Tsui Hark's "Seven Swords"

[Li Kao]

This is the next big wuxia movie I'm looking forward to seeing. The casting is pretty good -- the stars will be Leon Lai and Donnie Yen (who I think has way more potential than Jet Li).

And MK, I'm sure you are aware of this film by now, but the fight choreagrapher is none other than the legend himself, Liu Chia-Liang (Lau Kar-Leung)! Good to see him back in action -- I still have yet to see that Drunken Monkey movie he did for Shaw Bros. back in 2003.

Tsui's movies are hit or miss for me, although some of his are certainly classics. Anyone else catch the buzz on this one?

[Shaolinlueb]

its in the making still isnt it?

[Li Kao]

Yeah, Donnie Yen said in an interview 2 weeks ago that he was going back to finish up shooting after the Chinese New Year. I know at least one of the locales they are shooting in is the northwestern region Xinjiang. Here is a link to that article:
http://www.kungfucinema.com/news/2005/011301.htm

And I'm attaching a pretty cool pic I found of Donnie in costume for the movie. Should be good!

http://members.cox.net/iron_robe/Donnie%20Seven%20Swords.bmp

[@PLUGO]

From aint-it-cool-news.com (http://aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=20590)

"According to The Beijing News, the original cut of Seven Swords runs about 4 hours, which is too long for being released in theaters. Then Tsui Hark and editor Angie Lam made two more cuts, one is 150 minute long and the other one is 120 minute long. In the end the 150 minute version was chosen as the one to be released in theaters and the 4 hour version will be released on DVD."
Tsui Hark's SEVEN SWORDS First Teaser-Trailer
http://www.sevenswordsthefilm.com/traditional/download/SSavers/SSTeasera.mov

some stills from sina.com (http://ent.sina.com.cn/download/photo/qjxts.html)

another poster for SEVEN SWORDS (http://image2.sina.com.cn/ent/m/c/2005-06-15/U487P28T3D752983F326DT20050615221102.jpg)

At Monkey Peaches (http://www.monkeypeaches.com/sevenswords.html)

SEVEN SWORDS characters (http://image2.sina.com.cn/ent/m/2005-06-07/U1141P28T3D745006F326DT20050607104431.JPG)

More characters (http://image2.sina.com.cn/ent/m/2005-06-07/U1141P28T3D745005F326DT20050607104419.JPG)

a fan site (http://www.moviefans.de/a-z/s/seven-swords)

[doug maverick]

someone besides me, is talking about the latest in ma flicks, i thought i was the only one. have you heard about donnie yen and sammo's new joint sha po lang, i've been waiting for that one to come state side for a while!

[Mighty Scott]

I shall share my source of kung-fu movie geekdom.

http://www.kungfucinema.com/

Use this power only for good, grasshopper.

It has a mention of the 4 hour version in the archives, plus a fairly lengthy article on Sha Po Lang, and probably the largest collection of kung-fu movie reviews I've seen.

[GreenCloudCLF]

Ahhh, it's good to find people who keep up on KF movie news....

[Mighty Scott]

There is a trailer out for Seven Swords from their website

http://www.sevenswordsthefilm.com/

Hi Res:
http://www.sevenswordsthefilm.com/traditional/download/SSavers/SSTrailerHK768.wmv

Med Res:
http://www.sevenswordsthefilm.com/traditional/download/SSavers/SSTrailerHK256.wmv

Low Res:
http://www.sevenswordsthefilm.com/traditional/download/SSavers/SSTrailerHK112.wmv

[SPJ]

Yes. He made many good CMA movies.

However, there are always graphical violences.

It is too bloody for the general audiences.

:D

[hellhound]

The first Zu movie was not that gory and was rather comical. ALthough you may be correct about the newer stuff such as the blood cloud from the latest Zu movie.

[Shaolinlueb]

how come films shot on mainland china always use crappy film? man the film looks like it was shot in the 80's. lol oh well. at least in hk the films are clear and crisp.

[GeneChing]

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (http://www.martialartsmart.net/dvd60224.html) really started the whole Fant-Asia genre back in 1983. I remember seeing it in the theaters and thinking it was pretty cutting edge at the time. I saw soem of it again a few months ago and it looked incredibly dated, not just because the film quality (and this was on a DVD version, mind you) but because it was pre-CGI so the effects were sort of H.R. Puffenstuff, if you get my meaning. But still, and we say that a lot when studying wuxia pian, it's a very important film in the development of the genre. I can't wait to see Seven Swords. I've always loved Tsui Hark's visionary cinematography and have been eagerly awaiting something big from him for a few years now. Legend of Zu was beautiful, although vacuous plotwise.

[GeneChing]

I saw Seven Swords (qi jian) last night off a DVD someone managed to procure off the net. It did not have English subtitles, nor could I get the sound to play on my player. That being said, my opinion is based solely on the visuals of the film, which were very entertaining. It's cinematography is sumptious in that overblown way that is so characteristic for Tsui Hark. Tsui Hark is one of my favorite directors, but I haven't really kept up with him since Legend of Zu (I did see Xanda (http://www.martialartsmart.net/dvd64387.html) but that was against type for Hark so I'm not really counting it), so I was really looking forward to this film. In many scenes, the film is hyper-colorized, akin to effects used in Schindler's List and Traffic. Other scenes are panoramic, with expansive vistas and scenery. The sets are amazingly textured, overwhelmingly so. And everyone is illuminated strangly, heads backlit, faces in shadow, which meant since I didn't have sound, there were many scenes where I had no idea who was talking, much less about what. It's an innovative vision of Hark, singular, nothing like the eye-candy of Legend of Zu and distinct from the inevitable comparisons of the other 'artsy' MA films Crouching Tiger, Hero and House of Flying Daggers. The look and feel of the film is gorgeous and surreal. Love those villains - like a goth medieval comic book characters.

Does it work? Well, let's just say it's way too long in between fight scenes. I enjoyed the final fight scene, particularly a corridor fight, but it's all wire and effects, so I wasn't as impressed by it as a 'traditional' kung fu flick so much. It's more like seeing a movie made from a comic book, Spiderman vs. Doc Ock, which is cool in it's own way. I'm told it's based on a classic wuxia xiao shuo,which are kind of like kung fu comics. Lau Kar Leung plays a great character, but has way too few fights. Donnie Yen is very well showcased, especially in that final fight.

I don't think this is a spoiler, but the plot is basically a gang of outrageuos villains are terrorizing the people and these seven swords literally fall out of the sky for seven heroes to take on the baddies. There are way too many characters. There's a lot of subplots, a lot of abused women with issues (the one female hero gets a faulty Darth Maul sword), a very very intense scenes, and way too much Freudian posturing with swords, but it's relatively bloodless (violence is harsh but implied) and there's no nudity beyond a bare shoulder. What is it about Chinese cinema and bare shoulders? The film clocks in at 2+ hours and I think I would have been far more satisfied if it were shorter and just got to the fights faster. I doubt I'd make it through the longer planned DVD edition. But it's hard to say - maybe some of that plot stuff was really intriguing - I couldn't tell without sound or subtitles. I'm not anxious to see it with sound and subtitles - I can wait until it comes to a big screen (if it ever does out here). My favorite villian died too early. When you see it - if you see it - you'll know what I mean.

I would recommend the film to my artsy friends mostly because of its novel artistic style. I liked the film visually; the jury is still out on it with sound and better picture quality. I wouldn't recommend it as a 'kung fu' flick because of the long gaps between fights. The final fight is decent, just too long in getting around to it. It wouldn't work over beer and pizza with the guys. There's too much plot, too much scenery. Some of the shots were so complex that I couldn't even figure out what I was looking at. My tiny TV just didn't do it justice, even in letterbox. It is definitely a big screen experience, if possible.

[SPJ]

Thanks for the preview.

I am into plot/subplot galore.

I think I read too many Gu Long and Jing Yong CMA novels.

7 swordsmen, I have to see it.

:D

[GeneChing]

...have you read Seven Swords? I haven't (nor do I intend to) but I'd be very curious about how it compares to the books.

[GeneChing]

According to two others who saw the film with the sound, the plot makes little sense. Maybe it would have been clearer in the 4-hour version, but neither of them thought Seven Swords was of much merit. Perhaps it's better without sound because it makes it more abstract. I had me guessing a lot, assuming that there was something behind everything, when in fact (or at least according to these two other viewers) it was just babble, wasted film. Given this new insight, my suggestion is that if you see Seven Swords, focus on the red lantern fight in the beginning, the villainess, and the final fight in the corridor. The rest might bore you. Or you could turn off the sound like I did (unvoluntarily). Sometimes, less *is* more.

[grlyncher99]

Illegal downloading and bootlegging is bad. Ironic you did it from a chinese film.

[SimonM]

The DVD is being hyped in all the DVD/VCD stores in Lishi right now. I'll pick up a copy tomorow and give it a watch. I'll tell you all what I think afterwards.

[SimonM]

Otherwise known as the super-angst friends VS. the evil goths...

It seems to clock in at about 2.5 hours or 150 minutes. A far cry from four hours but still not a walk in the park. Especially since the entire film is in Mandarin - a language that (though I am more versant than the average white North American) I am FAR from fluent in. There were subtitles... In Chinese. Considering my vast knowlege of about 50 characters this was not particularly helpful. :D

Picture if you will watching Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Special Edition, having never read the book and never seen the theatrical release, in a language where you understand one word in twenty and about one complete sentence in a hundred.

That being said I really liked this film. The action was entertaining, the plot seemed straightforward enough (though I am a little bit confused about the wavy sword that was dug up by the bad-guy and then NEVER USED) from my limited grasp of dialogue and rapt attention to on-screen action. The bottle of sub-standard (expensive by Chinese standards) Cabarnet may have helped matters somewhat. ;)

The film quality seemed just fine in my opinion. I rarely had difficulty discerning who was speaking, just what the h311 they were saying. :D :eek:

It did remind me considerably of another movie. It was the first movie I watched on TV after coming to China. Aside from DVDs I rarely watch TV. I am not overly fond of Chinese television; their :p innovative :p programming was not the reason I decided to come here. However occasionaly I will put on the CCTV movie channel. It was there I saw Kung Fu Mahjong (two hours of my life I will never reclaim) and this other movie. It featured a one-armed fighter, armed with a cleaver on a length of chain who spun (yes, spun) his way through an army of Goths and Road Warrior rejects until he had a rather exciting final battle with a guy whose Dao had about a million and one special features. Don't suppose anyone knows what this movie was called per-chance...

Anyway, back to Seven Swords...

I mentioned earlier LoTR: Two Towers, SE. This was for a reason. It was of comparable length to the Two Towers SE. Like Two Towers it was comprised of long dramatic scenes punctuated by often extended periods of rather graphic violence. It was a fantasy plot that centered around a battle of good vs. evil that was (yes) slightly murkier than Rohirrim vs. Orcs but still relatively well delineated by prop, costume and character behaviour (Stoic good guys vs. overly emotional and perverse villians). Oh yeah and at one point the (mostly) helpless townfolk hid in an extensive system of caves while the warriors did battle.


Now just a few questions that perhaps Gene can answer...

1: What was with the sword that the villain dug up and then didn't bother to ever ues in battle?

2: Why, oh why, did Donnie Yen's character decide to go smash the statue and why in the world did he feel it was necessary to bring his damaged-goods girlfriend?

3: Where can I get a copy of that sword that doubles as a tree-felling axe and a baseball bat. ;)

4: Will an english-subtitled version ever be available here in the Middle Kingdom or will I just have to learn more Po Tong Hua to make sense of the dialogue in this movie? :D :D :D

Ratings:

Cinematography: 7/10
Action: 8/10
Plot: Um.... Ask somebody who speaks Chinese.
Music: 3/10 (The la la la on the DVD menu drove me around the twist!!!)

Overall 7/10

Land Sun Cabarnet: Approx 35 RMB per bottle at Kaixingyu Supermarket, second most expensive Wine available. 3/10

[SimonM]

Hey Gene? You there?

[SPJ]

I will try to get a copy and see it.

Then comes the critical analysis.

:D

[SPJ]

As promised. I bought the VCD and watched it.

It is ok. It is a bit long.

The plot is between the general Feng Huo Lian Cheng and the retired official Fu from the Ming dynasty.

The Qing emperor had a order to ban all MA practice in the civilian circles. Whoever practice MA will be done for or Li Zhan Jue. So the greedy general slaughtered the innocent so as to collect 300 Lian money for each person.

The villiage of Wu or Wu Zhuang was populated with Heaven and Earth society people or Tian Di Hui. The second in command or Lo was a spy for the king. The Korean girl is also a spy for the king. They have army and cannon balls.

The tactics and strategy between Fu and the general Feng were good.

Not able to run with kids and old people, they move and settle in caves to find out who was the spy. They let go of the horses in the hope that the soldiers followed the tracts of the horse.

The Korean girl seduced Donnie Yet or the second brother of the 7 swordsmen from mount Heaven or Tian Shan in the northeast China or Dong Bei.

Each has a special sword and talents.

Donnie went to destroy the Buddha or Monkey figure and tried to steal the money from the general. It was a trap. The general was ready to kill Donnie and yet hurt Green Pearl or Lui Zhu, the Korean girl.

There are several twists of love affairs. Both the general and Donnie like the Lui Zhu and yet she was the people of the king. Lui has feelings for Donnie.

The novel the movie based on was a long novel with several sections of stories lasting 3 generations.

---

The fight scenes are good. I like the swordplay in a narrow passageway between walls.

--

Overall.

It is ok.

--

:D

[SimonM]

Yeah, the corridor fight was definately worth the price of admission... A princely 8 RMB. ;)

[GeneChing]

Sorry so tardy, SimonM. I took advantage of Labor Day weekend to go on a work study at Tassajara Zendo. As for your questions above, I haven't a clue about the answers, I'm afraid. I saw it without the benefit of sound or subtitles, not that it would have helped much. The further I get from viewing this movie, the less I remember, which is always a bad sign in regards to my opinion of the film. In fact, all that really remains in my memory was the lantern fight, the corridor fight, that villainess and how cool Lau Kar Leung is, even when he's not fighting.

[SimonM]

Yeah, I was particularly fond of the corridor fight as well.

PS: Does anyone know Donnie Yen's Chinese name?

[SPJ]

Here is a link to the movie site:

movie (http://www.sevenswordsthefilm.com/)

Donnie Yen fan club forum;

fan (http://www.donnieyen.net/ebbs/forum_topics.asp?FID=3&PN=0)

Taiwan site (http://tw.donnieyen.net/index2.htm)

Tai chi (http://www.cp-donnieyen.net/images/taichi/index.htm)

gallery (http://tw.donnieyen.net/gallery.htm)

:)

[grlyncher99]

In other news, This film opened the Venice Film festival. I don't know if it won any awards.

Now I do. The golden Lion went to Ang Lee's cowboy film, Brokeback Mountain. Could he have gotten any further from the Hulk?

[Taijiren]

...have you read Seven Swords? I haven't (nor do I intend to) but I'd be very curious about how it compares to the books.
I'm reading it now. As is often the case in chinese movies inspired by books, the only real link between book and movie is the name of the characters. In the book, Donnie Yen's character is one of the main bad guys, Leon Lai's character dies in the prologue, and Lau Kar-Leung's character is a refined scholar/doctor type (not the retired executioner of the movie).

In some interviews I've read on the net, Tsui Hark has said that the movie was based on the first chapter of the book, but that just ain't the case. The first chapter has to do with an assassination attempt on a high official in the government by various jiang hu types (which sets in motion the rest of the story).

[GeneChing]

Hark! SEVEN SWORDS a Coming (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=689)was just posted for the holidaze (http://www.martialartsmart.net/dvd-64515.html)... ;)

[djcaldwell]

Having not read the book I had nothing to base my expectations of the film on. Personally, I thought it was great for what Gene's article says it should be which is the first of a series. It introduced the characters and gave you just an glimpse into each of them. The cast was good - and forget about it - Lau Kar Leung was as cool as ever hope he is in all of them. Donnie Yen's fight scenes especially that corridor fight scene was great.

The only thing that was a little much were the weapons. I get the swords being all mystical but for 17th century china the weapons that the armies had it was more like Crouching Tiger meets Bladerunner. Boomerang Shields with knives...

But all in all I've watched it 5 times already and I've only had it for 2 weeks. So I guess I like it.

[Lohankuen1]

Hey folks,

My search fu is weak as i cannot find info here with a review for this movie. I saw it at blockbuster the other day and hesitated on getting it, so i ended up watching Blades or Glory instead. What did you guys think of Seven Swords?

[GeneChing]

It you put 'seven swords' in the 'search this forum' box, you get two pages of threads. I've merged this to the main one for the film your convenience. Also note, there was a related TV series called Seven Swordsman (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42604).

[Lohankuen1]

Thanks for the merge Gene. I tried that method and my laziness took over when i saw all those pages pop up.

What put me off this film was the 2.5hr sit time i had to go through and not sure if there would be enough fight scenes to keep me wanting more. I sure didn't want it to turn into another House of Flying Daggers, which i disliked, or MUSA, which i also disliked. Maybe i wasn't ready for it at the time and my little pea brain needed more fights to keep me interested.

From the sounds of it, or Gene's lack of sounds of it:), i may fork out the $6 and rent it to see the final Yen fight, which would be worth the price of admission in its own right. I have always enjoyed Donnie's fights and his recent stuff is the new breed which all action cheoreographers shoulkd be shooting towards.

Thanks for the help guys.

[jethro]

Check out the Seven Swordsmen TV show instead. It is SOOO much better than the movie.

[jigahus]

Personally imho this movie is really terrible to watch. The action was just terrible. The kung fu was terrible. Just terrible.