Overview: This is Shaw Brothers’ first big screen adaptation of the 14th century literary classic “The Water Margin,” a sprawling fictional account of 108 heroic outlaws and their struggle against villainy during the Song Dynasty. The book is generally regarded as China’s first full-length wuxia novel. Due to the source material’s length and plethora of characters, the film is drawn from only as handful of chapters. Some creative license is taken with the original story in order to have a more dramatic cinematic conclusion.
THE WATER MARGIN is an epic period film that marshaled many of the studio’s top talents including directors Chang Cheh, Po Hsueh-li and Wu Ma. Also in attendance are the studio’s top action directors and an all-star ensemble cast headed up by David Chiang and Japanese action star Tetsuro Tamba (GOYOKIN). The film was followed up a year later by the sequel ALL MEN ARE BROTHERS.
The first film centers on Lu Junyi (Tamba), a skilled martial artist and wealthy resident of Daming who finds himself imprisoned and sentenced to exile after receiving an invitation to join the outlaws of Liangshan Mountain. The person responsible is his housekeeper Li Ku (Tien Ching), who is having an affair with his wife. He bribes the guards assigned to escort Lu Junyi into exile and orders them to kill the prisoner. But Lu Junyi is saved by his loyal right-hand man, an expert wrestler named Yen Ching (David Chiang). Lu Junyi ends up being recaptured. Yen Ching encounters outlaw Shih Hsiu (Wang Chung) and together they attempt a rescue but fail and Shih Hsiu is also captured. Yen Ching seeks aid from the remaining outlaws. Their common enemy is the Grand Secretary of Daming who condemns Lu Junyi and Shih Hsiu to public execution. Outlaw leader Sun Chiang (Ku Feng) leads the Liangshan heroes in an assault on Daming to rescue the condemned men and depose the corrupt official. Although successful, the heroes must face an army sent by the imperial court to retake Daming. It’s led by General Shih Wei-kung (Toshio Kurosawa), a skilled martial artist who trained under Lu Junyi’s master.
The film’s distinctive soundtrack is a surprisingly complimentary mixture of progressive rock and Italian Western motifs. As was usually the case with Shaw Brothers films, the music was not original. The film’s main theme and much of the remaining soundtrack is lifted from Uriah Heep’s album “Salisbury.” A smaller portion of music is also lifted from Dominic Frontiere’s soundtrack to the Clink Eastwood western HANG ‘EM HIGH. What remains of the soundtrack is stock music clips and sampled sounds that were reused for many Shaw Brothers films.
AKA: Seven Blows of the Dragon, Shui hu zhuan《水滸傳》
Genre: Wuxia
Companies: Shaw Brothers
Release Date: March 17, 1972 (Hong Kong)
Producer: Run Run Shaw
Director: Chang Cheh, Po Hsueh-li, Wu Ma
Action Director: Tang Chia, Lau Kar-leung, Lau Kar-wing, Chen Chuan
Cast: David Chiang (Yen Ching), Tetsuro Tamba (Lu Junyi), Ku Feng (Sun Chiang), Fan Mei-sheng (Black Whirlwind Li Kuei), Ti Lung (Wu Sung), Yueh Hua (Lin Chung), Toshio Kurosawa (Shih Wei-kung), Chin Feng (Wu Yung), Wang Chun (Shih Hsiu), Lily Ho (Hu San-niang), Ching Miao (Tseng Chang-kuan), Tien Ching (Li Ku)
