Criterion
Original Release Date
Written by Koan Hui, Hark Tsui
Directed by Hark Tsui
Starring Wenzhuo Zhao, Sonny Su, Xiong Xinxin, Moses Chan, Austin Wai
Language Cantonese (English subtitles available)
Purchase your copy HERE from Criterion or HERE from Diabolik
by "Doc" Hunter Bush,
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast
The Movie: Excellent
The Blade is a complex story involving Siu Ling (Sonny Su) the daughter of a legendary blacksmith, who dreams of a love triangle involving two of his apprentices, Iron Head (Moses Chan) and the orphaned Ding On (Wenzhuo Zhao) who was raised by her father. Ding On and Iron Head draw unwanted attention from a clan of troublemaking hunters at the same time as Ding On finds out details about the death of his bio-dad and the origins of the Broken Blade, the school's lucky charm, and sets off on a journey to find his father's killer. This quest will cost Ding On his arm, before ending in a massive, blood-soaked final confrontation that will put the blacksmithing school, called the Refined Blade, in jeopardy.
Director Hark Tsui is a filmmaker who plays in many genres and styles. In The Blade, he and co-writer Koan Hui approach the wuxia genre, and specifically the concept of jianghu, from the perspective of cinéma vérité. If you aren't inherently familiar with any of those terms, worry not: I am here to help. In brief, wuxia is the term for Chinese martial arts stories taking place in a semi-fictional version of ancient China, built primarily around chivalry. That chivalry is known as jianghu, and it informs the fantastical world around it, one of wandering masterless martial artists or clans of warriors capable of defying physics through sheer will power and endless training. Cinéma vérité on the other hand is a filmmaking approach akin to a documentary, which does away with traditional blocking and preparation.
With this in mind, the script for The Blade was written without specific dialogue, instead describing a character's feelings about the topic at hand, and allowing the actors to fill in the details and specifics through the interaction and make it their own. Allegedly, according to one of the special features, the script would also say things like "They fight.", then let the martial arts team work out the specifics. Obviously, they didn't show up on the day with no plan, but they were allowed to conceive of exactly how they would be performing.
Similarly, the camerawork is very loose. Much of the film is shot from a greater-than-usual remove, a wider scope allowing the director and the camera operators to pick out actions or moments happening in an attempt at a greater feeling of spontaneity. This leads to what could be called "imperfections" in the filmmaking; characters standing up out of frame, cameras forced to refocus mid-scene when something unexpected happens, shots occasionally drifting to random objects as, presumably, camera operators become distracted by all the chaos happening on-set. Interestingly, The Betrayal (1966), a more traditional and formal samurai film, builds to a climactic sword rampage that is also largely shot in long takes and from a distance. I imagine that was for different reasons, but the stylistic parallels are worth ruminating on.
That style also leads to some incredibly kinetic edits. Because there are no traditional master shots (the structural part of a scene designed to cover most of the action while allowing for specific additional shots to be edited in), the editing can feel jarring, especially in the action sequences, which are also filled with sudden crash zooms (both in and out) in an attempt to capture all the relevant moments. Interestingly, it approaches something like the high stylization of Sam Raimi's peak genre camerawork. This end result is maybe the antithesis of the pure ethos of cinéma vérité, but still creates a breathless quality. You feel like there's almost too much going on to notice all of it, because there is. Instead of a carefully choreographed martial arts opera (which Hark Tsui has also done), The Blade captures a chaos that most martial arts films, but especially of the wuxia variety, typically lack.
The Packaging: Good
This is your pretty typical Criterion release: slightly larger clear plastic case, with a double-sided cover. The front-facing illustration, by artist Oliver Barrett, is minimalist but full of detail: Ding On, mid-battle, clutching the Broken Blade in his hand, rendered in high contrast shadow and highlighted with kinetic red and black lines on a stark white background. The reverse is the character for 'blade' in red on a black background. A booklet, featuring an essay from screenwriter and author Lisa Morton, which provides a lot of context for where The Blade falls in Hark Tsui's career, sits opposite the two discs.
While I like the illustration and presentation, it led me to anticipate a much more formal film. The world between The Blade's title screen and closing credits is vibrant, messy, colorful, and saturated with emotion! But maybe this is a bonus, a bit of misdirection, whether intentional or unintentional, that allows the unique depiction of the world to sneak up on you.
The Audio + Video: Excellent
I was shocked to realize that The Blade is 30 years old. It wasn't until I saw the English language trailer (included in the bonus features) and I was hit with an incredibly vivid memory: being a kid, sitting on the rug in front of the TV on many Saturday afternoons in the '90s, watching martial arts movies from the '60s & '70s on public access. The Blade's trailer had all the same qualities: the too-crisp and too compressed dub, a little faded, but full of wonder, action, and justice. I was already a fan of Criterion's restoration of The Blade, but being able to contrast it with how the film looked before is a real revelation.
But don't be misled: almost by design, it's an imperfect film. The sort of catch-as-catch-can nature of the filming means there are sequences that are improperly focused. They aren't long, but they are present. In the context, the cinematic world Hark Tsui and his team have constructed, those imperfections make everything feel more alive, more real. If you'll allow me a joke, it's a bit like jazz: you have to appreciate the focus they're not pulling.
That, and other similar byproducts of this semi-vérité shooting style aside, The Blade is gorgeous to look at. The world is full of color, like the mercenaries led by Flying Dragon (Xiong Xinxin) who wear cloaks that appear to be almost black and orange tie-dye? I loved that detail and I fully intend to steal it for a detail in a future Dungeons and Dragons campaign. There are also incredible montages which utilize semi-abstract visuals and very pulpy editing techniques and end up with something akin to Evil Dead II (1987) meets House (1977).
The film's score, by Raymond Wong and William Yu, is pretty minimal for the most part. Pieces will frequently utilize very few instruments, focusing on a single melody or percussive rhythm to signify an emotional tone or impending danger. The most elaborate piece that I can think of plays during the flashback where Ding On learns about his origins. It has multiple movements and makes full use of the available instruments. It, or something like it, returns later when Ding On reveals that he has learned to fight with only one arm, appropriately conveying the triumph he feels in that moment. I utilize a three-channel soundbar and had very few issues with clarity or volume. There are some very deep, base-y drums at times that would briefly rattle my soundbar, but that's it.
Special Features: Good
This is a very solid bonus features package. There is an hour-long making-of featurette (Action Et Vérité) that's full of straight from the horses' mouths insight into the process, the vérité concept, and the highs and lows of the entire endeavor. It's genuinely fascinating, even if there are some repetitive moments. The featurette The Edges of Wuxia gives a much more insightful introduction to the concepts of wuxia and jianghu than I did above, and I recommend giving it a watch before putting on the film proper because the concept of jianghu is a running motivation within the narrative. It's not exactly top tier important, but you might be left scratching your head if you're a bit fuzzy on what exactly it is.
- Commentary track with Hong Kong cinema expert Frank Djeng
- Action Et Vérité (58:46)
- The Edges of Wuxia (10:51)
- Tsui Hark (10:56)
- International-Version Titles (2:15)
- English-Dubbed Trailer (2:08)
In Summary: Must Own
If you're a fan of martial arts films at all, or perhaps are interested in rare use cases for a cinéma vérité approach, The Blade is most definitely worth a look. I really enjoy Hark Tsui's works overall. There are some I enjoy more than others of course, some that I can more easily see myself rewatching. The Blade is most definitely one of those. As a fan of wuxia martial arts films, who has watched them since those halcyon days on the rug in front of the TV, I am wildly enamored with this very different approach. It feels like a new insight into a familiar fable, because as much as I like the story of The Blade, it still follows a pretty standard formula and ticks a lot of the boxes you'd expect if you're a fan of the genre. But the energy conjured via the direction is a real shot in the arm.
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