AKA: Mistress of the Thunderbolt, The Girl with the Thunderbolt Kick, The Shaolin Swallow, Jin yan zi, 金燕子
Chang Cheh begins the artistic phase of his filmmaking career with this ambitious wuxia film peppered with gruesome violence, romanticism and experimental visual elements. It is Chang’s response to King Hu’s wuxia masterpiece COME DRINK WITH ME (1966) and features that film’s star, Cheng Pei-pei, in the same role but in an unrelated story of conflicting love for two heroic swordsmen at odds in matters of shared love for the same woman and their conflict with the martial world’s many villains. Wang Yu, as the invincible, revenge-seeking antihero Silver Roc, remains Chang’s focus in his unrelenting drive to capture the ideal example of manly martial heroism and self sacrifice.
Driven by the memory of witnessing the murder of his parents by bandits as a child and by his need to reunite with his lost love, supreme swordsman Silver Roc begins a merciless campaign of mass slaughter against the martial world’s most notorious villains. In every case, he leaves behind a golden dart, the calling card of the Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-pei), a swordswoman he loves. As a result, Golden Swallow finds herself the target of every swordsman looking to avenge a murder committed by Silver Roc. Driven by a noble sense of mercy and his love for Golden Swallow, fellow swordsman Golden Whip (Lo Lieh), comes to her defense. This leads to conflict between the two swordsmen who find themselves vying for the same woman while sharing opposite views on martial ethics. Their planned duel to the death is put on hold while Silver Roc goes after the notorious Golden Dragon gang and its leader Wang Xiong (Yang Chih-ching) who is mass-recruiting swordsmen to hunt down and kill Golden Swallow for attacks on associates that were committed by Silver Roc in her name. The gang is wiped out with the aid of Golden Whip and Golden Swallow but Wang Xiong escapes. Silver Roc and Golden Whip carry on with their duel as Wang Xiong leads more fighters to the site while hoping to take advantage of the situation. Conflicted by feelings for both men, Golden Swallow rushes to the duel in the company of a courtesan (Chao Hsin-yen) who hopelessly loves Silver Roc.
Chang Cheh’s filmmaking protégé Wu Ma makes an appearance as swordsman Flying Fox, a mischievous friend of Golden Whip who is wounded by bandits looking for Golden Swallow and later rushes to stop Wang Xiong from interrupting the duel between Golden Whip and Silver Roc.
Chang Cheh introduces visual elements that are new to the wuxia genre but common in Japanese swordplay films. This includes dream sequences, shaky handheld camera work and tight blocking shots. Likewise, a good portion of the film is shot outdoors amongst the picturesque mountainous environments of Taiwan unlike most of Chang’s other films that are mostly shot on indoor stages, the studio’s backlot at Clearwater Bay or around Hong Kong’s New Territories.
The film is also notable for possessing one of the most nihilistic and violent wuxia tales ever filmed. In one scene, a distraught young boy (played by future Jackie Chan stunt team member Mars) is wrongly accused of stealing a landlord’s prized duck and proceeds to disembowel himself to prove his innocence. Throughout, Wang Yu slays dozens of opponents, leaving behind piles of bloodied corpses before coming to his own brutally violent end. In orchestrating such carnage, Chang draws on influences from the likes of Arthur Penn’s BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) and similarly romanticized violence committed by anarchistic antiheroes found in Italian Westerns and Japanese samurai films of the era.
Action directors Tang Chia and Lau Kar-leung are less visible onscreen than in previous Chang Cheh films but viewers will still get a glimpse of Lau, along with future action masters Yuen Woo-ping and Yuen Cheung-yan who frequently appear as fighting extras in Chang Cheh films during this period. David Chang, who was soon to replace Wang Yu as Chang’s favorite leading man, also makes a brief appearance as a fighting extra.
Genre: Wuxia, Action
Companies: Shaw Brothers
Release Date: April 4, 1968
Producer: Runme Shaw
Director: Chang Cheh
Action Director: Tang Chia, Lau Kar-leung
Starring: Jimmy Wang Yu (Silver Roc/Xiao Pang), Cheng Pei-pei (Golden Swallow/Xie Ru-yan), Lo Lieh (Golden Whip/Han Tao), Chao Hsin-yen (Mei-niang)
