Heads for Sale (1970)

Classic wuxia action doesn’t get much better than HEADS FOR SALE, a deliriously entertaining swordplay adventure from Shaw Brothers and Korean director Jeong Chang-hwa (KING BOXER). Chiao Chiao is a headstrong swordswoman and Korean actor Chen Liang is her would-be lover, both of whom are drawn into conflict with a murderous gang and a corrupt official. Plentiful martial arts with limited live effects and ridiculously long takes from action director Simon Hsu provides some of the finest and most proficient fight work to ever come off of the Shaw lot.

Yeh I Fang’s script features a conventional plot enhanced by a few twists and a lot of extremely good action sequences. Jeong, an experienced director who largely worked outside of the martial arts genre proves to have an unusually sophisticated grasp on how to shoot a wuxia film, particularly during the transitional period when the genre’s display of swordplay was evolving rapidly from stiff Chinese opera routines to more artful and bloody exchanges tailored for widescreen feature film. Jeong went on to even greater success with the kung fu genre when he helmed the international smash hit KING BOXER, aka FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH, the first Chinese kung fu movie to be distributed in the U.S.

Two things set HEADS FOR SALE apart from the multitude of swordplay movies coming out of Hong Kong and Taiwan at the time. The macabre title refers to an unusual sequence where Chiao Chiao cuts off the heads of two hired thugs and uses them to get a doctor and herself thrown in jail where Chen Liang lies wounded after being framed for a crime he didn’t commit and beaten. This involves parading one of the heads around town to gain the attention of the local official. It’s a grisly business for a knight errant, especially a female but fitting for the tone of the film’s violent action. The title and the hook it refers to may be a little misleading to prospective viewers hoping to see a lot of gory grindhouse excess. Unlike HUMAN LANTERNS where director Sun Chung intentionally combined horror with wuxia convention, HEADS FOR SALE is strictly swordplay action with a touch of campy, extreme violence. Apart from two beheadings, an arm is removed and a couple chambara-style arterial blood sprays erupt.

The other element of distinction is the action itself. This is one of the first films choreographed by Simon Hsu, an action director I continually gain respect for every time I see more of his work. He first came to my attention for an outstanding sequence in Chor Yuen’s erotic wuxia masterpiece INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN. In the scene, one of the leading ladies engages in a long panning sequence of sword attacks against many opponents. I first saw this on the big screen at a festival screening and it blew me away. It seems that this trick is Hsu’s calling card for HEADS FOR SALE contains even longer and more complex fight arrangements that, in relative terms, make most post-production dependent martial arts action produced today look like child’s play. Any pudknocker with a free video editor can paste a series of two-second action and reaction shots together. Stringing together a series of 10-second action clips with a dozen or more synchronized stunt actors running around in front of the screen is another story.

For a great action sequence that does not rely on trick editing there is a symbiotic relationship that must exist between the camera, the stunt performers and the action director and never have I seen such a cohesive bond between the three. It says something that a Korean director, a Japanese cinematographer (Tadashi Mishimoto) and a Chinese action director can together produce action so flawlessly. The secret to their success is simple. They’re all uniquely gifted individuals as their other work proves. Mishimoto was photo point man on King Hu’s COME DRINK WITH ME and applies much of the same visual finesse here.

Chiao Chiao and Chen Liang both give excellent performances for not being trained martial artists but again, it’s the crew behind the camera that make the action special. There are several fights that are up there with the best of any swordplay action choreographed by Lau Kar-leung or Tong Gaai. In each case, the sequence employs 10 to 15 movements in a group setting, often with the perfectly-placed camera smoothly swooping in or sideways while effortlessly shifting to track different individuals in a single take. Exceptional use of foreground objects is also shown, both with stationary objects and extras. It’s not often we get to see such stylized and sophisticated camera operation in a Hong Kong movie from this era and it shows why Mishimoto was in such high demand. Japanese DPs were the masters of creating and making the most of perspective and depth, a skill no doubt not lost on the Shaw Brothers.

Wires are used occasionally and even can be seen at one point but Hsu never abuses them. As far as wirework goes for the time, it’s all quite impressively staged. Trampolines and some live-action effects work is also employed to add flavor. All the effects are complimentary and only serve to enliven the stunt work, not dominate it like some of the more fantasy-oriented wuxia films.

As for martial arts techniques, some fanciful qigong is shown with iron head and iron skin tricks. Most of the action is dominated by straight sword handling with direct mortal strikes versus a lot of sparring as more often seen in later films. As with many of the wuxia films of the era, it shows the strong influence of Japanese chambara movies and Japanese sword techniques. Quite a lot of kicking is thrown in as well, more so than usually seen in wuxia film.

I want to add mention of Wang Hsieh, a stock character actor for SB who is usually cast as a simple villain. He fairs better this time by portraying a veteran sword hero torn between honor-bound duty to the corrupt official for a past favor and friendship to Ching Miao who plays Chiao Chiao’s father. This provides an added layer of depth to the story by telling us the young heroes exist in a larger world made up of people with their own interests. What’s nice though is that it’s done without resorting to the parade of characters so common in Chor Yuen’s big screen adaptations of Gu Long novels.

It is amazing how much content is packed into 80 minutes. HEADS FOR SALE barrels along at a fast clip but is so finely directed and edited that it feels like you’re getting more entertainment value than you really are. The pacing is almost perfect. I say almost because the moderate undercranking of the action sequences occasionally changes speed. There’s just a touch of humor, romance and drama and an agreeably disproportionate amount of action. In broader context, the movie could be considered flawed in its simplistic character development and its rather plain production design. Likewise, Chiao Chiao’s willingness to murder just to get a doctor to her ailing lover is morally suspect but this isn’t a character study. This is a true action-oriented wuxia movie that puts first-rate swordplay and pure genre fun at the top of the list.