“I have been around and it’s only here that I
meet real heroes.”
The
tranquillity of a remote coastal town is rudely disturbed by the arrival of bandits
who demand that local silversmith Wei Ming-hui opens a stolen safe. When he
refuses, they threaten to kill some of the villagers. Five men – a thief, a
drunk, a woodcutter, a kung-fu acrobat and Wei – face a quandary. Should they
avoid confrontation or fight to save the village?
Bruce
Lee, the most revered practitioner of cinematic martial arts, once said,
“Simplicity is the key to brilliance,” and Chang Cheh’s unembellished approach to
this action drama bears testament to such wisdom. Relinquishing the baroque
elements often associated with his work – see Five Venoms and the fantastical Five
Element Ninjas – the director instead lays bare all too human behaviours – tyranny
and cowardice on the one hand, selfless courage on the other – resulting in a
more emotive experience. Fans of taut B-westerns will be familiar with the
scenario here – the premise is comparative to that of Day of the Outlaw with echoes of The Magnificent Seven – and the use of Morricone musical cues adds further
links to the genre.
The
director paints a leisurely scene of a placid, unassuming settlement in which the
rule of calm and reason is torn asunder by whip-wielding bandits, led by
jut-jawed Liang Shan (Tao Chiang). Weighed against the general boorishness of
the bandits are the five who will eventually risk their lives. David Chiang’s
is the most charismatic presence as wastrel Cheng. Impish and seemingly a
coward, he goads the others into action; later his largely enigmatic nature is
revealed to be a cloak hiding his true identity – and deadly nature.
He
heads a fine cast of Shaw regulars who downplay their skill and suggest more
vulnerability than usual. Chiang’s frequent co-star Ti Lung plays Fang, a
ne’er-do-well who would rather drunkenly woo inn-worker San Niang-tzu (Ping
Ping Wang) than earn a living alongside the woodcutter Ma Tao. Fang, however,
is the first to rise to Cheng’s taunts and determines to save the ailing kung-fu
expert Yao Kuang, who has been captured by the bandits. A young Danny Lee – more
familiar to western audiences as Chow Yun Fat’s co-star in The Killer and City on Fire
– gives a good account of himself as Wei, the defiant silversmith.
Though
the film is not as gory as some of the studio’s output, there are still plenty
of sadistic games for the bandits to revel in. Fang and Ma Tao are tethered to
a cart like oxen and must pull it while being whipped. Later, villagers are
tied to posts and threatened with death when the shadow of the posts moves an
inch. It’s the increasing atmosphere of imperilment faced by the villagers that
prompts the titular heroes to launch their primary attack. It’s decisive and
bloody. Cheng (Chiang demonstrating his considerable dexterity) jumps into the
bandits’ headquarters with feline agility while Ma Tao launches a relentless
attack with his axe. This assault, and the vigilante retribution that follows, is
cut short when the bandits’ mop-topped leader arrives, armed with a pistol,
forcing the five to contemplate their next move. The explosive and heroic
finale sees the sickly Yao Kuang lead the charge while Cheng’s brutal style
contrasts with the elegance of Fang’s.
The
air of chivalry and heroic self-sacrifice is bolstered by an apt use of
Morricone soundtracks. Music from The Return
of Ringo, while Ma Tao rhythmically chops wood, accents the anguish experienced
by the quintet when they gather to wait for sounds of the villagers’ fate. In a
particularly bleak interlude, after being raped by the bandits to spare the
dignity of younger girls, Niang-Tzu returns to her house. Her solitude is underscored
by cues from Death Rides a Horse while
the camera focuses on her expression, the trauma she’s endured writ large; it’s
her selflessness that inspires the will to fight in her five friends. The same musical
cue is repeated, instilling a similar depth of pathos, after the final bloody
battle, when the villagers are left to count those that survived and honour those
that didn’t.
Clark Hodgkiss
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