Emperor and His Brother, The (1981)

Epic adaptation of Louis Cha’s first novel concerns the chivalrous efforts of the Hung Hua Society and their leader Chen Chia-lo (Ti Lung) to persuade Qing Emperor Chien Lung (Jason Pai) to acknowledge his Han bloodline and join the anti-Qing movement.

Shaw Brothers had already filmed the fictitious exploits of Emperor Chien Lung in a series of films depicting the man’s infamous adventures traveling about Asia incognito. Also known as ‘Qian Long,’ he is generally regarded as the most successful and enlightened of all Qing-era emperors for his military successes, flourishing economy, and love of art. But like his fellow emperors before and after, Chien Lung suppressed scholarly thought and maintained an egotistical imperialist method of governing that continued to foment rebellion among the conquered Han people. Louis Cha’s story supposes that Chien Lung was of Han birth and was switched as an infant. His blood brother turns out to be the leader of a society bent on ousting the Qing rulers. This subversive society, like most in China during the Qing Dynasty, eventually morphed into what are today the criminal triads that have, among other things, plagued Hong Kong’s film industry.

The Emperor and His Brother is fertile ground for dramatic confrontations and director Chor Yuen unleashes the best that Shaw Brothers studios had to offer. But instead of remaining focused on tense relationships and contrasts in political though, the film gives in to the popular demand for more action. The result is a ‘high brow’ chop socky with fine kung fu action, a little comedy, romantic entanglements, and winning contributions from Ti Lung, Lo Lieh, and especially Guk Fung (AKA Ku Feng).

The story is initially a challenge to follow as it breezes through a lot of history and characters with narration and flashbacks before reaching the actual starting point. All you really need to know is that the present Emperor Chien Lung (Jason Pai) is not the emperor by birth since he was exchanged as a newborn infant with the previous emperor’s newborn daughter. He learns the truth when two senior members of the Hung Hua society, a subversive anti-Qing movement, secretly contact him years later with hopes of enlisting his aid in fighting the real Qing. In order to hide the truth about his origins, Chien orders the men to be killed, but one escapes only to be captured later. Hung Hua’s leader Chen Chia-lo (Ti Lung) turns out to be the blood brother of Chien and the two develop a tenuous relationship as the society attempts to rescue their imprisoned comrade. Hung Hua members unleash an elaborate plan to kidnap the Emperor to exchange him for their friend and hopefully persuade him to join their cause. While the exchange takes place, history tells us that Chien must ultimately ignore his ancestry in favor of continuing to rule as a Qing Emperor. Nevertheless, Chien’s chief lieutenant, Chang (Lo Lieh) is bound and determined to wipe Chen and his society out and an elaborate martial arts challenge provides him with an opportunity.

Even though Chor Yuen is missing the creative genius of SB’s top two action choreographers, namely Lau Kar-leung and Tong Gaai, he manages to pull off some excellent fight scenes with the aid of SB veteran stuntman-turned-action director Dang Tak-cheung. Purists may complain, but the film’s highlight is Ti Lung’s “Blossom Boxing.” Chor uses old-fashioned editing to replicate the infamous scene in Fist of Fury where Bruce Lee dazzles his Russian opponent by appearing to grow extra arms as he spins them in a circular fashion. Chor even goes a few steps further by having Ti leap out of his position while leaving a ‘ghost image’ of himself in place in order to fool his opponent and strike from another angle. Even though open-hand kung fu dominates this film, it really is a swordplay actioner at heart and as such near-magical feats are commonplace. This one just happens to look really good. The rest of the action is nearly as dazzling with Lo Lieh, Guk Fung, Sun Chien, and a host of great stunt performers delivering excellent weapons sparring, acrobatics, and hand and legwork.

If anything is wrong, it’s the weak impetus for much of the action to exist. Early on, most of the fighting is between allies over simplistic misunderstandings that could have easily been avoided. The most blatantly obvious offender is when Ti Lung and his society confront Guk Fung and his household over who snitched on their comrade. At this point the viewer is already painfully aware of what happened, but the fighting goes on and on until the truth finally comes out in the most over-dramatic way. While I cry foul on the heavy-handed approach, it should be stated that Guk Fung’s acting is especially good in this situation that also involves his young son. It is a situation that could only exist in Asian culture and is therefore both alien and compelling. The story is resolved in an anti-climatic way that leaves the heroes forced to compete in an impromptu challenge match. For action fans, this is good news even though the story has already run out of steam. Lo Lieh and a handful of mysterious fighters take on Ti Lung and his buddies on a small platform surrounded by water. This is where we get to see the film’s best action with action masters like Yuen Tak stepping briefly into the limelight. This scene also contains the funniest moment that belongs to elder SB vet Yeung Chi-hing as he catches multiple darts, chastises Lo Lieh’s camp for using them, and blithely tosses them back with humorous results. I also must comment on the extras during the film’s major fight scenes. If you watch closely behind the main action, you’ll see soldiers hilariously pacing back and forth and weakly thrusting their weapons at open air. Chor Yuen obviously never anticipated having this film scrutinized on home video!

There seems to be conflicting ideas of how to present The Emperor and His Brother that results in an uneven experience for the viewer. The film’s ultra serious tone gives way to near-slapstick comedy, quality kung fu action seems removed from the story, and ultimately there is a patchwork feel to the picture. It seems like an unsuccessful attempt to match the emerging trends being set by rival filmmakers like Jackie Chan with the older filmmaking style that first made Shaw Brothers a success. But the film is still quite enjoyable and fans should appreciate the lead performances and action.