Daniel Lee’s ‘14 Blades’ and the remaking of a legend

A suggestion has been made on Wuxiasociety.org that 14 BLADES, director Daniel Lee’s upcoming wuxia actioner starring Donnie Yen, has a plot very similar to a 1984 Shaw Brothers film called SECRET SERVICE OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. This was picked up on our forums and quickly turned into further suggestion that 14 BLADES is a remake. While that remains unconfirmed, comparing the two films does produce striking similarities.

Both are set during the late Ming Dynasty and center on an elite team of highly trained warriors loyal to the emperor. Both feature a power-hungry eunuch who has wrested control of the government from the weakened emperor and taken over the elite band of warriors for use in ridding himself of imperial loyalists. Both films have an elite team member who has remained loyal to the emperor and becomes a fugitive forced to fight his former comrades in order to protect the empire.

Curiously, that plot outline also bares strong resemblance to yet another Shaw Brothers film, THE FLYING GUILLOTINE, which is openly being remade by director Dante Lam.

In a recent article published by Channelnewsasia.com, 14 BLADES was described as, “the epic story of a secret agent in ancient China.” It goes on to state the following. “Weaving in themes of loyalty, chivalry and brotherhood, 14 BLADES is expected to showcase a dazzling mix of martial arts and espionage set against soul-stirring and majestic scenes.”

That could all very well describe another well known wuxia classic, King Hu’s DRAGON INN (1967), which centers on efforts of several martial heroes to protect loyalists from a Ming-era eunuch and his notoriously evil band of secret agents. 14 BLADES may be similar but don’t tell that to director Daniel Lee.

“What is important is for the movie to have a contemporary feel. It should not feel like martial arts movies produced in the 1970s,” says Lee. “If so, it will not be watchable. It should not resemble [King Hu's] movies. It will be contemporary in aesthetics, martial arts, treatment of the script, and outlook towards life.”

Unless something was lost in translation, Daniel Lee, the director of DRAGON SQUAD and THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON, is suggesting that King Hu’s films are “unwatchable” today. At the same time that he “disses” Hu to prop up his own over-inflated filmmaking abilities, Lee tries to convince us that we’ll be seeing something that doesn’t resemble classic martial arts movies… you know, apart from a plot almost identical to a 1984 Shaw Brothers film.

I respect Donnie Yen as a martial arts star but he is only adding to the film’s marketing hype. “I was very excited when the producer told me that he will project to the audience a martial arts world that has otherwise not been seen.”

More unintentionally humorous is the translated comments of Yen’s co-star Vicki Zhao. “During the process of casting, all my clothes, my image were totally different from my earlier image as projected in my earlier period movies. This gives me a brand new feeling.” A brand new feeling of deja vu perhaps.

They may all be referring to a “unique” look to 14 BLADES from an artistic perspective. Let’s take a look at some of the concept art for the film… with a little side-by-side comparison with SECRET SERVICE FROM THE IMPERIAL COURT.

One big difference between the two films that has already been revealed is a specific focus on the weapons and their use in 14 BLADES. From a synopsis of the film the elite warriors are described as assassins recruited from street orphans and trained in clandestine combat. They are described as masters of the “14 Blades,” “eight being for torture, five for killing, and the last blade being reserved for suicide when a mission failed.”

It should also be pointed out that the story of 14 BLADES is based, at least loosely, on common historical accounts of eunuchs such as Wei Zhongxian, a brutal and ambitious court official who rose to power in the waning days of the Ming Dynasty by manipulating the emperor and having rivals put to death. This period in Chinese history when tyrannical eunuchs gained power also provided the basis for DRAGON INN, Tsui Hark’s 1992 remake of DRAGON INN and SECRET SERVICE OF THE IMPERIAL COURT.

I hope that 14 BLADES does look and feel like SECRET SERVICE OF THE IMPERIAL COURT. It’s an immensely entertaining swordplay movie with great performances from Leung Kar-yan, Ku Feng and Lo Meng. Apart from horrendously undercranked action, Daniel Lee could learn a thing or two from studying it. I have a strong suspicion that he already has.

Tags: 14 Blades (2010), Daniel Lee, Donnie Yen, Secret Service of the Imperial Court (1984), Shaw Brothers, upcoming, Wuxia