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Come Drink With Me -
Fans of the Jade Fox character from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would be hard pressed to find a better place than here to start exploring Pei-Pei Cheng's career. The same advice applies to the wuxia genre that made her famous. It helps that the movie has a simple and elegant premise: bandits, led by the delightfully smug Jade-Faced Tiger (Chen), have kidnapped a governor's son in retribution for his government jailing their actual leader. Instead of giving in to their demands, Golden Swallow (Cheng), the captive's sister and expert swordfighter, goes on a rescue mission. After a confrontation at an inn, a beggar known as Drunken Cat (Hua) protects her and makes her realize that as good as she is, she can't rescue her brother all by herself.
If it's the combat that keeps you coming back to this genre, you're in luck because there are no forgettable fights in this. What's more, the action is fast-paced and comes in bursts to maximize the excitement. The table-clearing brawl at the inn is an easy favorite, mostly because Golden Swallow and Drunken Cat make such memorable introductions in it. The "drifter who is secretly a martial arts master" trope is common and not just in movies like this one, but it is for a reason as Hua's character demonstrates. With his whimsy and Golden Swallow being all business, their relationship is as fun to watch as Iris and Gilbert in The Lady Vanishes. Again, Tiger is the kind of guy you will love to hate a little bit more each time he appears, and if modern action movies could take anything away from this one, it’s that you can never have enough colors.
While I agree that this a must-see for wuxia fans, I would not say it is my very favorite. With no disrespect to Hua, who is great, I would have liked Golden Swallow to have been in the spotlight as much as Drunken Cat is during the finale, especially considering how personal the mission is to her. Also, the Ming Dynasty is definitely a different place and time than what I am used to, but one of my favorite things about wuxia movies is their fantastical atmosphere, which is not nearly as present here as it is in the best entries I have seen. I still had a fun time and appreciate finally getting to see where Pei-Pei Cheng and the genre started out. Besides, I can't complain too much because I've not only just scratched the surface, but there's also a sequel called - you guessed it - Golden Swallow!
My guy (or gal): Jade-Faced Tiger. I hope to have a good reason to feel as self-satisfied as he does some day.
Fans of the Jade Fox character from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would be hard pressed to find a better place than here to start exploring Pei-Pei Cheng's career. The same advice applies to the wuxia genre that made her famous. It helps that the movie has a simple and elegant premise: bandits, led by the delightfully smug Jade-Faced Tiger (Chen), have kidnapped a governor's son in retribution for his government jailing their actual leader. Instead of giving in to their demands, Golden Swallow (Cheng), the captive's sister and expert swordfighter, goes on a rescue mission. After a confrontation at an inn, a beggar known as Drunken Cat (Hua) protects her and makes her realize that as good as she is, she can't rescue her brother all by herself.
If it's the combat that keeps you coming back to this genre, you're in luck because there are no forgettable fights in this. What's more, the action is fast-paced and comes in bursts to maximize the excitement. The table-clearing brawl at the inn is an easy favorite, mostly because Golden Swallow and Drunken Cat make such memorable introductions in it. The "drifter who is secretly a martial arts master" trope is common and not just in movies like this one, but it is for a reason as Hua's character demonstrates. With his whimsy and Golden Swallow being all business, their relationship is as fun to watch as Iris and Gilbert in The Lady Vanishes. Again, Tiger is the kind of guy you will love to hate a little bit more each time he appears, and if modern action movies could take anything away from this one, it’s that you can never have enough colors.
While I agree that this a must-see for wuxia fans, I would not say it is my very favorite. With no disrespect to Hua, who is great, I would have liked Golden Swallow to have been in the spotlight as much as Drunken Cat is during the finale, especially considering how personal the mission is to her. Also, the Ming Dynasty is definitely a different place and time than what I am used to, but one of my favorite things about wuxia movies is their fantastical atmosphere, which is not nearly as present here as it is in the best entries I have seen. I still had a fun time and appreciate finally getting to see where Pei-Pei Cheng and the genre started out. Besides, I can't complain too much because I've not only just scratched the surface, but there's also a sequel called - you guessed it - Golden Swallow!
My guy (or gal): Jade-Faced Tiger. I hope to have a good reason to feel as self-satisfied as he does some day.