El último caballero

Due to its heavy emphasis on sleek Wuxia swordplay, John Woo's 'Last Hurrah For Chivalry (1979)' was apparently considered antiquated at the time of its release. In retrospect, though, it's clear that it's the prototype for the Heroic Bloodshed movies that would later go on to define his career (a genre which he practically created with 'A Better Tomorrow (1986)'). You can really tell that Woo is pushing against the boundaries of an existing genre in an effort to craft something new, and he gets really close to breaking into new territory here. Although it's his later films that left an irreversible mark on action cinema, this more traditional effort is just as vital - if only for the fact that it's clearly a major stepping stone in the filmmaker's journey to be able to do that. Besides, it's just a really solid and entertaining experience overall. It also has a different feel to a lot of its contemporaries; it's one of the earliest Hong Kong action films I can recall that plays with these particular themes and subverts expectation in this sort of way. It's surprisingly bleak, getting more and more world-weary as it progresses, until it eventually lets its ultimate message burst to the forefront in an eponymous last hurrah that ends things on a really bittersweet but satisfying note.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The feature initially seems as though it's going to follow a traditional revenge plot. It focuses on a young lord who is betrayed on his wedding day and is left wounded while his family home is ransacked and stolen by a rival. Desperate for revenge, he seeks the aid of a master swordsman, who in turn finds a friend in a hired killer with a penchant for drinking and disorderly conduct. Although it seems as though the narrative is going to focus on the lord, it soon becomes apparent that it's much more interested in the swordsman and his assassin buddy. Their blossoming bromance receives a lot of attention, slowly eclipsing the story laid out in the opening moments if not in terms of screen time then in terms of importance. This emphasis goes hand in hand with the slow introduction of formula idiosyncrasies that clue you into the fact that things aren't what they initially seem and that the affair isn't as conventional as it sets itself up to be. Then, as it heads into its third act, it does something genuinely unexpected. I won't spoil what that is, but I will say that the film becomes a lot more thematically interesting in its aftermath. You find yourself sitting up in your seat, more engaged than you have been before. And then, just when you think you've adjusted to the new status quo, the film plays its final hand and shocks you once more. It isn't quite as unanticipated the second time around, but the picture is able to do something that ought to be really cliché in a really effective way. Because it's already caught you off guard once, you aren't expecting it to do so again. The element of surprise isn't the only thing that makes this moment great, though. While it initially threatens to undermine the previous beat and essentially be the coward's way out of the direction said beat necessitated, it soon becomes clear it actually hammers home the feature's themes of friendship, honor, loyalty and redemption. It's the sort of thing that simply has to happen in order for the affair to be what it is, a natural extension of the feature's underlying subversion that's ironically more unique because it's so often seen in one form or another. Basically, it's the execution of these well-worn tropes and the context in which they're used that make them so successful. The interesting themes and texture of the final act reverberates across the entire experience in retrospect, making the overall film much more exciting and fulfilling than its first two thirds make it seem to be. That's not to imply the first two thirds aren't good, just that it's the climactic segment that really pushes the film to the next level.

Aside from its unexpected thematic power, the picture has many other merits. It looks and sounds the part, standing confidently alongside its peers in terms of its aesthetic. While it isn't particularly stylish when it comes to lighting or music, it does exactly what it needs to and makes good use of exterior locations to ground the film in a certain sort of reality. There is plenty of exciting action, most of which focuses on free-flowing swordplay and includes the occasional bit of wire work. A lot of blood is spilt during these moments; the affair is surprisingly brutal, which - along with its harsher thematic elements - gives it a harder edge often missing in Wuxia cinema. The choreography is generally fantastic, as breathlessly impressive as effortlessly exciting. It's sometimes a bit stagey, but it works within the context of the film and rarely feels outright silly (there is one bizarre segment which involves a sleeping swordsman that's tonally incongruent but wickedly funny and wildly enjoyable, so it doesn't reduce the generally sincere movie's authenticity). The combat is inventive and manages to avoid feeling repetitive, even if it sometimes almost washes over you due to its constant intensity. The frequency of the fights is also a little misleading, in the sense that the picture feels like it's been on for a lot longer than it has simply because so much of it is filled to the brim with fast-paced set-pieces. In a way, the pacing is a little loose, although there aren't many areas that are in obvious need of a trim. While the plot can be a little muddled in the first half, especially as the piece juggles its various characters and has to orient the audience towards a protagonist who isn't the initially obvious focal point, everything eventually comes together in a satisfying way that makes pretty much every scene seem as though it always had to be exactly the way it is. While a lot of the narrative is a tad melodramatic, it takes itself seriously and that means we do too. It isn't dour, but it's candid in its desire to both entertain and convey a deeper theme. Because it's working within a genre that's inherently heightened, its less realistic elements don't feel out of place or counter to its overall intention.

Ultimately, this martial arts movie is really entertaining. It has several well-choreographed set-pieces that make use of the cast's capacity for impressive athleticism and is surprisingly subversive as it approaches its final third. Its thematic elements are really satisfying, too. It's easy to see how Woo could go from this to the Heroic Bloodshed that represents his most notable contribution to cinema, but it shouldn't be overlooked as a really solid movie in its own right. It does exactly what it needs to and then some, ending with a bittersweet sting that reminds us brotherhood born in bloodshed can only end the same way. It's really good.