E hu cun

VILLAGE OF TIGERS (1974) is another swordplay adventure from Hong Kong's Shaw Bros. studio with great fight scenes and a formidable heroine. The lead actress is Shu Pei Pei, who is quite forceful as a no-nonsense fighter decked out in an array of colorful swordswoman fashions. I've seen her in nine other films, although I don't recall any which featured her in an action role before. This one is the very last film she did, according to her IMDb filmography. It came at the very end of the Shaw Bros. swordswoman cycle, which had been dominated by Cheng Pei Pei (THE SHADOW WHIP) and Shih Szu (THE YOUNG AVENGER) up to this time. Miss Shu is very good and I wish she'd played more roles like this. Her character is Miss Ba, whose brother is involved in some shady deals with the "rascals" from the title village. When he turns up dead, with a note implicating the film's hero, Luo Hong Xun (Yueh Hua), Ms Ba vows revenge and goes after Mr. Luo, even though she knew her brother was being used by the bad guys. Eventually, Miss Ba and Mr. Luo team up to seek out the real culprits, culminating in a stunning series of fight sequences in the "village of tigers."

The plot gets a little convoluted at times, with multiple factions involved in the action. There's a mysterious woman who lures Miss Ba's brother into a trap and we never quite learn much about her. There's a cousin of Miss Ba, Ying Hua (Karen Yeh), who's quite gorgeous also and is betrothed to Mr. Luo. She squares off against Miss Ba in one outdoor scene. One subplot involves a birthday for the aging "Granny Ba," the family matriarch, who has a very pleasant scene with all the women in the family and none of the men, where they just hang out and gossip. I like it when movies like this take time out for such moments. Granny later musters the family to go to Miss Ba's rescue at a key point. It all moves quickly with very little time to ponder any plot holes. The film is beautifully shot, mostly on outdoor sets and against picturesque landscapes (presumably in Taiwan). The costumes are nice to look at, especially those worn by the women characters.

The key draw of this film is a series of imaginative fight sequences, all choreographed by Simon Hsu (aka Hsu Erh Niu, aka Simon Chui), one of the Shaw studio's most important unsung talents. If you liked the fight scenes Mr. Hsu staged for HEADS FOR SALE, BROTHERS FIVE, VENGEANCE OF A SNOWGIRL, DUEL FOR GOLD, THE SHADOW WHIP, BLACK TAVERN, and THE FLYING GUILLOTINE, to name a few, then you're in for a treat here. Hsu likes to put multiple combatants in a large setting, set the camera up at a safe distance and let them slash away at each other in long takes designed to keep the action in the frame so that viewers can see it unfold in real time, which means the actors have to have some degree of skill to pull this off, especially when intricate moves involving leaps, kicks and tumbles are involved. The camera often moves to keep up with the actors. There is creative use of props and furniture, especially tables, which usually wind up smashed or turned over in the course of the action. There are always interesting and exotic weapons employed and clever use of whips and ropes. In the finale here, the bad guys come up with an elaborate rope maneuver that snares their opponents. We fear the fate of the hero and heroine but have to admire the precise coordination it takes to trap them like this. Actual hand-to-hand kung fu combat is part of the action as well. Mr. Hsu is more interested in achieving exciting effects in front of the camera than in teaching us about specific techniques or schools of martial arts. He simply wants to entertain us and he never fails at it. There are major action setpieces throughout the film, including three in the first 20 minutes, several in the middle, and a final section, lasting 15 minutes, that's just nonstop action.

Shu Pei Pei is also in such films as THE THUNDERING SWORD (with Cheng Pei Pei), THE SILENT SWORDSMAN, THE SECRET DIRK, A TASTE OF COLD STEEL, and THE 14 AMAZONS. She's quite memorable in a powerful dramatic role in THE MAGNIFICENT SWORDSMAN. Yueh Hua, who plays the hero here, is front and center in many of the fights and shows what a great star he was in these films (which include COME DRINK WITH ME, BROTHERS FIVE, THE LONG CHASE, and many others). Other stars at the time may have had greater kung fu skills, but Yueh Hua was a superb actor and romantic lead and he handles the swordfighting action with athletic flair and great aplomb. He and Shu Pei Pei make a great team.

The story is a re-tread of well worn fare among Shaw Brothers product popular from 1967 (ish) to about 1971 when Bruce Lee's popularity changed the style & fashion of these films away from weapons towards more fist & feet Martial arts.

The story is easy to follow, has a good pace & is intriguing without breaking any new ground.

What is exceptional about this is the action , with fast, intricate & inventive interactions . This is achieved by being slightly under cranked when filming, which became the norm from the early 1980s's... yet this was filmed in 1971 !!! Strangely, it was held back from release for about 3 years.

This is one of Yuan Has best fight showcases (though not his best Acting showcase!)

Other directors helped pioneer this exciting technique , such as Joseph kuos films of the time, and by the early 80's Directors such as Tony lau Jun Guk were pushing it to (& beyond ) its limits. Jackie Chan & Sammo Hung are the best known directors who regularly use this technique. Sammo appears a few times in this, and may be the villain who gets a sword in the head during the Inn Fight ? Jackie Chan also makes a brief appearance as an extra, though you have to look hard to spot him.

This film was very likely where many of the future Golden Harvest stars first met or discussed their forthcoming exodus, as well as certainly during the later ShawBros films of Lo Wei.

The direction is excellent, full of zooms, fades, and top-notch editing. The Direction & Choreography team is one of the best - all the other films by these talent folk are worth checking out-

For me one- of the greatest unsung craftsmen of this genre is Simon Chui Yee-Ngau, a man responsible for the action in many brilliant films, often in collaboration with Chui Chung-Hok.

Tsui Siu-Ming (of Gang Master, Buddhists fist, Holy Robe, Bury Me High etc) is Simon CYN skillful younger brother.

Tien Feng has a brief appearance & is excellent as always as a skilled villain, this time dressed in the red & white 'santa' clothing of the Tartars.

1971 was a golden year for Shaw Brothers & Martial Arts/Action films from Asia. There are at least a dozen film for Shaws that year that all serious fans of the genre should check out , if they haven't already.

This film is certainly one of them, and if it is considered 'average' for the time that average is at a very high standard !

....& Granny Ba is great.....

The devilish residents of the Village of Tigers, led by Hu Jiao, plan to kill Lo Hong Shun, otherwise known as the heroic Sword of the Southern Sky. Their attempts thus far have failed and the most recent mistaken identity sees them looking for another way to achieve this goal. Meanwhile the nearby Ba family are a much more righteous group, with the wisdom of Granny Ba, the style and sword skills of 9th Miss Ba and the enthusiasm of son Master Ba. While Granny enjoys the good wishes of all on her birthday, Miss Ba has her hands full – not only does she discover her honorable brother helping Hu Jiao in his dastardly deeds, but she also believes she has been robbed by a traveler that she gave assistance to (not knowing that this man was Lo Hong Shun). Add to all this relative Ying Hua in affection for Lo Hong Shun, Hu Jiao sees a way to use the righteousness of the Ba family to help him kill the hero Lo by turning them against him – but will righteousness prevail?

Few days ago I watched The Eunuch (Gwei tai jian) which had a lot of characters and plot but just about made it work; with the film E Hun Cun / Village of Tigers, this is not the same case. The challenge with these films is that you want a lot of action but ideally you have that action occurring in a context where you care about those involved and why they are involved – which means you need characters and plot. Now, to have a lot of action and have your film come in under 80 minutes then you will not be left with a lot of time for other things – so the more straightforward you can make things usually the better. This is not the same as saying dumb it down, but you need to make the most of everything. With Village of Tigers there is a great plot here with great characters and interactions but the problem is that it has no time to really fit together or make the most of things – so most of the ideas and threads are better to look back on after you finish the film because during it you are normally just trying to keep up with the characters coming and going who act as plot devices and vanish.

So the Madame that Master Ba sees, the role of Ying Hua and her dedication to Lo, the relationship between Hu and the Ba family, the comic misunderstanding between 9th Miss Ba and the "stranger" and so on. All of these things make for a good plot but in the end it is too rushed and has too much to do so it ends up feeling muddled and messy and you end up just focusing on the action. The downside of this is that the film is weaker for it but at least the action is mainly very good. Wire work is in use but not as much as other films and instead we have a lot of very impressive sword fights with fast movement and good coordination. The final third in particular has a lot and the only thing that bothered me here is that when it is all over, we have the line "Granny, I'll go back first" and then it is over – which I really didn't understand at all!

The cast are mostly very good which again just adds to the shame that so much is crammed in to the detriment of the whole. Although he is not given enough time, I liked Yueh Hua a lot in the lead – he had presence and charisma but for me the key performance was from Shu Pei Pei as 9th Miss. She makes a big impact and is great in action, in comic confusion, in vengeful rage – she really delivers all of it. Support is good from Wang Hsia (Hu), Chan Shen, Tung Li and the attractive Karen Yeh. I do not know the name of the actress who played Granny Ba but I could have watched a while film focused on her character – a lot of fun and again shame the film has no time for anyone. Direction of the action sequences is good as the camera tends to sit back and let us see longer, bigger sequences which ask for more skill. Outside of the action the locations, costumes and general sets are very impressive and add a lot to the film.

Overall this is a good film for the sword action sequences but it really needed to slim down the narrative to deliver the action and do it in less than 80 minutes. The plot doesn't really work as a result and it is a shame because there are a lot of nice ideas and threads in here which, combined with good performances, really deserved to be treated better than they got here.

The movie opens with the bad guys killing the wrong hero. Next, Yueh Hua rides into a poor town. At the tea house two drunks try to rob him. Shu Pei-Pei defends him but he really defends himself without her noticing, plus he steals her purse. He returns the purse and belittles her. Cut to Tung Li is conspiring with the bad guys at Tiger Village to rob an escort of a corrupt official. Shu Pei-Pei and admonishes him. Next is Grandma Ba's birthday party.

The plot is typical Shaw Brothers with a lot of stuff going on and a lot of the stuff is never resolved. The main plot is the Tiger Gang frames Yueh Hua for the murder they committed and the Ba family needs revenge. There is also the famous Shaw Brother's abrupt ending.

I watched this movie in 2012 and it hardly held my attention. I watched it again in 2015 and that time rated it above average. This is my third viewing to write this review. My final rating is average.

My first complaint is the whip as a weapon. It is not a valid weapon and the physics demonstrated is impossible. It was often used by non-martial arts actors because it would not risk injury to the actor or stunt man.

The rest of the action was sword fights. Overall, though good, there was nothing special about the sword fights. The final fight takes place outside the iconic seven story pagoda. This could be the curtain call for the pagoda. It was prominent in movies going back to the late 1960s.

It's so difficult to tell just what is going on. There are these scenes of wide open spaces on horseback, there is something to do with a swordsman. Someone killed someones brother. Punctuate this with some sword fights and call it a day. Very hard to follow. I think the story is really lacking and the direction was bad.