Sword, The (1971)

I have always been an admirer of martial arts star Jimmy Wang Yu, chiefly for the rebel spirit he brought to the genre, but my respect for him as a filmmaker has increased after watching his 1971 independent feature THE SWORD. It is a sprawling epic, thoughtful and action-packed, with a robust production fitting for the era where wuxia films still reigned supreme at the local box office. If not for one little, but glaring make-up gaffe, the film would be very much at home sitting comfortably between King Hu’s A TOUCH OF ZEN and Chang Cheh’s THE ASSASSIN.

There’s no way to continue without leading up to mention of the dreaded unibrow. The film is chugging along just fine with Jimmy Wang Yu playing a skilled swordsman so obsessed with possessing the world’s greatest swords that his disapproving mother eventually locks him out of her house.

He is lured into the service of the Emperor by winning a martial contest which rewards the victor with one of three legendary swords known to exist in China. Interestingly, the Emperor likes to collect swordsmen the same way that Wang Yu likes to collect swords. His highness takes a liking to Wang Yu from the start until his new minion brazenly runs off upon hearing of an even greater sword supposedly in the possession of a hermit.

About an hour into the story, Wang Yu finally meets his match when the hermit, a retired sword master gives him one of those spleen-rupturing body blows that clearly communicates to the victim that they are outmatched with or without a weapon in hand. After engaging in a little pillow talk with the sword master’s daughter and having suffered this painful setback, Wang Yu returns home to make nice with the Emperor and to train like a madman in hopes of besting the master and in turn getting his sword.

What takes place next is a little baffling. Wang Yu goes through a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde transformation that is manifested by his darkened visage, highlighted by stubble and one mammoth unibrow that is painted on with an intensity that only Groucho Marx could appreciate.

Wang Yu is now possessed and out of control. His friends and family hardly recognize him. Yet once this ludicrous new look settles in, it becomes apparent that it is just a theatrical way of expressing the inner demon that has taken control of Wang Yu. This is an important factor that drives the whole movie towards a poetic and bittersweet climax on par with the best that any other wuxia filmmaker has yet offered. What I’m getting at is to not let the preposterous unibrow distract one from realizing that THE SWORD is actually a mature tale with a powerful moral lesson that Wang Yu delivers with flair.

There is an added reason why Wang Yu went independent after earning his fame in Shaw Brothers blockbusters like THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN that goes beyond ego. He really did have a different vision for portraying martial arts heroes than just about anyone else at the time save for Bruce Lee. THE SWORD is possibly the best example.

The character is highly flawed, a tragic anti-hero whose obsession is his undoing. It could be said that Ang Lee drew on this same theme for Chang Pei-pei’s character in CROUCHING TIGER, but the comparisons should stop there. With the exception of Zhang Yimou’s HERO, the post-New Wave wuxia filmmakers of today seem unable to grasp how to convey essential truisms of martial arts within their genre films and instead devolve into esoteric and vacuous expressions of petty emotion as seen at the end of HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS.

In THE SWORD, Wang Yu employs similar imagery of an embittered duel during heavy snowfall. But in this case, the director isn’t wrapped up in some drivel about a tragic love triangle turned violent. He instead expresses in a brilliantly simple example, how far his character had fallen from the true understanding of what makes a sword great. Without ruining the surprise I’ll just state that it’s a Confucian theme very much in keeping with the tradition of great wuxia storytelling that applies ethical behavior to higher martial learning. Zhang Yimou used a similar theme in HERO, yet applied to the sword bearer rather than the sword itself.

The rest of the movie is peppered with other subtle wuxia gems such as when a fighter during a tournament recognizes that his opponent is superior in skill simply by witnessing the steadiness of his stance. He wisely backs down while other less discerning and less skilled fighters foolishly scramble to take his place. There is a very cool scene tossed in during the final duel between Wang Yu and the sword master that can be compared to the pre-fight visualization Chang Cheh made use of during the bloody climax in HAVE SWORD, WILL TRAVEL.

The editing of the film is particularly good for the era and is yet another reminder of the level of talent that once existed on a broader level in Taiwanese filmmaking. There is little trickery used to enhance fighting skills. This is not one of those “flying swordsman” movies, or much like many of Wang Yu’s wacky, kung fu cheese fests like MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE. I was particularly impressed with a sophisticated montage of duels that Wang Yu engages in while attempting to hone his swordplay skills. The editing smoothly transitions from one opponent to the next, making it appears that Wang Yu is fighting a single match. Yet the costumes, locations, and Wang Yu’s appearance change with each opponent. This nicely reinforces the sense of time progression which is meant to be a year.

The action choreography is good for the day, with a lot of dynamic movement from Wang Yu. The star’s lack of real martial arts skill is more apparent though when his movements border on wild flailing, rather than controlled and balanced motion that seasoned practitioners like Jet Li or Chen Kuan-tai regularly display. For this reason I’d say Wang Yu’s best action moments are when his movements are tightly controlled by skilled action directors like Tang Chia or by pure gimmickry. He does have that great, badass persona that helps sell his onscreen abilities. There aren’t many action stars who could get away with as much smug scowling as he does here. It’s very much the attitude Sonny Chiba assumed for his STREET FIGHTER movies.

Wang Yu gets the bulk of the screen time, yet his leading co-stars, all Taiwanese genre regulars, get their moments in the spotlight and generally make the most of it. The script is above average and wouldn’t surprise me if it were based on an established wuxia novel. As previously suggested, the production looks great. It’s at least as good as anything Shaw Brothers was capable of at the time. It appears that Wang Yu had some funding from a California-based company willing to invest quite heavily based on the star’s popularity. It definitely shows onscreen and the crew does not waste any of it. The only other knock against the movie aside from the bad make-up job is the music. One ill-matched theme is recycled for every fight scene, while Spaghetti Western soundtracks are ripped to fill out the rest of the movie. THE SWORD could have benefited greatly from a better score. The only high point is a melody supposedly sung by the sword master’s harp-plucking daughter.

THE SWORD is a must-see for any Wang Yu fan and I encourage anyone who enjoys a good wuxia tale to check this one out. It’s quite different from most other swordplay movies of the day in tone. Wang Yu isn’t afraid to use racy sexual content or portray an unsavory sword hero with few redeeming qualities. What makes it work is that he struggles down the wrong path through the whole movie, but dramatically learns his lesson at the end in a way that doesn’t compromise or water down the story. I can’t even think of a wuxia movie I’ve walked away from more satisfied in its conclusion.