An otherwise ordinary revenge flick becomes something special when starring Angela Mao Ying and featuring the talents of Hong Kong’s finest action masters. BROKEN OATH is a superb kung fu classic from Golden Harvest. It’s an unofficial remake of a Japanese revenge flick entitled LADY SNOWBLOOD (1973), the same film that also partly inspired Quentin Tarantino’s KILL BILL. This Hong Kong version of a woman who grows up to avenge the evils perpetrated against her mother is a bit tamer in exploitive content, but much more action-packed with excellent kung fu choreography from Tyrone Hsu and Yuen Wo-ping, and stellar performances from kung fu queen Mao, a super-kicking Bruce Leung and many well-known talents as extras.
The story follows LADY SNOWBLOOD closely starting out and broadens into more familiar kung fu territory as it progresses. A female lies dying in a woman’s prison after giving birth and recounts to a pickpocket how she ended up there after her husband was murdered by thugs, one of whom also raped her. The pickpocket agrees to raise her daughter to seek revenge, but in hopes of breaking the cycle of violence she hands the infant girl over to a Shaolin monastery for women.
“Pure Lotus” Liu (Angela Mao) grows up to be a troubled young woman who skips out on Buddhist lessons, but excels at kung fu. She’s kicked out after killing several thugs and rejoins the pickpocket where she discovers the truth about her parents. Using her kung fu and deadly scorpions, Lotus begins a systematic hunt for each of the men who assaulted her family and ends up joining forces with government agents to uproot rebels, two of whom are her targets.
BROKEN OATH is a film that starts out a little slow as it’s hampered by trying to copy its Japanese source. Unfortunately, it lacks the edginess and artistic expression of Fujita Toshiya’s revenger, but once the kung fu gets going there is no backing down from what turns into martial bliss.
Angela Mao Ying dominates the screen with high-impact screen fighting and an intense stare that could burn holes into you and still leave you smiling. A slight disappointment is seeing how her character relies on scorpions to deliver finishing moves. They never bother to explain how she manages to fight with an arsenal of live scorpions up her sleeves without being stung herself, but then she is Ms. Mao Ying after all.
Weapons combat is fun and creative in this film, with some very interesting choices being made. Mao Ying’s favored weapons are twin short swords that she can spin in the palm of her hands. She’s just as adept at twirling a staff and laying into thugs with it. The coolest weapons used belong to Sammo Hung, who appears alongside Han Ying-chieh as the rebel leader’s top bodyguards. He whips out metal blades, arrayed in the shape of fans and begins taking swipes at Mao in an excellent exchange. It only gets better when he starts tossing them with chains attached in a scene that looks a lot like Go Go Yubari’s tango with The Bride in KILL BILL. A slightly aged Han is no slouch either and appears in a slick uniform with steal-tipped boots as he tries to kick holes into his enemies. His secret weapon is gargling alcohol and using it to spit massive flames.
This is definitely a great opportunity to see Mao Ying proving that she is one of the most attractive and talented female fighters ever, but even she is nearly upstaged by Bruce Leung Siu-lung (KUNG FU HUSTLE). With this viewing, Leung has suddenly gone on to my list of top screen kickers. He delivers absolutely incredible legwork in scene after scene. It’s only enhanced by expert choreography and long takes that allow the viewer to take it all in. As example, there is a scene late in the film where Leung takes his turn battling with lead villain Michael Chan. In one phenomenal take, Leung blocks an arm blow from Chan, ducks underneath, performs a backward-spinning jump kick, and follows through with a mid-kick. Then he slides to the ground to deliver a sweeping kick, but Chan literally leaps right over him to evade the blow. Leung immediately stands up to follow with a kick to the head with his left leg, a mid-kick with his right and finally finishes with a right kick to the head that sends Chan reeling. Outstanding!
With stunt work filled out by the likes of Corey Yuen Kwai, Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah, it would be impossible not to have great action in BROKEN OATH. There is simply too much A-list talent involved for anything less. LADY SNOWBLOOD may hold onto its glory as a leaner, meaner and more artsy revenge flick, but BROKEN OATH takes the martial arts action to heights only Hong Kong’s finest could attain, with Angela Mao Ying right on top where she belongs.
by Mark PollardRelated Topics:
Angela Mao • Broken Oath (1977) • Genre: Kung Fu • Yuen Woo-ping
