Return of the Sentimental Swordsman

For purposes of marketing, this movie is called "Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman", but in Chinese it's called "Chu Liuxiang - Phantoms' Mountain Manor". Yes, it stars Ti Lung as a similar character to XiaoLi from the first two "Sentimental Swordsman" films, but he's playing a different character this time- Chu LiuXiang.

Chu LiuXiang is a wandering Robin Hood type figure- a highly skilled gentleman bandit who travels around and gets himself into all sorts of troubles. He hails from a series of novels written by Gu Long (or Ku Lung, as the Shaw Brothers movies credit him) who was one of the most prolific writers of WuXia (Kung Fu) novels of the 20th century. Which brings me to the other point- whenever you see Ku Lung's name in the credits of a film, you're watching an adaption of a long serial novel condensed into a short 90 minute film. Think about how successful American novel translations to film are, and you'll understand why films with a Ku Lung credit are often uneven but filled with cool scenes and ideas here and there.

That would also be a good summation of this movie, really- uneven, but lots of cool scenes and ideas!

This is certainly not as good as the director's earlier Killer Clans, Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Jade Tiger, Death Duel, Sentimental Swordsman, Clans of Amazon, Heroes Shed no Tears etc and the plot is simpler but like all his KU Lung adaptations, never short of surprises or twists. Interestingly, this movie has the most male stars compared to his other movies. We have Ti Lung, Fu Sheng, Derek Yee(a top HK director now) and Ku Feng in the important roles as well as Yueh Hua, Lo Lieh and Liu Yung, a good collection just to keep their faces as a reference. Some characters, weapons and fights made it interesting to watch.

Continues the story of the sentimental swordsman three years after the events in the last film. This time the story is more melancholy and thoughtful which is a surprise for a Yuen Chor directed film. The swordsman, played by Ti Lung, is a depressed alcoholic who finds himself pulled back into the intrigues of the martial world against his will.

The "martial world" is an odd genre, sort of like a western but with almost no interaction with regular society. Imagine a Hollywood western where nearly everyone is a crack shot and spending all their time dueling each other. Even samurai dramas will spend some time with other concerns but martial world dramas are almost non-stop fighters sparring with each other or preparing to fight each other. And there are frequently dozens of characters to keep track of. Most of these films are based on published novels so the original audience had a head start. Once you are prepared for this kind of film then it'll be easier to enjoy.

This film revolves around the turmoil of the sentimental swordsman with about six other main characters to follow which is less than the usual martial world film. There's some good melodrama as a number of the characters are actually concerned about something emotional other than who is the best martial artist. There is an amount of Chinese philosophy quoted which is interesting to hear.

The photography is excellent as well as the set design which is good since 95% of the film is on sets. The music sounds a lot like Akira Ikufube (Gojira, Zatoichi) but since there is a music credit I guess it wasn't lifted. The fight scenes are very theatrical but enjoyable.

Recommended for the Shaw fan.