The best wuxia films made in Hong Kong

One of the most innovative films in Hong Kong cinema history, Come Drink With Me can be credited with firing wuxia’s cinematic revival in the later 20th century. True, in Taiwan, King Hu would go on to direct more accomplished tales of swordplay such as the masterful A Touch of Zen and Dragon Inn, but this is where it started.

The main casting is superb. Cheng Pei Pei, as Golden Swallow, would improve as a screen fighter but, thanks to her training as a dancer, her movements are never less than slick and the withering looks she directs at her bandit foes establish her as the accomplished warrior she is. Opposite her, Chen Hung-lieh, as Jade Faced Tiger, delights in his villainy and almost effeminate manner. Beautifully composed and shot – the early restaurant scene is a joy to watch – 50 years on, Come Drink With Me remains almost unsurpassed.

Responsible for a string of wuxia classics – the likes of The Magic Blade, Killer Clans, Clans of Intrigue – as well as the historically important The House of 72 Tenants, it’s criminal that director Chor Yuen’s name isn’t better known. Intimate Confessions is his most famous wuxia movie, largely thanks to its scandalous, for 1972, lesbian element (it would later influence Clarence Fok’s cult classic Naked Killer), but it’s also his best. Its exploitation theme – Ainu, our virginal heroine, is kidnapped and forced into prostitution, for which she seeks revenge – marks it out immediately. The killing, when it finally begins, is hugely satisfying and the final fight in the tattered remains of a brothel is visually splendid. Ainu’s climatic speech, of utilising love rather than hatred to take revenge, is a genre classic, as is the entire film.

Derek Yee (yes, he who would go on to direct the likes of acclaimed tearjerker C’est la Vie, mon Cherie) stars as the talented but burdened Third Master, a famous swordsman of the jiang hu who finds it impossible to escape his renown and must battle a ceaseless parade of fighters looking to defeat him and claim the title of the strongest.

One of the more pulpy entries on this list, the fantastic Death Duel kicks off with Yen Shih-san surrounded in a clearing and declaring, in dramatic fashion, that he will slay all six opponents in no more than 13 strokes of his blade. The tone is thus set for the remaining 90 minutes of action. Admittedly, director Chor Yuen (him again) somewhat overreaches himself in this adaptation of Gu Long’s novel – there’s no need to introduce so many minor characters only to kill them off almost straightaway – but the theme at the heart of this story, of fame being a burden, is well presented and still feels incredibly contemporary 40 years on.

Although John Woo would make a name for himself with his bullet-riddled ‘heroic bloodshed’ movies, it was in wuxia that he made his directorial debut. Still, even before switching martial arts masters for cops ’n’ robbers, Woo knew his obsessions. Like his later hits A Better Tomorrow and The Killer, Last Hurrah for Chivalry takes place in a cynical world where the innocent suffer and the only loyalty that exists is the brotherhood between noble outsiders. Although the story is a largely unremarkable tale of revenge – except for the surprising immorality of Ko Peng in seeking his vengeance – the pacing is brisk and the performances of the lead characters are excellent in terms of what little they have to do. The almost constant action in the second half does become a little wearisome, but the skills on display are some of the best of the 1970s and hold up well today.

A Hong Kong/Taiwan co-production, this was director King Hu’s last great film. As the film begins, the abbot of a renowned temple has requested the help of three notable outsiders to help assist him as he picks a successor. The serenity of the temple and beauty of nature highlight the pettiness and greed of the less enlightened characters who push the drama forward, driven by their regrettable attachments to the vanities of the world. One of the most philosophical of wuxia movies, the characters don’t engage in fantastical sword fights. Instead, they play cat-and-mouse games of hide-and-seek, darting around the temple in nimble moves. The film’s less agile characters play their own games, albeit of a more political kind. The film’s focus on Buddhist teachings over derring-do and its slow burn pace won’t appeal to those brought up on the hyper-kinetic wuxia films of the 90s but Raining in the Mountain is almost unique in the genre and worth watching for that fact alone.