Scarlet Heart (TV-2011)

I had wanted to watch this for long, but only recently had time. There is also a Korean version with Lee Jun-ki, which is also famous, but after reading the synopsis of this Mandarin version I decided to watch this one first.

I had watched power struggle among Qian Long Emperor and his brothers (like TV series War and Remembrance - with Louis Koo and David Chiang), and there are movies about Qian Long, like The Book and The Sword, Fong Sai Yuk (a.k.a The Legend), The Young Heroes, Chronicles of Qianlong, etc... but I think there had been only 1-2 movies about Yinzhen I had watched, including a short part in The Hitmen Chronicles. There should be some movies about Yinzhen made by Shaw Brothers but I cannot remember now which ones. In The Hitmen Chronicles, a female assassin took Yinzhen's head, so in his burial, the head had to be replaced with gold. I am not sure if this was only fiction because in other movies I've seen, the emperor did not lose his head.

Since this series is about power struggle among Kangxi Emperor's sons, I wonder how the Korean remake would be like.

Here the story centered around Rouxi, a young girl from the present, who due to an electrical accident transported to 16 years before the end of Kangxi Emperor's era in Qing Dinasty. She became the younger sister of the 8th prince's 2nd wife, befriended the princes, and soon became a maid for the emperor. Her duty was to prepare tea and snacks for the emperor.

The emperor had chosen his favourite son (from the late Empress) as the Crown Prince. This Crown Prince, however, was spoiled and disliked by many. So 1st Prince, 4th Prince and 8th Prince fought against the Crown Prince for the throne, but they had to be careful because of their fear of the Emperor.

4th Prince was supported by 13th Prince, while 8th Prince was supported by 9th Prince, 10th Prince, and 14th Prince.

As Rouxi came from the present, she had already known that it was 4th Prince who would ascend the throne. She warned her brother in law, the 8th Prince; but it would only cause a series of tragedy.

I rarely paid attention to the costumes, but here they were beautifully made. I loved especially the embroideries.

The pace of the story was good, especially because before this I watched 'General and I' which I thought was very very slow... 62 episodes and not much happened.

I had thought it was Kenny Ho who played the 8th Prince. But it was, of course, not him. It was a much younger actor, Yuan Hong.

The Legend of Chu Liu-hsiang 2012 (TV)

I really enjoyed watching this series. The stories are like in the books. This TV series are based on 4 Chu Liu-hsiang books by Gu Long:  The Love Story of A Ghost and A Swordsman (1970), The Legend of The Bat (1971), The Legend of The New Moon (1978), and The Legend of The Peach Blossom (1972).

I read the first 2 books when I was in junior high school and that time I was mesmerized by them. They were much more interesting than Agatha Christie books. The Legend of The Bat, in particular, was quite scary; because the characters went into a cave where they couldn't see anything. So among the 4 stories, The Legend of The Bat is my favourite.

Only recently I found the first 3 Chu Liu-hsiang books: Lingering Fragrance in the Sea of Blood, The Great Desert, and The Thrush. These three books are a trilogy and must be read in correct order. The trilogy is, until now, one of the two best books I have ever read. --> the other one is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

I also have read the rest of Chu Liu-hsiang books, but I don't really like them. Perhaps it is the translation... Translators nowadays have different style than those in the old days.

But in The Legend of The New Moon, the mystery is not intriguing. And in the end, it is not Chu Liu-hsiang who solves the problem how to kill the enemy.

When you think about it, in the Legend of The Bat, Chu Liu-hsiang also doesn't have to fight the master of the Bat island. So there is no big fight in the end. However, they are many puzzles to solve in this story... and I really enjoy the conversations among Chu Liu-hsiang, Hu Tie-hua, and Zhang San.

The Legend of the Peach Blossom, I don't like it. I don't want to see Chu Liu-hsiang gets married...

But I'm glad they made series about The Legend of The New Moon and The Legend of The Peach Blossom, because when I read the books, I didn't really get the meaning. It was the translations.... And since this 2012 series are faithful to the books, I at last can see what are the books about.

I really want to see the team who made this series make a series based on the first 3 Chu Liu-hsiang books. So far, I think the closest version ever made perhaps the 1979 one. It was a pity that Adam Cheng fell sick during the making, so that the lead character had to disappear in several episodes, leaving the supporting cast doing the investigation.

The fighting scenes in this 2012 version are not many, but in the books they are just like that. We can see that Xue Yi-ren, the #1 swordsman, earlier killed his enemies with only 1 stroke only. Then we see Xue Yi-ren chases Chu Liu-hsiang in a fight and never gets him, so we can see that they both are very high skilled.

When I was watching the part of The Legend of The Bat, they were just talking and talking... When I read the book, I really enjoyed it. But when it's made into a movie... well, now I can understand why the other versions of The Legend of The Bat are changed so much. The producers usually want their money back, plus profits.

This 2012 version was perhaps made with low budgets. I wish they hired more beautiful actresses, and it would be great if a more good looking actor could play Zhang San. Zhang San is a fisherman, so I wasn't imagining an overweight guy. Zhang San in this version has eaten too many grilled fish. --> I hope the actor who played Zhang San never read this. He did well, anyway, with the dialogues, also with the gesture of imitating Chu Liu-hsiang rubbing his nose.

I think it was  also due to low budgets that they had to change some locations. Like when it should be in a river or a ocean, it was changed to a land or an island. Sometimes it worked, but sometimes not. In the legend of The Bat, after the ship was destroyed and they had to use coffins, they reached a land and met Yuan Sui-yun. They stayed in the land, in Yuan Sui-yun's, until the messengers from the Bat Island arrived. Jin Ling-zhi mentioned that she had spent 7 days with a ship before reaching the Bat Island, but after they left the shore, floating using those coffins and met Yuan Sui-yun, it had been only 2-3 days. In the book, they were picked up by Yuan Sui-yun's ship and continued the journey until they reached the Bat Island.

I love Ken Chang Tzu-yao here. In some parts, he looks older and thinner, but it's okay. This Chu Liu-hsiang is patient towards women (but not all of them). While Adam Cheng and Ti Lung were more humorous, Ken Chang is calmer. He often pauses before delivering his lines, though. [I don't like Michael Miu's Chu Liu-hsiang. He killed.]

I checked out Ken Chang's filmography to see if I had seen his works before. So he was in The Lost Tomb (with bristles) and in Lu Xiao-feng with Cheung Chi-lam. I didn't remember him in Sha Po Lang at all, until I watched a clip in YouTube. The filmography only mentions Inspector Lee Wai-lok in Sha Po Lang. Which one was Lee Wai-lok? It should be written like this: Good-looking cop whose throat slitted by Wu Jing.

Ding Mo Trilogy (TV)

There are 3 different TV series and since I won't write much, I think I would put them in a single post. The trilogy can be watched separately and in no particular order.

1. Love Me If You Dare
The original title should be 'He has come, close your eyes' and I like this original title better. The story itself reminded me of Karen Rose or Sandra Brown novels so I guessed Ding Mo must be a female, and I was right. Male writers have different styles.
The series was enjoyable to watch, starring Wallace Huo, Sandra Ma, Yin Zheng, and Wang Kai. A criminal psychologist and his new assistant vs serial killers. The hero would fall in love with his new assistant. Btw, I think Wallace Huo's hairstyle looked funny from the left side. Among Wallace Huo, Yin Zheng, and Wang Kai; I think Wang Kai's hairstyle was the best. And I never thought I'd actually pay attention to their hairstyles.

2. When A Snail Falls in Love
I only recognized Wang Kai as the lead character, but the cast did a good job. I actually wanted to see again Wang Kai and his nice hairstyle - like in Love Me If You Dare - but here he wore a totally different hairstyle... It was short, like a police's should be.
This series had a more serious tone than Love Me If You Dare and less flirting between the two leads. They began with disliking each other anyway. My impression was: the story was fast paced and I got confused in some parts. There was no dumber character whom the smarter one would explain what were happening. I just followed the story and in the end I was happy with the conclusion.
The lead female character, Xu Xu, drew nicely. She thought of herself as a snail and her man as a lion. I like the drawings used on the opening credits.

3. Memory Lost
This series was very popular but I was disappointed. The quality of this one is a far cry from the two above -- but I finished all 36 episodes anyway :-|  The cast was dominated by young beautiful people. I think the police here didn't work seriously. If they spent more time to work on the cases, the series could be shorten to 21 or 24 episodes (like the two above).
Take an example when a fake bomb had been found on a mall. The two leads, Han Chen and Su Mian approached the site and they met a member of bomb squad who told them about the fake bomb. Han Chen told him to take a rest and he would follow the matter. But Han Chen did not enter the mall to inquire, but he stood with Su Mian outside the mall and talked about shopping and how he would take care of her.
The cast maybe too young and did not have solid acting skills. If this series was made for teenagers, why the topic was about serial killers? The lead characters were more trying to say: 'Look at me, I am cool.' than trying to be convincing in their roles. Sometimes they even talked to themselves...

The Disguiser (TV) - 2015

I am not familiar with Chinese histories. We did learnt a bit about Chinese Communist party in  junior high school, but I guess it's normal if by now I have forgotten most of it. I did know that in the middle of 1960's the Communists were strong in China, because it connected to our own history.

This series was set in 1939 in Shanghai. The main characters were from the rich Ming family: 1) Ming Jing, the eldest sister, who took care of the household 2) Ming Lou, her brother, who worked for the new government 3) Ming Tai, adopted since he was a child. Ming Tai's mother had been killed in a car accident when she was trying to save Ming Jing dan Ming Lou. 4) Ming Cheng, sort of Ming Lou's helper, but considered as a member of Ming family.

L-R : Jin Dong, Wang Kai, Hu Ge.

I didn't know the difference between Kuo Min Tang and Chinese Communist, but here they worked as two different groups against the Japanese, who were in the new government.

Ming Tai was kidnapped on his way to Hong Kong to study and trained as a spy. Need not to say that our hero became the best student, a super spy. He would be given (almost) impossible assignments but successfully did them well.

This series was very good, but I can't say I enjoyed watching it. Very often the plots got so intense and I was horrified at times, especially at those torture scenes. It's like that Irish film 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley'... the torture scenes were too much for me. I know they were just acting and effects... still they were too much for me.

However, this is a very good production. Three actors who played the Mings: Hu Ge, Jin Dong and Wang Kai, I think they are very good actors. They are very popular, too. I think they are three of the best actors in Chinese film industry nowadays.

Di Ren-jie (TV) 2017

Like many, I also think that the actor who played the famous judge was too young, but actually he was in his late 20's - so let's take it that he just passed the imperial examination and became a judge in Bian-zhou.

If in Robert van Gulik's books, Judge Dee was a good swordsman; here in the series, our hero could not fight, but he could shoot a steel ball from his pen, like a secret weapon.

Mo Yu (Miao Jun-jie) and Die Ren-jie (Allen Ren)

I like detective stories, so I really enjoyed watching this series. Judge Dee here rarely appeared on his local court, but he was often called by the imperial palace - usually by The Emperor (Li Zhi) or his concubine Wu Mei-niang. Three times the emperor wanted to reward him by giving him a position in the palace and three times also Judge Dee refused the offer. He preferred to become a little judge in Bian-zhou.

From history, Di Ren-jie and Wu Mei-niang were enemies. So it was interesting here to watch Wu Mei-niang changed, from a cute, kind girl to a heartless woman. It was because she had to survive the difficulties in the palace. The Emperor was weak and couldn't protect her, so she must protect herself.

The cases were quite interesting, like the human bomb, a priestess who claimed that she could send people to heaven, the death of the little princess, the phantom army... not to mention some strange deaths.

Judge Dee liked Murong Qing, with whom he studied medicines together. It didn't work well between them because she became an enemy. But I was not unhappy because I knew the judge would end with three wives.

There were also two women, both ex thieves, who helped the judge. I found them sometimes irritating. I hoped that the creator of this series would have sent two men instead to help him.

Here in the series, our judge received a bribe. They were looking for a lost fortress and the judge met someone familiar, who didn't want to be recognized. This man quickly fled the place after giving the judge his fortune. The judge would use this jewelry to gamble....😅

Nirvana in Fire (2015)

I really enjoyed watching this series, which I think is much better than Princess Agents. Chinese miniseries are usually slow, but when I was watching this, 40 minutes for every episode went fast.

The original title was Lang-ya List. In the story, Lang-ya Hall in Lang-ya Mountain rated many things. The Crown Prince and Prince Yu from Liang were fighting for the throne and they both were trying to invite the number 1 master in the Lang-ya List, Mei Chang-su. Mei Chang-su was the leader of the Jiangzhou Alliance. It was said that whoever got the divine talent (=Mei Chang-su) would get the world.

Mei Chang-su, using the name Su Zhe as an alias, came to the capital and seemed to be on Prince Yu's side; but he was actually helping Prince Jing. As The Crown Prince and Prince Yu were gradually losing their power and influence, Prince Jing arose in favour. It was then revealed that Mei Chang-su's real name was Lin Shu, and he was the childhood friend of Prince Jing and he came to the capital to prove his family innocence. The Lin family was branded as traitors 12 years ago because the recent Emperor's suspicion.

Every character in this series is good. First time I saw the lead character, he was not interesting at all: thin, pale, ... he was sick, by the way. But the plots and story were indeed very good. I like the battle of wits between Su Zhe and his enemies. Each had to guess what the opponent would do so one could prepare the counter attack. I read critics that the protagonist in this series was too capable, but I like it this way, because I didn't get distressed watching it.

Although Mei Chang-su was ill at the time and could not perform martial arts, we would see why he was ranked #1 on the Lang-ya List.

What had happened to Lin Shu was tragic. 12 years ago he was a handsome, brave, and proud young marshal. In the last fierce battle in Meiling, he was one of the few who could survive the sea of fire and the field of frost snow. His injuries had been so grave that to be cured, he needed to undergo painful operations (something like changing skins and removing bones). When he returned to the capital later, even Prince Jing, his bosom friend, didn't recognize him because the drastic change in his appearance. Also, in the wuxia books it's said that martial arts adepts who have lost their skills are the same as dead.

Burning Ice (2017)

I heard that this Chinese mini-series was about a serial killer and since I like detective stories - and it was only 12 episodes - I decided to give it a try.

The police nicknamed the mysterious killer as The Snowman because he built a snowman beside the victim. It had been 3 victims already and the police couldn't solve the case, so they hired a new help, a district officer named Yan Liang. Yan Liang had been a bright detective, but because he had tried to cover a kid's crime - thinking that the kid had a good future, that he should had been forgiven - it was difficult for Yan Liang to get a promotion.

Meanwhile, Guo Yu, a young intern in a lawyer's office, helped his old friend, Hui Ru in a lawsuit. Hui Ru's husband had just been murdered -being one of The Snowman's victims - and the legal wife Mrs Li, wanted Hui Ru to return the restaurant given to her by her husband. Hui Ru refused to give up the restaurant because it was where her brother made his living. Mrs Li sent thugs to terrorize Hui Ru so Guo Yu introduced Hui Ru to Blonde, a criminal, to counter-attack Mrs Li. Unfortunately, Blonde only wanted to take advantage of Hui Ru.

This resulted in the murder of Blonde. The Snowman helped Hui Ru and Guo Yu to cover the crime. However Yan Liang knew that Hui Ru and Guo Yu were guilty. Yan Liang also knew that The Snowman was no other than his old friend, the one who found out about Yan Liang's mistake years ago. It was rather strange, actually, that Yan Liang could guess who the killer was in such a short time. Yan Liang grilled Guo Yu and Hui Ru in the police HQ, hoping that they would confess so the police could arrest The Snowman.

The original title of this drama is 无证之罪, which I think means 'no proof of the crime'*. This Chinese title is easier for me to remember the story in years to come. [*Correct me, my Chinese is far worse than my English.]

In my opinion the young actors who played Guo Yu and Hui Ru were not convincing at all. I think they were models who picked up by the producers to star in this drama. Also, it seemed to me that the young actor who played Guo Yu wore eye liners.😑 It was not clear what Guo Yu's job in the lawyer's office. His boss was a crook who gambled and helped rich clients by every means. His best friend, also his room-mate, gossiping and reporting him to the boss. Hui Ru, on the other hand, was a kept-woman and didn't work at all.

Dai Xu plays Guo Yu. I think he wore eyeliners

 The jokes were also not to my taste. They failed to make my laugh... or was it because this was a creepy drama, not a comedy. It was cold like the setting of the story: there was a lot of snow from beginning to end. The reason for the killing didn't make sense like in many fictions, so it was okay, I think.

The King of Legend (2012)

I finished watching this series yesterday. It's Chinese version of The Count of Monte Cristo. Compared to the movie version with Jim Caviezel and the French mini-series with Gérard Depardieu, I personally think this Chinese version is closer to the original book. It’s rather hard to believe that the Chinese are better than the French in adapting the book, but I think it’s mainly because of the running time. The Chinese series consists of 39 episodes (@ appr. 41 minutes each) while the French series are only of 400 minutes.

This series is rather slow, full of dialogues, and lack of actions. However it’s very riveting and captivating. I think whoever wrote the script must have loved the original story very much.

In this series, the time setting and location were changed. The main character here was Lin Tian-long, a sailor from Jiao’ao village, who lived with his old father. He had a beautiful  fiancée, Mei-zi. Gu Siang-ru and Lei Li-gang who were jealous of him, sent an accusation letter to the police. At that time, Yuan Shih-kai was in power and Dr Sun Yat-sen was the opposition. The letter accused Lin Tian-long to be an agent of Sun Yat-sen. This letter was written in Wan Rong’s café. The prosecutor, Tang Zhen knew at once that Lin Tian-long was innocent, but because the letter implicated his future father-in-law, Tang Zhen sent Lin Tian-long to Prison No.7, a remote prison in an island where nobody ever escaped.

Liu Yun-long plays Lin Tian-long

 18 years in prison, Lin Tian-long befriended the ex-emperor’s teacher and learnt many things. He finally escaped from Prison No.7 and gained a treasure. He was richer than a country.

If in the original story, the treasure was buried in an island. In this version, the wealth was kept in a bank. The translation said it was HSBC. The old teacher gave Lin Tian-long the password to get the treasure.

Back to Jiao’ao, Lin Tian-long found that his father had been dead and Mei-zi married to Lei Li-gang. Wan Rong, the café owner, told him that Lei Li-gang forced his father to drink poison. Lin Tian-long gave a big diamond to Wan Rong and his wife, and this diamond led to Wan Rong’s wife’ death and Wan Rong was sent to prison for killing his wife. This couple reminded of The Thénardiers from Les Misérables. The wife was very irritating, especially with close-up shots.

The scene where Lin Tian-long saved his ex-boss, the owner of Luck the ship, was very touching.

Meanwhile, Gu Siang-ru, Lei Li-gang and Tang Zheng all had climbed the ladder of success and society. They all now lived in Shanghai. Gu Siang-ru was very rich and had a bank. Lei Li-gang had become a general. Tang Zheng was a successful prosecutor.

In this series, Tang Zheng and his right-hand man, Ah Fuk, were very mean. Ah Fuk was some kind of hitman who targeted Tang Zheng’s enemies. For example: Lin Tian-long’s friend, Ah Zheng, back in Jiao’ao petitioned the prosecutor to take another look at Lin Tian-long’s case. Tang Zheng sent Ah Fuk to silence him (but Ah Zheng survived). Tang Zheng went as far as reporting his own future father-in-law to the police, which led to a massacre.

In Shanghai, Lin Tian-long patiently set traps for his enemies. He wanted them to perish in their own desires. I think the innocent victim here was Gu Siang-ru’s daughter.

The ending was very good. Lin Tian-long, Ah Zheng and Li San together roamed the sea. It also showed Lin Tian-long read The Count of Monte Cristo book.

Please note that South Korea also has a series with the same title, but a different story.

The Legendary Warrior (2006)

Finished watching this series a few days ago. I think it was very good. The hero in this series is Xue Ren Gui, or known in Indonesia as Sie Djin Koei. I read the comic book versions (2 of them) years ago.

Xue Ren Gui was a great general in Tang Dinasty. He first served under Emperor Li Shi-min and later under Emperor Li Zhi. His real life perhaps was not as dramatic as described in books and films, yet they were enjoyable to read and watch.

In this series, he first appeared as a mute who liked to learn kung-fu. He went home to find his home burnt to ashes and his father dead. It was at this time that he was able to speak and the first word he spoke was 'Father.' Alone without any money, he went to his uncle, but was refused by him. He was saved by a tofu-seller, who brought him to his house and fed him. He ate a lot, but was very strong. He finally worked for a landlord, but because a misunderstanding the landlord accused him of having an affair with the landlord's daughter. They ran away from the landlord's wrath, got married and lived in poverty.

Meanwhile, General Tie Shi-wen from Boliao was going to attack Chang-an. The Tang Emperor, Li Shi-min had a dream that Tie Shi-wen was pursuing him and a warrior in white came to save him. The Emperor told his court officials about the dream. He wanted to find the warrior in white, but General Zhang Shi-gui insisted that the warrior in white was his son-in-law.

Zhang Shi-gui recruited people for the incoming war. When Xue Ren Gui came to apply, Zhang Shi-gui recognized him as the emperor's warrior-in-white and refused him 3 times; but finally Xue Ren Gui was able to join the army as a cook. Although a cook, Xue Ren Gui and his sworn brothers defeated enemy's leaders and brought victory for the Tang army. However Zhang Shi-gui recorded the merits as his son-in-law's, while telling lies to Xue Ren Gui to keep hiding because the emperor wanted to kill him.

When the truth was found, Zhang Shi-gui, his son and his son-in-law were put to death by the emperor. Zhang's daughter, who was married to Prince Cheng, wanted revenge and set a trap for Xue Ren Gui. At this time, Li Shi-min had been dead and the new emperor Li Zhi was under Prince Cheng's influence. Li Zhi put Zue Ren Gui in jail and the officials all worked together to proof our hero's innocence.

This version ended with Prince Cheng's death and Xue Ren Gui led Li Zhi's army to defend the country against a new attack.

Unlike the comic books, there are no gods in this version. Although Xue Ren Gui was a real life character, he never had a son named Xue Ding San.

The Black Butterfly (1968)

I had been watching a couple of Shaw Brothers movies made in 1967-1968 and when I watched this one, in the middle of it suddenly I saw how different this was from others. The others often showed close-ups and stayed on the actor's face for a while while he/she did his/her act. It disturbs me a lot when in a time of critical danger and a hero has to fight to death, and he will ask his friend or sibling or child to leave - to be able to avenge him in the future; and the friend/sibling/child doesn't go in that moment and spends several seconds to weep and cry 'I won't leave you' 'I'm not afraid to die'. This kind of drama is very annoying. I sort of hope that the characters live around a swordsman have a military discipline - that they should go as soon as they are told to.

The Black Butterfly was a masked character who robbed from the rich to help the poor. No one knew that the Black Butterfly was actually a young woman named Bao Zhu, the daughter of Gold Sword Kwan - a retired swordsman who now opened the Ten Mile Inn. Kwan had students and his first student, Hsi Lang, worked for Lord Fang in the Court of Censors. Kwan had refused to teach his own daughter martial arts, so she secretly learned from the Drunken Beggar.

Chiao Chiao as Bao Zhu

Five Devils Rock's third master took Lord Fang's stamp and asked Lord Fang to give 10,000 silver taels to make up the loss for the robbery done by the Black Butterfly in the beginning of the movie. With the help of the Drunken Beggar and Bao Zhu, Gold Sword Kwan and his students wiped out the Five Devils Rock.

The director, Lo Wei, used long shots and I enjoyed activities in the background. Like when Bao Zhu was arguing with Hsi Lang in Ten Mile Inn, a student of Kwan appeared in background and called his friend to enjoy the argument. Another example is when Hsi Lang agreed to have a duel with the man from Five Devils Rock, a student of Kwan happily fetched a sword for Hsi Lang and was laughing, as if he knew that he would enjoy an interesting spectacle soon. Again another example: when Gold Sword Kwan was about to go to Five Devils Rock to get the stamp back, Bao Zhu only said a sentence, hoping her father wouldn't go - but she knew that he had to go, so soon after she said what she had to say, she ran to her room crying - followed by her father's students who were trying to comfort her. This was done fast and we could see Gold Sword Kwan stood sadly on the inn's bridge, looking at his daughter's room (from a distance) while his students still comforting her.

The Thundering Sword (1967)

This movie was based on some parts in Chin Yung's The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre.

"The Thundering Sword can shatter world's other two precious swords. When the sword appears it could cause great disasters which would cease only when the earth cracks."

Yu Chien Wan (Chang Yi) and Chiang Kwun Yuan (Lo Lieh), two heroes from Baiyun Temple, were sent by their master to find the Thundering Sword. The master wanted to destroy the sword so the world would be peaceful.

Chen Pei-pei as So Jiau-jiau

Chiang found the sword in a tomb but he was wounded by So Jiau-jiau's poisonous dart from Wu Du Clan. Jiau-jiau regretted what she had done, but she was in a hurry to deliver the sword, so she asked Yue Security Escort to deliver the fainted Chiang back to Baiyun Temple, so his master could cure him. On the way, the escort guys  were attacked, and a a result, Chiang could not be cured and became a cripple.

Jiau-jiau killed 32 people in Yue Security Escort because they had failed the task, but because she disguised himself as a man, the only surviving victim pointed Yu Chien Wan as the culprit. Yu Chien Wan became a wanted man and when Jiau-jiau confessed, no one believed her.

Yu Chien Wan met So Jiau-jiau and they fell in love with each other. Jiau-jiau even gave him the Thundering Sword, although it was later seized by a skilled monk.

Things didn't go well for Yu Chien Wan and So Jiau-jiau. First because of the matter of Yue Security Escort and because Jiau-jiau had wounded Chiang. From this point the pace became slow and the story teary like soap operas.

The Golden Knight (1970)

There were six main clans in the martial arts world and they formed an alliance and pointed a master to be their leader. The alliance was to find a solution if there were a problem between or among clans. The Golden Knights from Tongxin Clan sat as outsiders who gave their opinions, more like jurors.

There had been a Grand Master, the ruler for decades with this six excellent skills. When he was dying, he gave six manuals to the chiefs of six clans, each chief received one manual. Yu Yun-yang from Huangshan Clan arrived late. Later the grand master was found dead and Yu Yun-yang was missing.

There were two versions of stories of what happened that day. The chiefs from five clans testified that when they left the grand master's house, they met Yu Yun-yang on his way. They told him that the grand master had kept one manual for him. Then they heard Yu Yun-yang's shout, telling them to return to the grand master's house because the grand master had been murdered. They returned, but only found the grand master's dead body. The manual was missing, along with Yu Yun-yang.

The second version was told to Yu Fei-xia, Yu Yun-yang's daughter, by a woodcutter who claimed that he had seen the chiefs of five clans (in black clothes / disguise actually) attacking and killing Yu Yun-yang. But when Yu Fe-xia was confronted by one of the golden knights, she said she didn't know who the woodcutter was and couldn't find him again.

The trial of Yu Fei-xia

Then appeared a masked girl who attacked two clans and stole their manuals. The five clans believed that the masked girl was Yu Fei-xia because 1) she had declared she would kill all people in the five clans to take revenge for her father. 2) The masked girl used 'Poison Palm', a skill only used by the Yu family. However, the first missing manual contained 'Poison Palm'.

Lily Ho and Kao Yuen

I enjoyed watching this movie. The mystery was a nice touch, although I could guess who the bad guy was from the beginning. The story was well-written. The enemies had a skill to change their faces, so it was fun to see how the good guys solved the puzzle.

The Dream of The Red Chamber (1977)

There are several version movies of The Dream of The Red Chamber, but I chose this one because I was looking for a song. I was not sure from which version it was, but my cassette was from early 1980's. I did find the song in this version, although my song was an instrumental and the rhythm was faster.

This movie is one of the most beautiful movies ever made. The clothes and the furnitures were very nice. Some of the most beautiful actresses were in it: Lin Ching-hsia, Mi Hsueh, Sylvia Chang. Sylvia Chang looked very beautiful as Lin Dai Yu and I was very impressed, because in early 80's she usually played tomboy characters.

Lin Ching-hsia and Niu Niu played male characters. I don't know why some male characters should be played by females. There were male actors in this movie, like Yueh Hua and Tien Ching; but all singing voices were females'.

The movie's pace was slow, but I was mesmerized by what I saw that I watched it in one sitting. It was basically a Romeo - Juliet story, with a lot of tears.

After the deaths of her parents, Miss Lin Dai Yu came to Ning Kuo Mansion in Jinling City to live with her grandmother. Her grandmother was from the rich and powerful Jia family. There Lin Dai Yu met Jia Bao Yu, the only son of the Jia family. They played together and became best friends. Several years later, they fell in love with each other and couldn't live without one another, but as Lin Dai Yu was too thin and frail [Remember that Jia Bao Yu was the only son], on the wedding night the bride was switched. Jia Bao Yu wed Miss Bao and Lin Dai Yu died with a broken heart.

The Proud Youth (1978)

Lately I started to notice an actor named Wang Yu (not Jimmy Wang Yu), who appeared in several Liu Chia-liang movies. The rumor said that when Jimmy Wang Yu left Shaw Brothers in 1970, the studio owner was so angry that he hired a look-alike and had him play a parody of the former star. I must say that at first I was mistaken, but now I can tell the difference between two actors. You can actually see the year of the making to see which Wang Yu it was. Their names in Chinese characters are also different.

(L) Jimmy Wang Yu vs (R) Not Jimmy Wang Yu

The younger Wang Yu usually played a naughty kid. If the movie was not dubbed, but was in Cantonese, he could be even more annoying (in a funny way). For a kung-fu actor, I think he was good in acting and in delivery of his lines.

So it was interesting to see he played in this movie. The Proud Youth was based on Chin Yung novel 'The Smiling Proud Wanderer'. Wang Yu usually played proud characters, so this part should be easy for him. I only hoped he could be given more dialogues so he could practiced his fast mouth.

Every two years, sword clans of the Five Mountains gathered on the top of Mount Taishan. They are: Huashan Clan, Taishan Clan, Hingshan Clan, Hengshan Clan, and Songshan Clan. The younger clan members learned from competitions, while the chiefs selected a leader of the alliance.

The head student of Huashan Clan, Nangong Song, saved a young nun from Hao Jie-ying, a rapist. Nangong Song suffered grave injuries from this fight because Hao Jie-ying was a more skilled fighter than him and Song only won because of his quick wit and fast mouth. While the nun treated his injuries, other nuns saw them and reported 'the inappropriate conduct' to their teacher, the abbess of Hingshan Clan.

Nangong Song vs Hao Jie-ying. 'Do you want to try my Toilet Sword Style?'

Shi Zhong-ying from Hengshan Clan befriended Gao Yun from the evil clan, Sun Clan, because they both liked music. Shi Zhong-ying played flute and Gao Yun played khim. They both composed a tune together, called 'The Last Sound of the Empty Valley'.

Leng Ruo-jun from Songshan Clan, the new leader of the alliance, found out about the friendship and commanded Shi Zhong-ying to kill his friend. Shi Zhong-ying refused, so Leng Ruo-jun had all his family members killed. Shi Zhong-ying was wounded, but Gao Yun saved him. Together they played 'The Last Sound of the Empty Valley' before their deaths. Nangong Song who was being treated by the young nun heard the melody and came towards. Gao Yun gave him the sheet music, told him to pass it to a talented musician.

Huashan Clan's chief Luo Chao-jun punished Nangong Song for his inappropriate behaviour with the nun. The young man must face the wall for a year at Huashan's Cliff of Remorse. On this cliff Nangong Song found a hidden cave and learned the unbeatable Chongyang Nine Swords Style.

Learning Chongyang Nine Sword Style in a hidden cave

One year passed and being free again, Nangong Song gave the music sheet to Bai Ying-ying from the Sun Clan. When they first met he couldn't see her face and thought that she was an old woman.

Sheet music

Bai Ying-ying was the Sacred Lady from Sun Clan and because Nangong Song had given her a gift, people from the evil clan came to Huashan Clan to give wine to Nangong Song. They also held a party at Wuba Mound. The Huashan Clan's chief was angry that he kicked out Nangong Song from Huashan Clan.

Nangong Song sees Ying-ying's reflection in a river

Then Nangong Song help a guardian from the Sun Clan to free the Sun Clan's former chief, also Ying-ying's father, who had been locked in a dungeon for twelve years by the recent chief, Sima Wuji.

Shih Szu plays Bai Ying-ying

Sima Wuji had learn 'Plum Blossom Classics' on fighting styles and was actually matchless. Guardian Shi, Chief Bai, Nangong Song and Ying-ying surrounded him but he was stronger than the four of them. Finally Ying-ying and Nangong Song could kill him. In the book, even the 4 of them could not handle the enemy. Only by threatening Sima Wuji's lover, Ying-ying could trick him. But in this movie version, the lover had been killed before the four met Sima Wuji.

Sima Wuji becomes half man half woman after learning Plum Blossom Classics

Hao Jie-ying, the rapist, was also a hired assassin. Someone had paid him to kill the leaders of the four clans and the wife of the Huashan Clan's leader. Easy to guess who had paid him, right? Because only one man left to lead the alliance. Also, if you are familiar with the story you already knew who the bad guy was.

The location of the final fight was at a waterfall, so it was nice to watch. The location where Nangong Song fought Hao Jie-ying was also beautiful.

The final fight. Nangong Song vs Luo Chao-jun

I like Wang Yu as Nangong Song [although I think he was better in Swift Sword (1980)]. He was not convincing in romantic scenes (which were very rare in this movie. In the book, Lenghou Tiong - the original name for Nangong Song, was in love with his teacher's daughter, but she loved someone else. In this movie, she liked him but he only saw her as a sister), though, and maybe that was why the last scene which portrayed Bai Ying-ying talked to him was dialogue-less and the Shaw Brothers logo appeared, a sign that it was the end of the movie.

The Jade Faced Assassin (1971)

Based on Khu Lung's novel The Remarkable Twins, this movie was quite enjoyable. I even prefer this one than the 1979 version with Fu Sheng and Lawrence Ng. Both movies are based on the same novel, but with limited time, it's interesting to see which material stayed and which were omitted.

At first I was a bit disappointed to see that Siao Hi-ji character was played by a female, but later I thought she was okay and played the part well. The character had a scar on her cheek, just like in the book.

Chang Chun ran from Chang Chuen Clan with his wife - the 3rd sister from the clan, and their new-born twins. On their way, they were stopped by robbers and finally killed by the 1st sister from Chang Chuen clan, who thought Chang Chun had stolen their creed. The 1st sister took one of the twins, and left the other for No.1 Swordsman Lian Lan-yan, the sworn-brother of Chang Chun.

When Lian Lan-yan arrived, one of the dying robbers told him that it was Chang Zhai who had betrayed Chang Chun. Lian Lan-yan went for Chang Zhai at the Happy Valley, but he was trapped by the criminals and became paralyzed. The baby was raised by the criminals. They named her Siao Lu-er. She was very naughty that they finally drove her out from Happy Valley.

Tse Hsin-chan (Pan Yin-tze) and Hua Yu-chun (Kao Yuen)

Siao Lu-er saved a girl from robbers who wanted her treasure map. The girl was Tse Hsin-chan, from Chang Chuen Clan. Siao Lu-er showed her later that the treasure map was a fake. Tse Hsin-chan had a martial brother, Hua Yu-chun. Hua Yu-chun first wanted to kill Siao Lu-er because he thought she had harmed his sister, and later was forced to kill her because his teacher said so.

Sweet glutinous rice. So heroes are human and love snacking like us.

But Siao Lu-er saved Tse Hsin-chan (again) when she was poisoned by Chang Ting-le. Chang Ting-le was most renowned hero and respected by many, but Siao Lu-er would prove that he was formerly known as Chang Zhai, the traitor.

Siao Lu-er befriended Yu Chi Zhao Guang the gambler. It was with his help that Siao Lu-er could saved a security bureau which had been robbed by Chang Ting-le. It was a funny scene when the security bureau owner visited Chang Ting-le to thank him for saving his carts before (he didn't know the master behind the robbery) and a moment later a man came to tell him that the carts had been robbed - again. While he was panicking, another messenger came to tell him that the carts had been returned.

Yu Chi Zhao Guang (Fan Mei-sheng) and Siao Lu-er (Lily Ho)

In the end, Siao Lu-er was about to have a duel with Hua Yu-chun, when the 2nd sister from Chang Chuen Clan stopped them and told them that they were siblings. Together they fought the cruel 1st sister and the good won, as always.

The actress who played Tse Hsin-chan was the weakest actress in this movie, in my opinion. Perhaps the camera stayed on her too long that she over-acted.

The title confused me. Who is the jade faced assassin? After giving this some thinking, I guess the assassin was Hua Yu-chun. Kao Yuen was good-looking enough (jade face = handsome) and Hua Yu-chun was sent by his teacher to kill Siao Lu-er. There was also the word 'yu' in his name (yu=jade).

The Gang Master (1982)

Loosely based on a part of Chin Yung's novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils - the story of Siau Hong, The Gang Master told the story of a young chief from Eagle Clan, played by Austin Wai.

Eagle Clan actively fought the Mongols, who was that the time occupied the land. When the story began, Fu Chung-yuan had just been chosen as the new chief of Eagle Clan by the late chief, his god-father. A woman in mourning clothes came, said that Fu Chung-yuan had killed her husband because her husband had knew a big secret: Fu Chung-yuan was a Mongol by birth. Fu Chung-yuan went away to find his parents, he wanted to ask them; but when he arrived, the parents had been murdered and again he was accused as the murderer.

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He met a young girl who suffered a grave injury because of him and he went back to Eagle Clan, begged an elder to save her. The elder said that he would save the girl if she had not been brought by Fu Chung-yuan. But in the end he saved her anyway.

It ended more or less like in the book, that our hero couldn't choose which land and nation he had to defend.

I have seen the 1997 TVB version which told the story in no flashback and that made the mystery have no surprise. In this 1982 movie version, the mystery did work, and we wanted to know who had framed Fu Chung-yuan.

That Man in Chang-An (1967)

Empress Lu sent out a secret imperial edict to behead King Dai, but the edict was seized by a masked man who delivered it to King Dai to warn him. The Empress had been killing Han officials and General Lu Kun had prepared troops for a mutiny. The masked man asked King Dai to warn the emperor in Chang-An, but Lu Kun had arrived to catch King Dai.

However, King Dai's sister and her maid had time to sneak out, but Lu Kun's troop was after them. They fell into a cliff and were helped by Zhuang Hai, a medician and alchemist, who hid them in a cave. The maid didn't trust him, so they went out and continued their journey and were caught by Lu Kun's men.

Zhuang Hai, the princess and the maid in the cave

The Huns, in their collaboration with Lu Kun, demanded some money to dispatch the troops. Lu Kun didn't have it and it was impossible to increase the tax because of the drought. So he invited Zhuang Hai the alchemist to make the gold. He didn't know that Zhuang Hai was the masked man he had been looking for. By staying in Lu Kun's house, Zhuang Hai could spy on him and check on the princess's safety. He finally stole the agreement between Lu Kun and the Hun and sent it to Chang-An, so Chen Ping* could lead a punitive expedition.

*My knowledge of Chinese history is not good, so I don't know who was Chen Ping and what was his role in the empire. I think this was not the same Chen Ping who lived in Liu Bang's era.

The masked man

Although this movie is quite old, I enjoyed watching it very much. The mask worn by the masked man covered his entire head, with two holes for the eyes, so it made sense if the princess etc couldn't recognize him, didn't know who he was.

The Brothers (1979)

Watching this movie was like a deja-vu. The story was familiar, yet I couldn't remember if I had watched this before. I wonder if there was a remake.

The story was very dramatic. Zhang family lived near the pier. The father was probably the head-village. A German boss wanted to buy the land on the shore. Zhang led the people to refuse the sale because the land was a heritage, but the buyer's men kidnapped Zhang's wife and two sons, so Zhang signed the deed. The villagers didn't know what had happened so they took Zhang as a traitor. They tattooed 'Traitor's son' words into Zhang's oldest son's arm.

The father died and the mother and sons moved from the village. The mother and the oldest son worked, so the youngest son could go into a school. Time passed. The youngest son went into a military school, while the oldest son still worked as a coolie in a pier. He refused to pay security money and beat the thugs. Their boss admired him and hired him to work for him. Later he became their leader.

Liu Yung as the oldest son

When the youngest son returned, he had to catch a notorious criminal: his own brother. [I am not sure why a military school's graduate worked in a criminal case - and not became a soldier and go to a war.]

Two brothers: one is a triad member and one a police - they have to confront each other, this theme is used again in 'A Better Tomorrow'. I like better Danny Lee's portrayal as the youngest son here than Lesley Cheung in 'A Better Tomorrow'. Here we could see the traces of his love to his brother and his gratitude for his sacrifice in the past. He didn't hate his triad brother. He wanted to put him to jail and hoped that he would change.

The mother here loved his two sons equally. She only agreed to leave the expensive house bought by his oldest son's illegal money because she thought that it was inappropriate. When the oldest son called her about his marriage, she received the call  and spoke like a mother who loved her son, regardless of what he had done.

The Magnificent Trio (1966)

Starring Wang Yu, Lo Lieh and Cheng Lei. This was the first time I saw Cheng Lei played the main role. Usually he only played supporting characters.

Wang Yu played Lu Fang, the grandson of a famous Ming general, who had broken the encirclement (at war front) and came to Mati village, where he saw a young woman was taken to a mill.

It was the Mati's head village who kidnapped the magistrate's daughter and kept her in the mill. The villagers wanted the magistrate to cut their provisions. The county magistrate forced them for provisions [although the imperial court had exempted their provision]. There was a war and the villagers had no food.

Minister Yuan would pass by in 2-3 days and the head village had written a petition, reporting the corruption of the magistrate. So the magistrate must have taken care of the matter before the minister arrived.

Instead of giving what the villagers had demanded, the magistrate hired  a killer and freed bandits from his jail so they could work for him.  Why the magistrate didn't simply give  the villagers what they demanded? They only wanted the magistrate not to take their food. They were poor and the food collected from them should not be much. Yet the magistrate chose to spend money from his treasury to hire the bandits. Furthermore, the outcome was unpredictable, even dangerous, because bandits were not reliable.

Master Yan and Huang Liang

The head village had a daughter and the magistrate's men took her to the mill, to exchange her with the magistrate's daughter. In this incident, the head village's daughter died, the magistrate's daughter was freed, and Lu Fang gave himself up to the magistrate's men in exchange for the life of the head village and his accomplices.

The head village's son is digging a grave for his sister

Looks like a coffin is buried here.
So where's the hole dug by the head village's son?

Huang Liang (Cheng Lei) - not sure what was his connection to Lu Fang, but he called Lu Fang his "young master" - broke into the magistrate's house to free Lu Fang from jail. The magistrate's daughter sent her maid to help Huang Liang because Huang Liang didn't know the location of the jail. Huang Liang said to the maid: "They are coming, I'll stop them. You go to rescue Mr. Lu." I failed to understand why Huang sent the maid to jail with this task. It can be guessed that the maid died in her errand.

Huang Liang said to the maid,
"They are coming. I'll stop them. You go to rescue Mr. Lu."

Lo Lieh played Mr. Yan, the magistrate's bodyguard who actually hated doing dirty works. Yan also helped Lu Fang to escape. Lu Fang escaped and went back to the mill. Why he didn't went somewhere else? - so the magistrate's men couldn't find him.

Lu Fang finds out that the wine has been poisoned

The movie ended well, with the good won against the bad.

Huang Liang finds the petition in a stream.
The head village must have used a permanent ink.

However, Yan's lover died, Lu Fang and the magistrate's  daughter didn't become a couple (they loved each other but she betrayed her father in order to help Lu Fang. I guess she felt guilty for being unfilial and therefore couldn't take Lu Fang as her husband), and Huang Liang died and broke a woman's heart.