Swordsman and Enchantress (1978)

Swordsman and Enchantress (1978)
Chinese Title: 蕭十一郎
Translation: Xiao Eleven Wolf

 

Starring: Ti Lung, Lau Wing, Ching Li, Candy Wen Xue-Er, Tang Ching, Lily Li Li-Li, Norman Tsui Siu-Keung, Shum Lo, Ku Kuan-Chung, Yang Chi-Ching, Ting Tung
Director: Chor Yuen
Action Director: Tong Gaai, Huang Pei-Chih

Swordsman and Enchantress is another in a long line of convoluted wuxia films directed by Chor Yuen for the Shaw Brothers, drawing its inspiration from the works of writer Gu Long. Once again, Ti Lung stars as a bad-ass swordsman who gets in over his head in the machinations of different parties in the Martial World. The source material had already been adapted to screen by the Shaw Brothers as Swordsman at Large (1971) and would be adapted by a smaller Taiwanese studio at the same time as this one, starring local wuxia mainstay Roc Tien Peng.

The movie begins with an expedition dump from a trio of extraneous characters, played by Lily Li, Norman Tsui and Shum Lo. We learn that an important figure in the Martial World, Xu Ruzi (Tang Ching, of Bat Without Wings and Rendezvous with Death), is retiring and is handing over a legendary sword, the Deer-Cutting Blade, over to the fighter he deems to be the best. He has chosen Lian Chengbi (Lau Wing, of Enter the Dragon and Way of the Dragon) for the honor.

While en route to Lian’s manor, the sword is stolen by a mysterious fighter named Little Lord (Candy Wen, of Two Champions of Shaolin and Sword Stained with Royal Blood) defeats the escorts and makes off with the weapon. She tells them that the person responsible is Hsiao, as in Hsiao Eleven Wolf (i.e. the character alluded to in the film’s Chinese title). Hsiao is played by Ti Lung, and he makes his first appearance in a later scene when the Little Lord shows up with the intent of kidnapping Lian Chengbi’s trophy wife, Chen Bijun (Ching Li, of Killer Clans and Web of Death). Hsiao saves Chen and he whisks her away to his abode where he nurses her back to health. The two slowly start to fall for each other.

When Hsiao resolves to take her back home, the two meet up with Lian and his entourage at an inn, where the two men duel. Hsiao wins but declares it an unfair victory, promising to fight Lian at another time. When Chen discovers that her husband had thus dealt unfairly with Hsiao, she runs away from home. Lian finds Hsiao recuperating from a wound at the house of the amorous Lady Feng (Lily Li) and the two men duel once more. Lian comes out on top, but declares it an unfair victory because of Hsiao’s health. They agree once more to duel again when both are in tip-top shape. Hsiao eventually finds Chen and the two flee from Lian and his retainers, eventually taking refuge in a mysterious hole in the wall known as the Puppet Villa. Things really get screwy from there.

While at its heart, Swordsman and Enchantress is a simple movie about a love triangle and corruption, the movie itself is anything but simple. As one might expect from a 500-page novel condensed into an 86-minute feature film, there are far too many characters to follow, and motivations to understand, and that is not even counting all of the fantasy tropes associated with the wuxia genre that Westerners may find off-putting at first. The movie moves at a lightning pace, barely giving viewers a chance to catch their breaths before the next sword fight breaks out. Characters show up, disappear for long swaths of time and then reappear out of nowhere.

Ti Lung stands out once more as Hsiao Eleven Wolf, a lovable rogue who fancies himself a bandit but is actually an honorable martial artist. While his rival, Lian, suffers from a bout of jealousy early on, he also turns out to be an upright person concerned mainly with doing the right thing. He eventually realizes that Hsiao is not his enemy, but that the machinations of Little Lord are part of something bigger and more sinister, and is willing to fight by his adversary’s side for the sake of what is right. The triangle is rounded out by Shaw Brothers starlet Ching Li as Cheng Bijun, a beautiful woman by any metric who is drawn into the violent world of the jianghu by forces that may very well be beyond her control.

The rest of the characters are quirky lot, even if most of them barely get two scenes worth of screen time. The most striking is petulant-but-fierce Little Lord, played to the hilt by Candy Wen. Miss Wen by her very nature had a visible mischievous side to her, which she parlays well into the role of a character who is causing lots of upheaval in the Martial World, but without any initial rhyme or reason. Early on we have Lian fighting a pair of “zombie” swordsmen (one of whom is Lee Hoi-Sang) and their wranglers. There is a quartet of swordsmen known as the Leng Brothers, who include Jackie Chan classmate Yuen Wah and talented choreographer Tang Tak-Cheung. Disappointingly, Norman Tsui’s “King of Left-Hand Sword” is absent for most of the film. Lily Li gets to show off some skin as the maneater Lady Feng. Future kung fu diva Kara Hui Ying-Hung shows up briefly near the end as a handmaiden at the Puppet Villa.

Frequent Chor Yuen collaborator Tong Gaai is on hand once more for the action, which he does a stellar job with. Most characters fight with your standard sword (jian) or saber/broadsword (dao), although there is room for variation. Ti Lung’s principal weapon is a spear, albeit one with a sword hidden inside. One of the zombies fights with a long-handled club. Even leaves and blades of grass turn into deadly weapons in the hands of one of the characters. And the McGuffin, the Deer-Cutting Sword, does show up at one point, doing major damage to everyone it is used against. The weapons choreography is on the same level as Avenging Eagle, another example of Tong Gaai’s talent. There are not any all-time great sequences, but the action maintains a high standard throughout.

Swordsman and Enchantress is a fun film that may require several viewings for one to assimilate the entire plot. In that way, it is similar to other wuxia films like Butterfly and Sword and Kung Fu Cult Master. Not surprisingly, both films were adapted to screen by Chor Yuen, as Killer Clans and Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, respectively. The movie moves too fast for the plot to really resonate, but the costumes, sets, pretty people and solid swordplay make it an easy film to watch and experience multiple times.