That Fiery Girl (1968)

The bandits of Hulu Valley murder the chief of Mei Clan while searching for a treasure map. In retaliation, the clan’s leading swordsman Feng-chun (Chan Leung) infiltrates the bandit’s fortress hideout in anticipation of a surprise attack by a larger force and unexpectedly finds himself romantically involved with the bandit leader’s feisty daughter (Cheng Pei-pei).

That Fiery Girl is a quaint Chinese adventure in the old tradition of swashbuckling sword heroes and dramatic angst, sprinkled with chambara and Westerns references. Cheng Pei-pei dominates the screen with a bold action performance as a gutsy woman with a long sword and a short fuse who isn’t going to let anything get in her way; be it jealous suitors, rivals in love or murderous villains.

Although this is a wuxia pien by definition, the plot is standard adventure material and is reminiscent of a 1972 Spaghetti Western entitled Massacre at Fort Holman where James Coburn and Bud Spencer infiltrate a Confederate fort run by Telly Savalas and proceed to kill everyone in sight. Exchange scenes of Gatling guns mowing down scattering Confederate soldiers for scenes of swords slashing through groups of bandits and you get the same effect in the film’s third act.

Bandits from Hulu Valley descend on a village looking for Mei Clan’s map to a large stash of treasure. They leave empty-handed since the map was recently stolen, but not before mortally wounding the clan’s chief and setting fire to his home. The clan’s top three swordsmen arrive too late to help and vow to get revenge. Luck presents them with the stolen treasure map and a way for one of them to infiltrate the bandit’s formidable fortress hideout that is well-guarded from the front and covered with booby traps in the rear. Assuming a false identity, Feng-chun (Chan Leung) bluffs his way in and gains their trust after delivering the map. As he begins to probe the fortress’s defenses and prepare the way for a surprise attack, Feng-chun runs into a problem. Pearl, AKA The Red Chili (what a genius name), is the bandit chief’s fiery-tempered daughter who quickly develops a crush on Feng-chun. This infuriates the jealous third chief (Cheng Lui) and he joins the equally irritated second chief (Fan Mei-sheng) in attempting to reveal Feng-chun’s real intentions. Mei Clan’s plot is eventually uncovered, but they receive unexpected aid from The Red Chili after she discovers the hidden truth about her past. She sets the bandits ablaze (figuratively speaking) with her swordplay as soldiers descend on the fortress for the fiery finish.

With all of this talk of fire, one might expect to see massive pyrotechnics and indeed the film opens with the bandits setting the interior of a building on fire. However, the real fire burns in Cheng Pei-pei’s entertaining portrayal of a hot-headed swordswoman of emotional extremes. She goes from being a love struck and bubbly girl who throws petty tantrums when she doesn’t get her way to a steely-eyed killing machine burning with indignant rage. Cheng carries her performance into her graceful swordplay moves and postures which are fun to watch. Fetching costumes and that long black hair of her’s only accentuate her visual appear, which as always, is substantial. Lily Li plays Cheng’s maid in a throwaway role before she eventually graduated to leading actress status herself.

This film is my introduction to Cheng’s costar Chan Leung. He has the right look of a martial hero and performs well enough, but lacks the more expressive or charismatic qualities of Shaw Brothers’ better leading men like Ti Lung. When it comes to action, he’s no match for Cheng’s sword work either. He does end up in some memorable circumstances like having to pass through a gauntlet of bowmen or rocketing up to the top of a waterfall. The other notable male performance comes from Cheng Lui, a bulky actor who appeared in most of Shaw Brothers’ wuxia films in the ’60s, but faded with the advent of the ’70s kung fu boom. It’s notable in how bad his acting is. Honestly, everyone’s playing their roles a little heavy, but he always seems to go one or two steps further into hammy acting mode. Scenes where he gnashes his teeth in frustration over being repeatedly snubbed by Cheng are laughable.

The production is typical of Shaw’s output at this time with a few sweeping outdoor shots mixed with mostly elaborate indoor and outdoor sets that are slightly unreal, yet attractive. The camera work is simply utilitarian, but the film score possesses an adventurous and slightly Western theme that gives even mundane scenes a flavor boost.

That Fiery Girl is definitely a film that gives Cheng Pei-pei plenty of room to do her thing. For that reason alone, it’s worth checking out. Beyond Cheng, things start to breakdown with some stilted acting and action that’s a little too rigid. One bonus or additional detractor, depending upon one’s tastes, is a surprisingly high level of bloodletting that appears to be influenced by chambara films or at least Chang Cheh’s heavy use of blood in his early films like Golden Swallow (1968). Arterial sprays, limb-cleaving and one excessive run-off of red dye number five from a head wound keep some of the action scenes more lively. Cheng Pei-pei is the chief person responsible for most of this gruesome work and for racking up a body count too high to keep score on. There is just something about a petite and attractive female single-handedly causing such excessive destruction and bloody mayhem that remains endlessly amusing.