Da luo jian xia

THE SECRET OF THE DIRK (1970) could have been just another run-of-the-mill Shaw Bros. swordplay adventure, but it comes with the benefits of a strong cast, an abundance of fight scenes, and a short and speedy running time (78 min.). Best of all, it's got one of the Shaw studio's top actresses, Ching Li, in one of the leading fighting roles and she turns out to be quite a vigorous swordswoman in her own right. We never would have known this from watching her demure and elegant leading lady roles opposite the likes of Ti Lung, David Chiang, and Chen Kuan Tai in some of Chang Cheh's kung fu spectacles (BLOOD BROTHERS, BOXER FROM SHANTUNG, MAN OF IRON, DUEL OF FISTS) or some of Chor Yuen's lavish "martial world" costume adventures (SWORDSMAN AND ENCHANTRESS, LEGEND OF THE BAT). Granted, she's no Cheng Pei Pei or Shih Szu in the fighting department, but in a film like this, she does just fine.

The plot, which is not the most intricate, deals with various parties' search for a hidden cache of treasure that belongs to a network of exiled families who fled their besieged city 20 years earlier and entrusted their valuables to an officer who then disappeared. The officer's daughter, played by Shu Pei Pei (so memorable in THE MAGNIFICENT SWORDSMAN), becomes the focus of the hunt and is sought after by both the vicious Black Tiger gang and a quartet of young fighters (three female and one male) led by Ching Li, who represents the Liu family, the rightful claimants to the treasure. In the course of it, the daughter is rescued from the Black Tigers by a wandering swordsman played by Chang Yi (KING CAT, SWORDSWOMEN THREE), who eventually teams up with Ching Li and her group to go after the Black Tigers, culminating in a sprawling battle at an abandoned Buddhist temple.

There are a lot of swordfights throughout the film and Chang Yi displays several original maneuvers involving multiple swords that take out numerous opponents at a time. Cliff Lok, who went on to star in numerous independent kung fu films on his own later in the decade (KUNG FU GENIUS, RING OF DEATH), plays one of Ching Li's fighting cousins and has a pretty large role himself. Helen Ma (DEAF AND MUTE HEROINE, THE FATE OF LEE KHAN) plays another fighting cousin.

It's mostly shot outdoors on picturesque locations (presumably Taiwan) and the supporting cast is filled with dependable Shaw Bros. character actors, including Tien Feng, Wang Hsieh, Chao Hsiung and Fang Mien. It may not be the most compelling example we've seen of this genre, but it is quite enjoyable nonetheless. The director, Hsu Cheng-hung, also directed the Red Lotus trilogy (TEMPLE OF THE RED LOTUS, TWIN SWORDS, THE SWORD AND THE LUTE, all also reviewed on this site).

There are probably millions of daggers in martial arts movies but only one dirk. I have no idea why but in this movie we have that one dirk. In his book "The Ultimate Guide to Martial arts Movies of the 1970s" Dr. Craig D. Reid speculates about this dirk so I won't have to.

The movie starts with a pleasant moment catching doves spoiled by our madam arriving on horseback in a not long to live condition. On her death bed we flash back to 20 years ago when bandits besieged their city and only women and children escaped. The Black Tiger Gang is still after some treasures from that siege. One was on the roof right then and managed to escape. He reports to the chief. They kidnap Shu Pei-Pei. Chang Yi, hero on a white horse, overhears her calls for help and rescues her. He has quite a sword. It shoots swords. In the course of the movie he uses a variety of unusual weapons. There are times I find this annoying. Chinese martial arts has enough fantastic weapons without making up any. Here it was done but not overdone.

Chang Yi was an actor and not a martial artist when he started at Shaw Brothers. After just three to four years it is evident from his fight sequences that he spent a lot of time learning from the stunt men. The first fight in this movie shows none of that but hang in there and you will see what I mean.

The movie continues with the refugees continuing their struggle against the Black Tiger Gang. Some plot points are stretched thin such as pretending to be mute for 20 years and too many traitors among them. The excellent final fight makes the audience forget those details.

The fight is all outdoors and not on one of Shaw Studios big sets but just among tombstones. Chang Yi uses multiple weapons and fights empty handed against weapons. I could find no frame in which a stunt man took his place. This was an excellent end fight. Technically though, it was Ching Li who delivered the final blows to the villains, in case you are keeping a strict body count.

I rate this movie above average and recommend it for all fans of martial arts movies of the golden age 1967 to 1984.

The most important fact about this movie: A Shaw Brothers movie written by, directed by, and starring Jimmy Wang Yu. That was the first and last time that ever happened.

It starts on a busy street in a small Chinese town. Our villain enters a kung fu school and criticizes them. He is a former student, kicked out for violence, and now a student of Japanese martial arts. Challenge accepted! He fights them but his moves do not resemble karate. During the opening credits one student runs, it seems to be about ten miles, to notify the master. He arrives first at a rock quarry where Jimmy Wang Yu and Cheng Lui seem to be working like slaves. They rush back to the school. Karate guy is now using judo. After introductions and rudeness the teacher arrives. They fight and teacher draws first blood. Karate/Judo guy vows to return with karate experts. Cut to Jimmy Wang Yu walking and talking with his girl. She predicts a bad ending to all this karate versus kung fu business. Back at the school the master bores everyone with a lecture on the history of martial arts. Two important points are- the Chinese take credit as the originators of all martial arts and the Iron Palm and Light Leaping techniques can defeat karate. Remember that, there will be a one question test at the end of the movie. "How do you defeat karate?"

Lo Lieh plays an absolute bad guy in this movie. He is one of the few leading men who had real martial arts experience before he started acting. His career began with hero roles but subsequently turned to villains. He is probably better remembered as a villain. His background was in karate so was a perfect fit for this role. Chan Sing is another villain in this movie. He also has a background in Goju-Ryu karate. I am unable to verify of this is before, after, or during his acting career. In this movie he takes out Jimmy with a hit to the head.

This movie has my highest recommendation which is underwhelming because it is a landmark film that had social and cultural influence beyond the movie world and is mandatory viewing for any fan of this genre.