The Water Margin (1972)

I knew that this movie was based on a great novel, which considered one of four great classical novels of Chinese literature; so I had prepared myself to watch something spectacular, a colossal movie.

The sets were indeed impressive and it had a huge number of casts; but this movie was only based on chapter 64-68 from the book.

It started with a chief from the Liang-shan bandits who was killed by Shi Wen-gong. Shi Wen-gong was rich and afraid that the bandits would attack him, so he attacked them first. It happened that chief Chao Gai from Liang-shan passing nearby. Shi Wen-gong kill Chao. The bandits knew that only Lu Jun-yi, who was Shi Wen-gong's former fellow student, could handle Shi Wen-gong. The story centered on how Lu joined the Liang-shan bandits.

The arrival of two Liang-shan bandits in Lu's house 

[The Liang-shan bandits were not ordinary bandits, but the 108 heroes who fought corrupted Sung government.]

Wu Yong and Li Kui, two bandits from Liang-shan went to Lu's house to invite him to come to Liang-shan. Lu refused and pretended to arrested them, he would release them later.

Yan Ching and Lu Jun-yi

Lu's steward, who was having an affair with Lu's wife, reported his master to the authorities for having 2 of the Liang-shan bandits in the house. Lu was arrested, and his adopted son, Yan Ching, later with the help of Liang-shan bandits, tried to free him.

Yan Ching's efforts to free Lu always fails

Two leaders of prison guards, luckily, kept Lu alive; while Lu's steward, who had all his master's money, bribed the authorities to have his master condemned to death.

Two Japanese actors got the main parts: Toshio Kurosawa played Shi Wen-gong and Tetsuro Tamba played Lu Jun-yi.