Only a year after Li Han Hsiang's ground breaking LOVE ETERN,, this opera film shows the cycle already in decline.
There's an OK opening with tiger hunter Paul Chang returning to the back lot street, to the acclaim of all, to find his stunted brother has been married off to the neighbourhood beauty, Diana Chang Dhun-wen, a glamor star whose raised finger opera gestures seem less elegant than those by others we've seen perform them. If Paul is not interested, the the local Martial Arts teacher has an eye for the female form and procuress Hung Wie (David Chiang's mum) will give him a hand. This is not going to end well.
The characters breaking out in chant dialogue intrigues but to a western ear the music seems repetitious and undistinguished, the staging of dialogue flat and the kung fu action of the finale feeble.
The film has a variation on the look of the Shaw Brothers House style, which is always interesting, but there are better examples.
