Golden Swallow (1967)

In an attempt to find Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-pei), the woman he loves, the invincible, yet tormented swordsman Silver Roc (Jimmy Wang Yu) begins a ruthless killing spree in her name aimed at all unscrupulous persons. When revenge seekers come looking for Golden Swallow, she finds herself torn between the chivalrous Golden Whip (Lo Lieh) who condemns the needless killing and Silver Roc, whose excessive cruelty leads the two men into a fateful duel.

Golden Swallow is the triumphant sequel to King Hu’s landmark wuxia pien Come Drink with Me. Wuxia queen Cheng Pei-pei returns as the title character, but master martial arts moviemaker Chang Cheh takes over as co-writer and director. He brings with him his first-generation kung fu star Jimmy Wang Yu, fresh from wowing audiences with his star-making performance in The One-Armed Swordsman (1967) and his expert action directing team of Tong Gaai and Lau Kar-leung. The result is a darker, more violent swordplay film where Chang’s nihilistic Hollywood and Japanese influences come shining through in blood red strokes of despair and longing.

In Come Drink with Me, Cheng Pei-pei was the unchallenged star of the film with Yueh Hua in support. Not surprisingly, Chang’s preference for more “manly” depictions of martial heroics slightly pushes Cheng aside to focus on Jimmy Wang Yu’s anti-heroics as an invincible swordsman named Silver Roc. Having lost his family to murderous thugs, Silver Roc has grown up resentful of the image of the chivalrous knight errant and instead applies his unequalled sword skill to killing any and all evil doers with extreme prejudice. Tied up with his hatred is an intense and unquenched longing for Golden Swallow (Cheng pei-pei), his martial sister whom he loves but has not seen in years. The generous time he spends at high-class brothels includes composing poetry that expresses this desire.

In hopes of finding Golden Swallow, Silver Roc begins leaving “Swallow” darts at the scene of his killings, thus implicating Golden Swallow as the murderer. At first, this seems a ridiculous way to show how much he cares for her, but it’s more of a violent cry for help from a man already consumed by hate. Swallow begins to get the message when she and her comrades, “Golden Whip” Xie Ru-yan (Lo Lieh) and “Flying Fox” Hu Zhen (Wu Ma) are ambushed by thugs seeking revenge. As a benevolent knight with distaste for killing, Golden Whip confronts Silver Roc and although Swallow steps in to avert a confrontation, the two are destined to cross swords. With many swordsmen plotting to kill Swallow, Silver Roc takes them all head on before his fateful duel with Golden Whip ends in a bloody last stand against a common enemy.

Frankly, Silver Roc is my kind of wuxia hero. Most, like Crouching Tiger’s Li Mu-bai or Hero’s Broken Sword are stoic men of high principle, perhaps worthy of emulating, but with few faults. They are more difficult to identify with and generally less interesting. Yet in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, filmmakers all over the world were experimenting with depictions of anti-heroes and social outcasts who followed a self-destructive path of violence and rage. The films of Sam Peckinpah, Martin Scorsese and Kinji Fukasaku attest to this and from these filmmakers Chang Cheh infused the vitriol of rebellious youth and angst into Jimmy Wang Yu’s character. For his part, Wang Yu made a career out of coolly snarling in front of the camera and does so with great effect here, made all the more mean by the facial scar he’s been given. Interestingly, Chang also allows him to have a soft side in the form of his poetic calligraphy which Chang conceived of and wrote himself. At one point Wang Yu asks Cheng Pei-pei, “Oh swallow, where are you nestling?” This statement which he recites from his own poem has added meaning in context of her uncertainty about who she loves. Chang’s films rarely get this meaningful outside of exploring themes of brotherhood and sacrifice, but it’s nice when they do.

The action choreography is very good with elaborate swordplay and gruesomely-fun bloodletting. Wang Yu literally cuts his way through dozens of fighters at a time. In one scene that includes some macabre humor, Wang Yu unexpectedly drops in on an unrelated execution in process. Not wanting this intruder to sully his reputation, the honorable (and foolish) accused man disembowels himself before an unflinching Wang proceeds to kill everyone in sight. Wang Yu becomes a one-man army of unrelenting destruction and it’s this kind of exaggerated violence that makes this and many of Chang Cheh’s films so entertaining, no matter how unreal it might seem.

Less vital to this film, but certainly not forgotten is Cheng Pei-pei who still sparkles onscreen. A highlight is when she is waylaid by thugs, ironically in the Peace Tavern. Their leader wields small explosives and she lays into them with twin short swords. But no matter how good, it doesn’t quite hold up to her phenomenal teahouse entrance in Come Drink with Me. One of her other contributions is as the conflicted woman caught in a love triangle. In a rare moment she literally lets her hair down as she shares a classic and touching screen moment with Wang Yu as they meet for the last time before the final duel between her suitors. Unfortunately, Chang lets her fade out as the typical woman on the side. As the “other guy,” Lo Lieh displays his more dashing side, before he would go on to play mostly villains in gritty and exploitive urban or supernatural actioners.

It’s also worth pointing out that Golden Swallow came out during Shaw Brothers’ big push to secure their dominance over Asian cinema by reinventing the wuxia genre. Therefore, the production values for this film are outstanding, in spite of a slightly jarring final scene change from mountainous outdoor location to artificial set. In particular, both the studio and Chang Cheh were looking to Japan’s superior filmmaking for inspiration. This can be seen in the moments of spacious cinematography, a rousing and moody orchestral score and even the swordplay in moments where Wang Yu sheaths his sword like a samurai or causes his enemies to drop in unison.

Golden Swallow is indeed an excellent wuxia classic. It appears less inhibited by genre convention than Come Drink With Me. Chang Cheh was clearly not afraid to dirty his heroes or mix it up with world cinema influences. Yet it’s the image of a lone antihero whose conception of love and hate is so intertwined that his only way to show love is to destroy, that is most compelling.

Related Topics: Chang Cheh, Cheng Pei-pei, Golden Swallow (1967), Jimmy Wang Yu, Lo Lieh, Shaw Brothers, swordplay, Wuxia