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Richard James Havis

On paper, a filmic marriage between Tsui Hark and King Hu seemed like a good idea.
With films like A Touch of Zen, Hu had created the template for the innovative approach to wuxia films that Tsui wanted to employ in the early 1990s. Moreover, Tsui had often said that Hu had been a major influence on his style.
Unfortunately, their attempt at a collaboration quickly fell into ruin. Tsui invited Hu to direct Swordsman, his 1990 adaptation of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, a 1967 wuxia novel by Jin Yong (real name Louis Cha Leung-yung).
Hu lasted just a month before resigning, being fired, or simply being edged out of the production – the details of what happened remain fuzzy.


Tsui, who was producing the film, directed some of the scenes himself, and used four other directors – martial arts choreographer and director Tony Ching Siu-tung, Ann Hui On-wah, Raymond Lee Wai-man, and Andrew Kam Yeung-wah.
Rather than ending up a mess, the resulting film was a big success. Audiences were intrigued by Tsui’s innovative approach to wuxia, and the film launched a wave of new-style fantasy martial arts films which dominated Hong Kong screens in the early 1990s.
Although the film’s more provocative sequel Swordsman II gets all the glory today – it relaunched the career of romantic actress Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia as an action heroine, and brought gender-bending roles to the forefront of Hong Kong cinema – it was the original Swordsman that started the ball rolling.
Rick Baker and Toby Russell noted in 1993: “Employing the now familiar swooping camera flights, up-shots and tilted camera angles, trailblazing SFX, and atmospheric use of outdoor locations, the filmmakers forged a new look for the swordplay film which could not be ignored.”

The Post critic realised that he had seen something groundbreaking, although he wasn’t sure whether it would catch on.
“The characters battle each other every step of the way, with the heroes and villains flying through the air and flashing swords with the grace and ease characteristic of this genre, once a staple of Chinese cinema though all but extinct during the past decade,” the Post’s review said.
“Whether or not Swordsman revives the swordplay drama remains to be seen.”
The source novel by Cha was a sprawling work which was originally published as a serial between 1967 and 1969 in the Ming Pao newspaper. The lengthy novel features multiple characters, plot lines and locations.

When Tsui suggested the idea to his backers, they advised him not to do it, as they felt it was unfilmable, noting that the 1978 Shaw Brothers production The Proud Youth had not been a success.
They felt it was more suited to television, which could accommodate more of the story because of its lengthier series format. Hong Kong broadcaster TVB had shot the novel for television in 1984, with Chow Yun-fat playing the hero, Ling-wu Chung.
The film’s story, which is loosely adapted from Cha’s book, is certainly difficult to follow on the first viewing, although it proves a rewarding watch second time around.
The novel was so well known to Hong Kong viewers that the filmmakers assumed they already knew the story, and focused on the action rather than plot details.
“Those who have not read the original novel will find it difficult to keep track of the numerous characters or figure out just who was battling whom,” said the Post. “While the numerous action scenes are imaginatively staged, and taken individually are quite breathtaking, there are too many of them to sustain one’s interest.”

The film revolves around the search for a Buddhist scroll which gives the bearer powers of telekinesis and teleportation. The main character is the carefree Ling-wu Chung (Cantopop legend Sam Hui Koon-kit) who, with his sidekick, the cross-dressing Kiddo (Cecilia Yip Tung), is drawn into a conflict between various martial arts schools and officials.
The story rattles along at a fast clip, featuring some stand-out action sequences, such as a fight in which a sailing boat gets completely destroyed.
The fights are fascinating, as they employ Tsui’s characteristic fast cuts and Ching Siu-tung’s wirework and explosions but use more traditional forms of kung fu – Jet Li Lianjie’s flashy wushu style had yet to make an appearance in Tsui’s films.
The movie was originally meant to star Lin, whose turn as the bisexual hermaphrodite Sun and Moon sect leader in part two turned the series into a cultural phenomenon.

Lin’s supporting role in Tsui’s Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain (1983) had inspired him to make a martial arts film with her, and Swordsman was to be that movie. But while writing the script, her character Invincible Asia was excised.
“For Swordsman I, I was writing all the characters on a big white board, and we were discussing how we were going to cut the story into pieces and tell the story in an interesting way,” Tsui said.
“And it suddenly got to the point where we don’t have Brigitte Lin at all. I cannot leave the character in, as she is so powerful – the role is too powerful to be just part of the whole story, she has to be the focus of the whole story.”
So what of the other missing persons, King Hu? In an interview with film historian Law Kar, Ann Hui said Hu had called her and asked her to help out, as the producers had wanted him to finish the film quickly, in a month. Hui worked on the shoot for 20 days.

“When Ann turned up she saw that conditions were in turmoil, and matters were so confused that, even to this day, she can’t work out what happened,” Law wrote.
“On the second day of the shoot, Tsui announced to the press he was one of the directors … later Ann learned that King had disputes with Tsui, and that Tsui and Ching Siu-tung took over the project and reshot practically the whole film,” Law wrote.
Hui said that none of her or Hu’s shots were used, but the Ming dynasty costume designs, the idea of using the Miao people, and some of the set designs “seen in long shots” were Hu’s work.
Although the film bears few of Hu’s hallmarks, his younger admirers had made “a homage to his style, motifs and favourite dynastic period (the Ming),” critic Stephen Teo surmised.
In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the careers of its greatest stars, and revisit some of the lesser-known aspects of the beloved industry.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook


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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Sam Hui Koon-kit as Ling-wu Chung in a still from Tsui Hark’s Swordsman (1990), the film adaptation of a Louis Cha wuxia novel that launched and era of fantasy martial arts cinema in Hong Kong. Photo: Fortune Star Media

Cecilia Yip Tung as Kiddo in a still from Swordsman (1990). Photo: Fortune Star Media

Lau Shun in a still from Swordsman (1990). Photo: Fortune Star Media

Sharla Cheung Man in a still from Swordsman (1990). Photo: Fortune Star Media

Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia in a still from Swordsman II (1992). Photo: Golden Princess Film Production

Cecilia Yip Tung as Kiddo and Sam Hui Koon-kit as Ling-wu Chung in a still from Swordsman (1990). Photo: Fortune Star Media

Lam Ching-ying and Sammo Hung in a still from Painted Faces. Photo: Celestial Pictures

Sammo Hung (seated) plays his mentor, Peking opera master Yu Jim-yuen, in a still from the 1988 film Painted Faces. Photo: Golden Harvest

Yu Jim-yuen (front) celebrates his birthday in 1988 with former students including Sammo Hung (front row, second from right). Photo: Sing Pao

A still from Painted Faces. Photo: Celestial Pictures

Alex Law and Mabel Cheung at an interview with the Post in 2009. Photo: SCMP

Buzz Chung played the young protagonist in Echoes of the Rainbow (2010). Photo: Handout

Some scenes in the film recalled a performance by Yu Jim-yuen and his students at the Lai Yuen Amusement Park, in Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong (pictured in 1972). Photo: SCMP

Cheng Pei-pei in a still from Painted Faces. Cheng had not acted in films since the early 1970s before appearing in Painted Faces. 

Lam Ching-ying (left) and Sammo Hung in a still from Painted Faces. Photo: Celestial Pictures

Donnie Yen as Wukong? Notable Monkey King adaptations in contemporary Hong Kong cinema

Donnie Yen as Monkey King in a still from The Monkey King (2014).

Aaron Kwok in The Monkey King 3 (2018), one of several notable adaptations of the Chinese classic Journey to the West by Hong Kong filmmakers.

A screenshot from the Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong. Photo: Game Science

Stephen Chow (left) as Monkey King in a still from A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella (1995).

Chow Yun-Fat as the Jade Emperor in a still from The Monkey King.

Aaron Kwok (left) and William Feng play the Monkey King and his master in The Monkey King 2.

8 classic Hong Kong movies that changed the course of filmmaking in the city

Ricky Hui Koon-ying (left) and Michael Hui Koon-man in a still from The Private Eyes.

Bruce Lee in a still from Fist of Fury (1972), one of eight films we examine that changed Hong Kong filmmaking. Photo: Hong Kong Film Archive

Patrick Tse Yin (centre) in a still from Story of a Discharged Prisoner.

Lisa Lu Yan in a still from The Arch, a bona fide art-house film in the European style.

Callan Leung in a still from Jumping Ash, which changed the Hong Kong police film genre forever.

Lee Yue-tin (left) and Shi Lei in a still from Father and Son.

3 of John Woo’s lesser known action films, from gory war film to Hitchcock-inspired comedy

Cherie Chung, Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun-fat in a still from Once a Thief, one of John Woo’s more obscure action films. Photo: Fortune Star Media Limited

Eddy Ko (front) in a still from Heroes Shed No Tears (1984).

Woo in an interview with the Post in 1989. Photo: SCMP

Chen Kuan-tai (left) and Danny Lee in a still from Just Heroes (1989).

Leslie Cheung (left) and Chow Yun-fat in a still from Once a Thief (1991). Photo: Fortune Star Media Limited

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Tsui Hark’s 1990 Hong Kong film Swordsman was a long and rambling affair that was difficult to follow, yet it was a resounding success


Tsui Hark’s 1990 Hong Kong film Swordsman was a long and rambling affair that was difficult to follow, yet it was a resounding success.
