Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (Du bei dao wang)
Directed by Cheh Chang
Written by Cheh Chang
Hong Kong/1969
IMDb link
First viewing/Amazon Prime
[box] Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance. — Confucius[/box]
Just a fun wuxia movie to distract nicely from Lockdown.
This is a sequel to The One-Armed Swordsman (1967). At the end of that film, our hero (Jimmy Wang Yu) retired to become a peaceful farmer with his beloved wife. At the beginning of this one, honor and loyalty compel him to defend his school against a rival gang led by the Eight Demon Swordsmen. Dozens die in numerous one against many battles spilling gallons of red paint along the way. Impalements and wire-work are also featured.
I think of these more as fantasies than as violent action films and generally enjoy them
Version I watched was dubbed.
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I needed a large dose of happiness and found it, in spades, in Vincente Minnelli’s The Band Wagon (1953). My review can be found here. The different numbers are like children, I couldn’t possibly choose a favorite. This time around, Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse’s “Dancing in the Dark” seemed extra-exquisite to me.
