Vengeance is a Golden Blade (1969)

One of Shaw Brothers’ most versatile filmmakers, Hoh Meng-hua wrote and directed the dramatic swordplay saga VENGEANCE IS A GOLDEN BLADE. It comes at the end of the era of female dominance in wuxia movie leads and stars fiery screen beauty Chin Ping as a heroine fated to avenge the treachery that has befallen her father. Also starring is popular sword-slinger Yueh Hua, who was more often teamed with wuxia queen Cheng Pei-pei. The film contains a well-rounded mix of swordplay, romance and intrigue.

The plot is of the standard sort involving filial offspring who grow up trained in martial arts to avenge wrongdoing perpetrated against their parents. But in this case, there is a twist. Golden Horse winner Tang Ching plays swordsman Li Zhishan, head of a security escort service, who possesses the martial world’s most powerful weapon, the Golden Dragon Blade. However, his adulterous wife Yuexiang (Kao Pao-shu) conspires with her lover, a rival escort named Long Zhentian (Li Peng-fei), to kill Zhishan and steal his sword. Despite the villains’ best efforts, Zhishan still escapes, though sword-less, with his young daughter Xiaoyan and settles down with a swordsman-turned-herbalist (Ku Wen-chung) and his grandson Qingsong (Yueh Hua).

Flash forward a number of years and a grown up Xiaoyan (Chin Ping) trained in swordplay reunites with her mother, but is unaware of her treachery. This causes strife between father and daughter and puts both in jeopardy for Long Zhentian, armed with the Golden Dragon Blade and now a notorious bandit, is bent on completing the job he began so many years ago. Zhishan’s only hope in fighting back is with the Hanglong Blade, a superior sword he has been fashioning for 15 years.

While Hoh Meng-hua has helmed all manner of movies from the comedy MY LUCKY STAR (1963) and the costume drama THE KING WITH MY FACE (1967) to a special effects-laden fantasy trilogy based on “Journey to the West,” he always brings a welcome dose of engaging human drama to his projects and his martial arts forays are no different. In GOLDEN BLADE he uses the swordplay genre to delve into the topic of young adults conflicted by separated parents and forced to choose sides. Of course, in this case one parent is clearly good and the other evil. But the reality of a frustrated daughter having to navigate a web of lies on both sides to discover the truth and make her own best judgment possesses its own validity that reinforces the martial combat that ensues.

Unlike, say the swordplay films of Lo Wei, GOLDEN BLADE is more character driven and less dependent on constant fighting. There is still a healthy dose of action that generally fares well when stacked against many swordplay films of the ’60s. As leading lady, Chin Ping has a terrific intensity, but isn’t quite as gifted in swordplay execution as the dance-trained Cheng Pei-pei. It doesn’t help that Hoh has decided to trump all sword skill in the story with super weapons, swords capable of defeating any foe even when the bearer is of equal or lesser ability than his opponent. Yuen Wo-ping handled a similar situation far better with his action direction in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON when Zhang Ziyi faced off against Michelle Yeoh with the Green Destiny sword in hand.

Yueh Hua is definitely in a supporting role and only gets to shine when he comes to Chin Ping’s rescue at one point. As screen villains go, Li Peng-fei is pretty generic. In contrast, Kao Pao-shu is wickedly delicious as the conniving wife and mother, who nearly sells her own daughter into prostitution.

The quality of the production itself varies, but is generally impressive with good use of outdoor locales and SB’s typically ornate sets. The one sore spot is during a scene where the heroes find themselves surrounded by brush fire. Actors pose in front of screens depicting the fire. Not only does this fail to match the live fires in the foreground, but seams on the screen itself are quite visible. It’s still interesting to see how Hong Kong filmmakers in this era attempted to create special effects that so many take for granted now with computer technology. Stock sound effects and music are used, but to reasonably good effect.

VENGEANCE IS A GOLDEN BLADE isn’t marked by outstanding or outrageous martial arts action, with the possible exception of some gruesome use of chopsticks. Several aspects like the limited special effects are quite dated. And none of the cast particularly stands out. Yet with a little more attention paid to the characters, Hoh’s film is arguably more balanced and accessible as a whole than many of SB’s other wuxia films including the gut-ripping actioners of Cheng Cheh, the complex and esoteric sword operas of Chor Yuen or the serial-like adventurers of Lo Wei.