though.

THE MYTH (2005) owes a lot to the series of “Wisely” films and Chan’s two Armour of God films. I like OPERATION CONDOR better, but THE MYTH certainly compares well with the others. It strikes me as the best Jackie film I’ve seen in a very long time. (I still haven’t seen NEW POLICE STORY.) I like the way it flows back and forth between past and present and the way the two threads finally come together in an exciting and spectacular supernatural climax in an anti-gravity cave. Jackie’s a little old for the part; had he made this exact script ten or even five years earlier, I think it would have been more effective. However, I can’t think of anyone else who could have played this part. And I have to admit he’s in pretty good shape for the fight scenes and stunt sequences. One dangerous stunt, however, a leap backward down a waterfall, is accomplished via CGI. He has two very beautiful leading ladies, one Korean (Hee-seon Kim) and one Indian (Mallika Sherawat).

Jackie speaks four languages in the film: Cantonese, English, Mandarin and what I’m guessing is Hindi in the “Dasar” (India) sequence. His Mandarin is dubbed in the dream sequences in ancient China, but he speaks it to two characters during the climax. There were battle scenes shot in China that reminded me a bit of THE WARLORDS. The second half of this two-hour film is much more serious and lacks the light touch of the first half. It had a downbeat ending that bothered me.

I bought this on VCD on a whim at a Chinatown store two years ago, partly because bad word-of-mouth had indicated I shouldn’t spend too much on it. It deserves a DVD. I’ll upgrade. Actually, it deserves a big-screen viewing. But I don’t think it ever played theatrically here in the U.S.

I got the impression that the problem with SEVEN SWORDS was that it was too short. Hark was forced to cut it down for theatrical release. I've held off buying it because I'm still hoping for the four hour director's cut which would flesh out the characters (material that got cut for the more action emphatic theatrical cut).

I did buy the tv series, but haven't watched it yet. Not sure if it would be fair comparing the two anyhow.

Thanks Brian for bring THE MYTH back to my attention. I've kind of forgotten about it and I bought the unwieldy boxed version when it came out. It's buried in my parent's attic though and will need some excavating not unlike the little terra-cotta warrior that was included; set in clay and replete with little digging tools! I remember watching the start and some of the extras - it was a quirky release in that it split the movie badly across two discs for no really good reason, and the extras suffered from some jerkiness caused by poor standards conversion. Nevertheless, FORBIDDEN KINGDOM has reawakened my Jackie Chan interest somewhat after a string of lacklustre performances (isn't RUSH HOUR 3 a travesty?) and I know my unwatched NEW POLICE STORY is in the same box. I'm visiting the parents this evening so I'll get out the step-ladder.

Victor

Overwrought, with no characters for whom to care, was the impression I had on my one viewing of SEVEN SWORDS as well. This film kind of grated on my nerves because I wanted to settle down and enjoy it, especially with such a stellar cast both in front of and behind the camera, but the film fought me at every turn. I did not care for the way the action scenes were shot and edited at all.

I made a mental note to return to it again at some point, but there are a lot of other titles I've yet to see, along with older movies I enjoy and want to revisit, so giving SEVEN SWORDS a second shot is none too high on my agenda. Besides which, its been a long time since I've been excited about anything Tsui Hark has done. TIME AND TIDE was the last film of his that I enjoyed. I don't find myself looking forward to Hark's films anymore the way I do, say, Johnnie To's.

I'll give THE MYTH a try out on the strength of Brian's comments though.

I didn't care much for Myth -- but (then again) it's not really my sort of film. ;~}

The Myth was not bad at the same time it is not something special either. I really loved that sticky paper scene though, it reminded me of Jackie when he was young.

And yeah Jackie acts in roles that are suited to younger actors which kind of takes away some of the joy of watching him.

Seven Swords was also a mediocre film for me but it is not one I fell asleep during and that is saying something. I'm not so keen on Charlie Yeung as an actress but I really liked her in this one.

Actually the fact that I only perked up a bit during a Michael Wong cameo says what needs to be said for the film.

The sticky paper scene is all I remember from MYTH, that and the usual ropey CGI. But that's more than I recall from ROB B. HOOD, or whatever that Jackie and a baby thing was called. His HK films have been as mediocre as his US ones, the underrated FORBIDDEN KINGDOM excepted.

I wrote a little about THE MYTH's historical reference points here. The film could have been a lot better, but I really enjoyed Tony Leung's character and the part of the film set in India. The latter part of the movie was hard to stay awake through.

I remember being pleasantly surprised by THE SEVEN SWORDS and enjoying it as one of those sloppy editing messes that is Tsui Hark's trademark. For some reason, it kept bringing to mind his 1991 picture THE RAID. Funny though, trying to remember SEVEN SWORDS now all I can picture is a brown dusty smudge. A little color would have been nice.

-- Peter

Hello,

I'd be interested in hearing people's reactions to Tsui Hark's new film "The Missing" (which appears vaguely like a Pang Bros. remake starring Angelica Lee no less!) along with his upcoming "Peking Opera Blues" remake. I too often wonder "what went wrong?" and think the story of George Lucas is a good analogue--without someone to reign in Tsui's more questionable creative choices, it's doubtful he'll ever return to form. Unlike Lucas, however, Tsui never struck me as someone with so much industry clout that he could steam roll any creative opposition by virtue of his place in the firmament, so to speak.

Also of note, I purchased my DVD of "The Myth" for USD $5 from the previously viewed bin at Blockbuster Video when they were cleaning their stock for new inventory. Was also able to pick up the Jackie Chan picture "Thunderbolt" for the same price at that sale. Am waiting for them to put "The Host" into the used bin any day now....

Yi Lee, I think that Tsui is a better director than Lucas, or at least one who has directed more good movies, but the comparison may not be inapt. I do think that in Tsui's case boredom plays a more critical role. He clearly gets bored with films while he's making them. This has sometimes led him to make some truly inspired choices, like casting Brigitte Lin as Asia the Invincible, while at other times not working out so well, such as when (apparently after having done a fair amount of shooting) he decided that The Blade should be told from the point of view of its fairly obtuse female lead (the film has a lot of rewards, but does anyone really remember it for her character?). And it's clear that he's gotten more restless and more easily bored as he's gotten older.

Hello,

I think Tsui always worked better with a collaborator or a good set of them. I mean, check out all the movies he did with John Woo and Ching Siu-tung. When left to his own devices, however, he comes up with something like "Zu Warriors."

I remember once chatting with Zhang Ziyi after "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" got famous. Zhang had finished working with Tsui for "Zu" and I asked her what it was like working with him on set. She commented that he has a nervous bundle of energy who spent his time in-between shots story boarding and drawing man-hwa (comics.) Imagine one's surprise, however, after Tsui released "Master Q 2001" and the Master Q segment in "1:99"--the HK anti-SARS movie. Limpid to say the least.

I think boredom is a good word. When there's nobody good around him to challenge his convictions, Tsui just shuffles off into the computer effects room to play with his new digital toys. Without those knock-down, drag-out creative battles with Woo and Ching (which eventually led to their mutual estrangement), however, Tsui was forced to be on his toes and focus on what appeared in front of the camera. With nobody to do that now, though, he just shoots perfunctory footage and heads off to to editing bay with doodle pad and his best ideas untested (or, for that matter, unsublimated.)

Oh man....

The Myth...
I've had such fond memories with this movie. Particularly because I saw this on the big screen with Jackie Chan and crew in the same theatre room at the Toronto Filmfest and because of the fact that I actually worked on translating most of the special features for the Hong Kong release of this DVD. (Yes, there are English subtitles on the special features for this DVD release!) I also remember being drunk at the Toronto screening which led to my tripping and falling over the steps in front of Jackie Chan and director Stanley Tong. I don't know how plastered I was but I know that I drank on an empty stomach.

If it weren't for this movie, I'd probably still be bumming around without a paying job.

But let's be honest here. I am certainly not satisfied with the end result of the commentary subtitles. They were good for the most part but I never got to supervise the entire translation. There were bits and pieces of it that was not handled by me and Patrick Tam's name was written as "Tan Yao-Wen" on the English subs of the DVD. If I were to do an entire double checking, I'd change it back to Patrick Tam. If it weren't for those little nuances, I'd be very satisfied with my debut work in Hong Kong DVD's.

I do wish Joy Sales would change their minds and decide to release any of these films to bluray so I can revise my old translations and finally bring it to justice.

I liked SEVEN SWORDS. I agree with the assessment of the characterization problems, but there were a lot of memorable action sequences. It left me wanting more and eager for a rewatch, which is always a good sign with this sort of movie.

Jingchu Zhang, one of the lead actresses in SEVEN SWORDS, is also in RUSH HOUR 3 (2007), which I watched on HBO last night. She looks good and speaks English well (is that her voice?) and it's nice to see her in another movie and nice to see her in an American movie, although I wish it had been a better one. At least she wasn't cast as the villain in the way that Zhang Ziyi was used in RUSH HOUR 2. She's more of a damsel-in-distress here. They give the villain parts to Hiroyuki Sanada and Yuki Kudoh.

Zhang Jingchu is a first rate actress. Check out her performances in PEACOCK and THE ROAD, both excellent films. Zhang drew some controversy when she said she was planning to take drugs to prepare her role as a drug addict in PROTEGE. You can imagine how that went over in the press!

I haven't seen RH3 but it is Zhang's own voice:

"Speaking English was no problem for me. But it was the first time I performed in English," she said. "Performing was a more difficult thing, because you had to deliver emotions through your words. It was really a challenge."

... after she signed the contract, the production company arranged for a dialect teacher to coach her, the same one who taught Zhang Ziyi for "Memoirs of A Geisha."

"I practiced my lines daily, feeling like I have returned to school in my lines classes," Zhang Jingchu recalled.

Her persistence was rewarded. "At the end, many people thought I was born in America!"

Reports say later this year Zhang Jingchu will co-star with Jackie Chan again, this time in "Shinjuku," a literary film about Chinese migrants in Japan

She was the best thing in the film. That performance was exquisite.