Shuang Qi Zhen dao ke

This film could be described as a "mainland martial arts movie", but that would probably mislead anybody for who the term "martial arts movie" is heavily influenced by the Hong Kong approach to the subject (or the mainland's contribution in the SHAOLIN TEMPLE series). The movie is more akin to He Ping's RF, GF but bleaker in tone. A young swordsman travels to Double Flag town to claim his bride, betrothed to him at birth by his father and revealed to him on said father's deathbed. Upon reaching Double Flag, the girl's father is rather dubious about handing over his daughter to one so young, but invites the chap to stay with them and work in his horse-head soup restaurant.

Double Flag is not a terribly happy town, being the regular pillaging place of the "Invincible Swordsman" and his gang. TIS is a bandit leader famous for always killing with a single deadly stroke. When the Invincible Swordsman's brother takes a fancy to the young swordsman's betrothed, he gets to prove whether or not he has what it takes to protect her as a husband. He calls on the "Desert Eagle", a braggart swordsman from nearby, for assistance.

SIDFT is more Kurosawa than Tsui Hark, with a large helping of Sergio Leone thrown in too. The desert locations and characters permanently covered in muck have drawn comparisons to THE BLADE and ASHES OF TIME, but it's nothing like either of those HK movies. ASHES is probably the closer of those two, but SWORDSMAN IN... has none of the epic grandeur or high philosophy of Wong Kar-Wai's work. Like Kurosawa's Yojimbo or Seven Samurai, this is a story of a village living under terror of bandits in a location miles from the law. Ping's characters are not given to much philosophy, just the challenge of getting by without dying.

The film is rather beautiful to watch, with the desert town of Double Flag being remarkable to behold, carved from sandstone in the Chinese desert who knows how many centuries ago. Everything in the film is "gritty" and functional. Ping has certainly seen his share of HK swordsman films, and the character of Desert Eagle plays a similar role to Tsui Hark's monk in THE BLADE - to make fun of the idea that a swordsman's life is all glamour. HK action fans will be severely disappointed if they're expecting wirework and long complicated battle choreographry. The action here is swift and decisive, an age of waiting in fear then a swift strike in a flurry of close up cuts, then we see who's still standing at the end. It's quite effective in its own way though.

SWORDSMAN IN DOUBLE FLAG TOWN is a well crafted and engaging film, with a wonderful aesthetic. Well worth watching, as long as you remember that not every film with "SWORDSMAN" in the title is going to be like the Tsui Hark/Ching Siu Tung series of that name :-)

Like many other films of the Mainland China new wave, this very unusual film is set in a bleak, remote part of China among the very poor. While it can be considered a martial art film, the amount of actual fighting is very brief. This film is more about the setting, the simple lives of the characters and the moral ambiguities of the story.

The teen-aged boy, Hai Ge, travels to the impoverished town of Double Flags to find the bride his father, once a skilled swordsman, told him about on his death bed. Arriving in the town, the boy is called Little Pigtail by the townspeople. Hai Ge doesn't look very impressive. He finds the girl who is the daughter of the owner of the town's only restaurant. Horse is the main dish at this restaurant. The owner was once a great swordsman as well but an injury put an end to his career. Since he and Hai Ge's father were once the best of friends, the restaurant owner puts Hai Ge to work in the restaurant but the marriage is out of the question since Hai Ge doesn't seem to have any sword skills. Meanwhile the feared "Lethal Swordsman" and his gang arrive in town. Conflict is around the corner.

The movie is very deliberately paced like many other Mainland New Wave films. Much attention is placed on the details of the everyday lives of the characters. And a trait shared with Spaghetti Westerns, a lack of direct dialog. The sword duels are all lengthy set up with the actual action over in a lightning flash. This is not a typical kung fu film with lengthy fight scenes. As others have noted, it reminds of Leone westerns. The desert town is very strange looking and seems to be an actual walled city that's so old that the massive walls have eroded to resemble rock formations.

The film made me think about it the next day and try to understand the character's motivations better. That makes it better film for me and I recommend it.

A couple of warnings: The print available is not the best transfer and some indoor scenes are very murky. If you are an animal lover beware. There's several scenes of horse butchery with real horse cadavers, and several farm animals are actually killed on screen.

While not a bad film, this isn't terribly exciting, interesting, or memorable either - especially compared to some of the beautiful and excellent martial arts films coming out of China these days. There is a fairly interesting tale of a young martial artist who comes to a distant outpost village to claim his bride from a previously arranged marriage. As expected, the girl wants nothing to do with the stranger at first, but begins to develop feelings for him after he is forced to defend her and her father from a local gang of thugs.

The premise is no different in most ways from the standard Western genre - only it's the Old West of China and they use swords instead of guns. But it moves at a snail's pace much of the time, and the action sequences are few and far between and poorly edited so that you can never really see much of what's happening. There are lots of long lingering shots of people staring at each other across the desert, riding horses, etc. etc. It all gets rather dull after a while, and the cinematography is bland and washed out, as is the print that the DVD was transferred from.

Do yourself a favor and rent something by Zhang Yimou, or even one of He Ping's later and more polished films like "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" instead.

Quick synopsis: A boy goes to a town to take his betrothed wife and fights outlaws.

Poetic review: A flash of destiny races across time through the slice of the blade. He meets his destiny with sustained ambivalence.

Extra: I saw this when i was 6 or 7 in China in 1991. I've been searching for it on and off until today. Two images stuck in my mind when i saw this as a kid: how fast the boy's swords where and the aftermath after the last duel. Also the clicking sound of the boy's swords make.

The action is not drawn out step by step but fast. When you watch it, you might think the action is too quick, but that is exactly why it is so good and why i like it so much.

The movie would've been perfect if it was able to add more romance and a good song.

http://www.56.com/u72/v_NTQ3Mjc3MDE.html

The relationships between international cinema are rarely as evident as in the Western genre. The Western is one of the few truly original flavors of film, with its dusty landscapes and drawn out intensity.

The Swordsman in Double Flag Town is a film that demonstrates this so well that it - for some reason - is not in favor. Perhaps it is too Chinese for most.

I'm not sure if the term I've used, 'Lo Mein Western,' is even used at all. Its just the only way I can describe this film is to compare it to Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns.

It's unfortunate that it is too Chinese for most people to watch, because it heralds the same human spirit of Kurosawa and Leone. The actors are point on. It's an incredible film, and I fear, something will never again be seen quite like it.