Iron Swallow (1979)

Iron Swallow (1979)
Aka: Shaolin Iron Eagle
Chinese Title: 鐵燕
Translation: Iron Yan

 

Starring: Chia Ling, Ting Wa-Chung, Don Wong Tao, Wang Yung-Sheng, Yi Yuan, Ko Hsiang-Ting, Chiu Ting, Lu Bi-Yun, Cheng Hsiu-Ying, Hung Fa-Long, Tit Yuk-Shu
Director: Chang Pei-Cheng
Action Directors: He Ming-Hsiao

The year 1979 in Hong Kong and Taiwanese kung fu cinema was mainly defined by the sheer dedication of filmmakers to copy the success of Jackie Chan’s two collaborations with Yuen Woo-Ping: Snakein the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master. Meanwhile, Brucesploitation chugged onward, even if one its most famous names was visibly tiring of the subgenre. One interesting, if overlooked, characteristic of that particular year was how it signaled the end for the Holy Trifecta of female fighters: Angela Mao, Polly Shang Kuan Ling Feng, and Chia Ling.

Polly Kuan had made new fewer than seven movies the year before. So, it would definitely come as a surprise that in 1979 she only made film. It would take two more years for her next film, after which it was retirement time for ol’ Polly. Likewise, Angela Mao had made four films in 1978 and would follow up with two martial arts films the following year. She would spend the next few years doing supporting roles in gambling-themed films before getting married and retiring from the acting business. Chia Ling was a bit more prolific in 1979, showing up in five movies. From then on, however, she would only make another four movies over the next four years—one of which was a drama and another one featured her in a supporting role—before retiring like her colleagues. Whether or not they had seen the writing on the wall for the genre as a whole, or if personal matters simply took first priority in their lives, we may never know.

The other kung fu starlets of the 1970s also entered the twilight of their careers at about the same time. Taiwanese wuxia maiden Hsu Feng, who had wielded a wicked sword since 1969’s A City Called Dragon, would enjoy some more collaborations with the great King Hu in 1979 and would stay busy the following year before her career wound down and Hsu would focus on producing films instead of acting in them. Shaw Brothers sword slinger Shih Szu stayed pretty busy up through 1983, but as the popularity of the traditional kung fu movie plummeted, Shih’s output decreased. Her last movie was The Revenge Ghost in the Tree (1988), a cash-in of A Chinese Ghost Story. Similarly, petite Taiwanese butt-kicker extraordinaire Doris Lung managed to work consistently until 1983, about which time her career petered out.

On the same token, there were a number of actresses whose careers were just beginning to take off at the end of the 1970s. Some of these women, like Kara Hui Ying-Hung and Sharon Yeung Pan-Pan, would successfully make the transition into modern action films (i.e. Girls n’ Guns movies) after Hong Kong audiences stopped caring about old school kung fu. Taiwanese high-kicker Ha Kwong-Li showed lots of promise early on, but ultimately failed to impress once she moved to modern-day action and crime movies.

Iron Swallow is at first glance a cheap Taiwanese revenge melodrama. The movie revolves around a young woman, Tie Yan (Chia Ling), who shows up in town accompanied by her auntie (Lu Bi-Yun, of Chiu Chow Kung Fu and Na Cha and the Seven Devils). Somebody does not want her town, considering that a community wine jar placed on the outskirts of town has a cobra waiting inside! A mysterious stranger (Hong Chian-Yong, of Lost Kung Fu Secrets and Militant Eagle) shows up and attacks her before giving her a warning and running away.

Once in town, Tie Yan goes straight to business, maiming a pair of elderly, respected men in the town. Those two have connections with two more respected men, the local kung fu teacher Hsiao Tien (Blood of the Dragon’s Yi Yuan) and nobleman Leng (Ko Hsiang-Ting, of Cantonese and White Butterfly Killer). The latter’s son, Ko Fang (Ting Wa-Chung of Heroes of the Wild), is the former’s pupil and his classmate is Hsiao’s son, Tu Lung (Don Wong Tao, of Secret Rivals and Challenge of Death). As we soon find out, the four pillars of the community were involved in a horrible crime years ago that involved Tie Yan’s family.

Knowing that they have been found out, three of the older men start to express remorse for their action. The only one who does not is Hsiao Tien, who happens to be only one involved that knows kung fu. That obviously makes him a huge danger to Tie Yan, although initially he is content to hire an assassin (Wang Yung-Sheng, best known for choreographing the classic The Mystery of Chess Boxing) and have him clean up all the loose ends. The mysterious man from earlier shows up to assist Tie Yan, while the revelation of what the old men’s misdeeds were will force Ko Fang and Tu Lung to decide between family loyalty and doing the right thing.

Iron Swallow has a strong plot and could have been great had director Chang Pei-Cheng worked harder to maintain a consistent pace. Chang had done his share of kung fu movies, like Hurricane and Lantern Festival Adventure, but he was also experienced in dramatic films, too. He focuses much on the drama, especially the relationships between the characters: Ko Fang and his father; Hsiao Tien and Uncle Leng; Ko Fang and Tu Lung; etc. So much time is spent between them that Chia Ling’s character, who comes close to being one-dimensional, is forgotten for much of the second act. There are a number of tragic twists that mark the beginning of the third act before the story nears the climax, and the finale is suitably bleak: even though Good ultimately triumphs, it will undoubtedly come at a great emotional cost.

The sporadic fight scenes are handled by He Ming-Hsiao, whose career in front of the camera was mainly as a stuntman playing nameless thugs in films like New Fist of Fury and Cub Tiger from Kwangtung. As an action director, He worked on some of Joseph Kuo’s earlier films, like Rikisha Kuri  and Shaolin Kung Fu. Iron Swallow is easily his best film as a fight choreographer, although his talents are somewhat wasted by a script that gives the main actors little to do. Throughout the second act, most of the fights belong to Assassin Wu, played by Wang Yung-Sheng. Wang looks great in his fights, no doubt about it. But us viewers would have liked to have seen more from Wong Tao and Chia Ling.

Chia Ling shines in her limited fight scenes. She displays her acrobatic skills while attacking her first victims. When it comes to fighting, her style is similar to Angela Mao’s from Proud Horse in Flying Sand: a mixture of nimble kicking and snake fist handwork. Too bad her fights are limited to a few short, indecisive dust-ups before the big finale. What is infuriating about this is how the movie went through great pains to establish Assassin Wu as a fearsome fighter, only to have him stabbed in the back (quite literally), making him a cinch for Chia Ling to dispatch. Wong Tao does his usual movie hung gar and Ting Wa-Chung, who was Peking Opera trained, does more acrobatics than hard kung fu. The finale puts those three, plus Yi Yuan, in a big free for all that is well mounted and one of Chia Ling’s all-around better moments. It is almost enough to make up for the frequent lulls and misuse of the cast’s physical talents.