The Hero of Swallow

Something that makes me angry is that when a movie comes out. Which is so beautiful that everyone should see. However no-one goes to see it, but then a movie comes out a few years later, wins worldwide praise despite ripping of the other movie and wins a host of awards without acknowledging the other movie at all.

The over-rated Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon ripped of this classic movie. If you're a fan of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon then you will love this movie.

Sang Sui directs the flawless masterpiece of cinema. Sang Siu highlights issues such as the gap between the rich and the poor and the injustice caused by corruption to the poor beautifully.

Yuen Biao stars as Li San (who at night is the Swallow Hero, a sort of Robin Hood). Despite helping the poor, he yearns to find his loved one who was cruelly raped and put in a brothel.

Yuen Biao, who was born for this movie, gives such a diverse performance filled with anger, love, sadness, and even sometimes happiness. It's really incredible that to this day Yuen Biao has not received one Best Actor nomination from the Hong Kong Film Awards and even the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. This really is a terrible indictment on both these awards. Also, Athene Chu, who plays his loved one, gives a beautiful performance filled with yearning, who also deserved at least a Best Actress nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards. The whole cast is wonderful and complement Yuen Biao and Athene Chu beautifully.

Wu Kam choreographs the fight scenes with such elegance that Yuen Biao seems fight like a twenty year old. Wu Kam also not only brings out the very best of every fighter but also emphasis beauty in the fight scenes. Some of the fight scenes that Wu Kam directs were ripped of by Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Sang Siu, includes some wonderful wireworks as Yuen Biao flies, walks over walls and exhilarates. The wireworks in this movie had been directly ripped of by Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

The soundtrack is really wonderful too with the use of traditional Chinese instruments. Also, as this film was filmed in mainland China, the cinematography is beautiful, it really is wonderful and brings out the best of rural China.

Sang Siu and Wu Kam will go very far on the evidence of this. Sometimes a person lives and dies without seeing unseen masterpieces. This is one of them. If you ever get to see just one film throughout your whole life, the make it your objective to see The Hero of Swallow. Ripped of by Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, this is a masterpiece that comes only once a generation, if even that.

One of the things I like about Yuen Biao is that his movies are not bounded by the Hollywood conventional happy ending. This movie has a deeply sad but poetic and beautiful ending. The way Yuen Biao acts at the end will probably never be bettered. I dare you not to cry at the end of this beautiful and emotional movie.

A nostalgic film of sorts combining the type of plot line common in HK films of the 1970's with the high-octane fight choreography of the 1990's plus a smattering of Mainland New Wave.

Set in the turbulent years after the overthrow of the emperor and before the Japanese invasion before WW2 the film exists in a time when traditional kung fu fights can be logically mixed with gun battles. The hero of the title is Li San aka The Swallow Thief, so named because his leaping ability is so great that he seems like he is flying. We first see him in his Swallow Thief disguise distributing money to the poor and then attacking a sex slave trafficker and freeing all the imprisoned women. But we learn that Li San's main motive is to find his kidnapped girlfriend Chinny. This quest leads him to Peking where the local police suspect him immediately but they are a bunch of boobs so Li San doesn't have much to worry about. The local militia is a different matter. Li San quickly is befriended by a woman pickpocket disguised as a boy, a Peking opera actress whom he had freed from the trafficker and a lame soldier he had helped outside of town. Unfortunately Li San also comes in direct contact with the corrupt politicians, sleazy Japanese businessmen and a depraved ex-royal who employs a man with the same fighting talents as Li San. These all collide with his quest to find the brothel Chinny has been sold to. Lots of fighting and high leaping thievery ensue.

The film has a quick pace and breezy tone punctuated by scenes of real drama. The fights are typical of the 1990's, wide camera angles close to the fighters, swingy arm style and lots of quick editing. The plentiful wire work is very similar to Crouching Tiger with people just flying horizontally thru the air or climbing walls without seeming to touch them. The acting is very good in a traditional Chinese style. The stock characters will be very familiar to HK film aficionados but it's done with enthusiasm and isn't tired. The only warning I have is that the ending isn't what you would expect from a 1990's film that starts out so breezy. The ending actually made the film better for me.

Recommended.

I absolutely loved this movie. The only downside is the lighting on the night scenes. I thought about taking off a point or two for that, but I can't because the movie itself is so enjoyable. It's too bad because the fights are incredible and shot from great angles, but hard to see. Most of them take place at night. One fight near the end is also at night, but has some wonderful dramatic lighting so you can see the action well. It's such a crime that they didn't do this throughout the rest of the movie.

The sword fight early on is jaw-dropping! One of the best I've ever seen. But yes, so dark you have to struggle to see all of it. Which breaks my heart as the action is wild and fast. Nearly all of the fights are a good length and there are plenty of them.

Regardless, Yuen Biao is spectacular and finally some romantic chivalry in a martial arts movie! He truly is the perfect hero. It's nice to see that someone wrote a martial arts film with women in mind for a change. We love the fighting, but we like the drama, too. And as always, Yuen Biao's acting is first rate. This is an outstanding role for him. The supporting cast is also excellent. The plot is easy to follow which is refreshing as so many HK movies drown in far too much plot detail. The characters are also well developed, another refreshing feature.

The flying was also quite entertaining. Way over the top but I loved it. As with virtually all HK films I've seen, many things happen that are way too convenient. I've gotten use to that. Everybody always knows where everyone is and finds them easily, our hero always has changes of clothes at the ready wherever he is...things like that you just have to accept to enjoy HK cinema.

If you're a Yuen Biao fan you will love this movie. The lighting issues might kill it for other martial arts fans...if not for that, the fights would impress you.