Development
One-Armed Swordsman
Director: Chang Cheh
Screenwriters: Chang Cheh & Ni Kuang
Genre: Wuxia
Cast: Jimmy Wang Yu, Lisa Chiao Chiao
Action Choreographers: Lau Kar Leung, Tong Gaai
Production
The film was produced and distributed by Shaw Brothers in their new filming studio which was the largest and most equipped studio in the world then. Although Shaw Brothers set out to promote Kungfu films, it was an era of Wuxia films and in order to stabilise their foothold in Hong Kong as new players of the industry, Shaw Brothers did continue to produce Wuxia films (Yang, 2003).
The film was directed by Chang Cheh, which by then was an accomplished director himself. The film would elevate him to his career peak giving him the nickname, “million dollar director”. The film was produced on an undisclosed low budget in 1966 with famous novelist and scriptwriter Ni Kuang and promising martial artist Lau Kar Leung as Action Choreographer (Logan, 1996).
Former Taiwanese water-polo champion turned actor Jimmy Wang Yu, with prior experience of filming in Wuxia films with Chang Cheh, was chosen as the lead actor which eventually turned him into an Asian superstar (Logan, 1996).
The film was filmed in Mandarin, a change from previous Wuxia films which were Cantonese and continuing previous Shaw Brothers films which were made in Mandarin.
Reception
The One-Armed Swordsman is an iconic film in Hong Kong Action cinema. It was produced by Shaw Brothers at a period where Shaw Brothers seek to expand their cinematic interest and are reinventing the Wuxia genre. The film became the first film to break the HK$1 million box office benchmark, the first big hit of director Chang Cheh and would propel actor Jimmy Wang Yu to stardom. Jimmy Wang Yu is synonymous to the character of One-Armed Swordsman, he would subsequently starred in multiple films featuring a One-Armed fighter. This movie would start the “new wave Wuxia” genre, with director Chang Cheh, by then nicknamed “million dollar director”, a pivotal figure (Miller, 2015).
The One-Armed Swordsman is recognised by the Hong Kong Film Awards the Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures, ranking 15. It has a rating of 7.5 out of 10 on IMDb.com out of 1726 users. Positive reviews were given to the acting and the original storyline that suits the wuxia era. Negative to neutral reviews were given to the action choreography due to the opera style fights, cheap and fake looking props, however, it was also noted that the action choreographing was at a top level during the year the film was released (Cabral, One-Armed Swordsman, n.d.).
Review
There has been many other wuxia movies before The One-Armed Swordsman. In this section, Miller (2015) discusses what makes the film different from other wuxia movies, thereby creating the new wave wuxia genre is stems down to two major factors, the inclusion of more Wuxia elements and a change of filming style from the traditional, more opera style to a more realistic, novel and confrontational style that people would associate with mythical Wuxia fighters.
In the Wuxia genre, a strong and determined hero that with honour, chivalry, moral values and heroism has been a mainstay. Director Chang Cheh added additional elements such as tragedy, love and fighting spirit to recover from setbacks to make the hero a more humanly figure.
Traditional opera style fights involves little visible bloodshed, acrobatic and heavily synchronised sparring and singing, seemingly like a story telling session with dance movements. The film changed its filming style to showcase more realistic bloodshed expected of Wuxia fighters, featuring interesting weapons and one-to-one fist-to-fist martial arts combat. This creates a deviation from the acrobatic and synchronised fights audience were used to in traditional Chinese opera. Huge daring changes were not implements, making it a more refreshing and acceptable change that audience can easily accept.
Sources
Cabral, F. (n.d.) One-Armed Swordsman. Retrieved from IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061597/
Logan, B. (1996). Hong Kong Action Cinema. New York: The Overlook Press.
Miller, A. (2015, January 29). The History of Hong Kong Action Cinema Pt. 4 – 1960-1980: New Wave. Retrieved from Film Inquiry: http://filminquiry.com/history-hong-kong-action-cinema-4/
Yang, J. (2003). Once Upon a Time in China: A Guide to Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Mainland Chinese Cinema. New York: Atria.
Background image shows Alexander Fu Sheng (left) and Chan Kwan Tai, famous Shaw Brothers' Kungfu actors in the 1970s.