Seven Swords
November 8th 2007 00:49
Category: Movies
Director: Tsui Hark.
Produced by: Tsui Hark.
Screenplay by: Tsui Hark & Hu Tin Naam.
Starring: Charlie Young (Wu), Donnie Yen (Zuo), Leon Lai (Yeung), Zhang Jingchu (Fang), Lu Yi (Han), Kim So Yeun (Green Pearl), Tai Liwu (Shin), Sun Honglei (Fire Wind), Lau Kar-leung (Fu), Duncan Chow (Mulang).
Produced: 2005 Fortissimo Films.
Running Time: 142 minutes. Rating: MA 15 .
According to the blurb on the back of the DVD case Seven Swords was the film selected to open the Venice Film Festival, an event that I have to say I was not at. Still when I saw this sitting on the shelf at the local video shop amidst the new releases it caught my eye and having done so it was a matter of mere moments of standing in the que, getting served by the friendly young woman at the counter and then after handing over some hard earned currency taking it home to slot it into the DVD player and just sit back and let it wash over me.
The setting is a China in the time when the Emperor’s ruled from the Forbidden City and issued decrees determining exactly how things should be. In this case the current Emperor has decreed that the practice of martial arts is to be forbidden and all those who practice said arts are to be punished with death, definitely a harsh edict as it seems a large amount of money is to be made on eliminating martial artists, especially if you embark on this concept with an eye to eliminating large chunks of the population who are martial artists. This is precisely what the movies main antagonist, Fire Wind, has done. He has assembled a force of soldiers to wipe out entire villages of people, collecting the bounty on their heads and pillaging their community as well.
It is during one such operation that the action of the movie opens; a village has been targeted by Fire Wind’s evil henchmen for its martial arts practitioners and its occupants are systematically being ‘harvested’ so that the bounties can be collected. In the wake of all the carnage the head hunters notice that the death plaques on which they have placed on various bodies to identify them and their ‘crimes’ are missing, it seems that without the plaques bounties cannot be collected on the dead so naturally Fire Wind’s henchmen are in a state of consternation. Suddenly a vast search is undertaken for the perpetrator and he is soon found. Mayhem ensues as this individual literally runs rings around the villains as well as out manoeuvring them with some stunning martial arts moves; and this is not the first time this mysterious individual has done this to Fire Wind’s lackeys. Seriously wounded he manages to steal a horse and ride away with pursuit hot on his heels.
From this sudden explosion of action the story moves into the meat of the plot, the injured stranger eventually finds his way to Martial Village, a haven of members of the Heaven and Earth Society and their families. Naturally as members of the society the bulk of Martial Village’s population are practitioners of martial arts and thus ripe targets for Fire Wind and his crew. The mysterious stranger, who we now see revealed as an old man, attempts to warn the villagers unfortunately he is recognised as Fu, a former executioner in the Imperial service, and as a result of this accusation the villagers decide that he is telling a load of lies and should be hung. If only it were so simple, Fu the former executioner seeks to redeem himself, and he is telling the truth as we the viewers know but the villagers chose to focus on his past actions rather than examining the present.
At this point the movie takes on some similarities with Seven Samurai, where a village of relatively peaceful farmers is about to be laid waste to by a horde of marauders, in this case opportunistic mercenaries who can see the benefit in their depredations. After all as well as the bounties there are also all the villagers’ goods and property that can be seized and converted into plunder. But where the villagers in Seven Samurai seek to recruit a cadre of samurai to defend them in Seven Swords there is more a feeling of the magical, of the divine. The mandate of Heaven seems to be being exercised, where if chaos reigns on the Earth then the forces of the Heaven will intervene to ensure that righteousness and harmony is restored to the Earth. After all the Seven Swords that are wielded by the movies protagonist are made by the Master, an aging smith who lives on Mount Heaven and who if not actually divine himself certainly seems to have a connection to the divine.
As I watched this film the one thing that kept cropping up in mind was the word beautiful, Seven Swords is in fact a beautiful movie. The landscapes, the actresses, the fight scenes, the costumes, the interplay of lighting all serve to create something that is not just purely entertaining but is a work of beauty. And the story is not purely one dimensional, along with the martial arts there is love, intrigue, suspense and betrayal, it is a multilayered tale that works well. Tsui Hark, the movies director, has certainly crafted a work of art that no doubt was well accepted at the Venice Film Festival, and frankly I felt that my money was well spent hiring it from the local video store. Seven Swords is definitely worthy of being called a masterpiece and well worth watching if you have the opportunity.
Produced by: Tsui Hark.
Screenplay by: Tsui Hark & Hu Tin Naam.
Starring: Charlie Young (Wu), Donnie Yen (Zuo), Leon Lai (Yeung), Zhang Jingchu (Fang), Lu Yi (Han), Kim So Yeun (Green Pearl), Tai Liwu (Shin), Sun Honglei (Fire Wind), Lau Kar-leung (Fu), Duncan Chow (Mulang).
Produced: 2005 Fortissimo Films.
Running Time: 142 minutes. Rating: MA 15 .
According to the blurb on the back of the DVD case Seven Swords was the film selected to open the Venice Film Festival, an event that I have to say I was not at. Still when I saw this sitting on the shelf at the local video shop amidst the new releases it caught my eye and having done so it was a matter of mere moments of standing in the que, getting served by the friendly young woman at the counter and then after handing over some hard earned currency taking it home to slot it into the DVD player and just sit back and let it wash over me.
It is during one such operation that the action of the movie opens; a village has been targeted by Fire Wind’s evil henchmen for its martial arts practitioners and its occupants are systematically being ‘harvested’ so that the bounties can be collected. In the wake of all the carnage the head hunters notice that the death plaques on which they have placed on various bodies to identify them and their ‘crimes’ are missing, it seems that without the plaques bounties cannot be collected on the dead so naturally Fire Wind’s henchmen are in a state of consternation. Suddenly a vast search is undertaken for the perpetrator and he is soon found. Mayhem ensues as this individual literally runs rings around the villains as well as out manoeuvring them with some stunning martial arts moves; and this is not the first time this mysterious individual has done this to Fire Wind’s lackeys. Seriously wounded he manages to steal a horse and ride away with pursuit hot on his heels.
At this point the movie takes on some similarities with Seven Samurai, where a village of relatively peaceful farmers is about to be laid waste to by a horde of marauders, in this case opportunistic mercenaries who can see the benefit in their depredations. After all as well as the bounties there are also all the villagers’ goods and property that can be seized and converted into plunder. But where the villagers in Seven Samurai seek to recruit a cadre of samurai to defend them in Seven Swords there is more a feeling of the magical, of the divine. The mandate of Heaven seems to be being exercised, where if chaos reigns on the Earth then the forces of the Heaven will intervene to ensure that righteousness and harmony is restored to the Earth. After all the Seven Swords that are wielded by the movies protagonist are made by the Master, an aging smith who lives on Mount Heaven and who if not actually divine himself certainly seems to have a connection to the divine.
As I watched this film the one thing that kept cropping up in mind was the word beautiful, Seven Swords is in fact a beautiful movie. The landscapes, the actresses, the fight scenes, the costumes, the interplay of lighting all serve to create something that is not just purely entertaining but is a work of beauty. And the story is not purely one dimensional, along with the martial arts there is love, intrigue, suspense and betrayal, it is a multilayered tale that works well. Tsui Hark, the movies director, has certainly crafted a work of art that no doubt was well accepted at the Venice Film Festival, and frankly I felt that my money was well spent hiring it from the local video store. Seven Swords is definitely worthy of being called a masterpiece and well worth watching if you have the opportunity.
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