‘ The Blood Brothers ‘
Cast : David Chiang, Ti Lung, Chen Kuan-tai, Li Ching
Director : Chang Cheh
Synopsis
A sensational scandal of the Qing Dynasty !
During the chaos of the decade long civil war, three sworn brothers had joined a gang of bandits, formed their own army and laid down their lives for victory on the battlefield. When the ambitious eldest brother offered his service to the Qing and became a provincial governor, their brotherhood was put to a test ….
An epic tale of brotherhood, honor, betrayal and revenge ! Solid performances from all the leads especially Ti Lung who won himself a Golden Horse Award with his treacherous role in this movie.
Rating : 4 stars of 5
2 comments:
Ti Lung in his first treacherous role. He went over dead bodies just to achieve his desire, not exactly a role model. David Chiang's vengeance was justified. Honestly speaking,Ti Lung looked too honest and innocent to portray such a merciless person, but as the saying goes "never judge a book by its cover..."
Wow, what a movie! Stimulating and fearless martial arts choreography teamed up with overwrought scripts.
Ti Lung's villainous portrayal isn't very convincing. In fact, he's slightly wooden with his facial expressions in spite of the fact that he's an excellent fighter with his real punches and deadly kicks!
David, however, has an easy, assured manner that bordered on the sardonic, i.e. 'being a busybody' and sadly, created a problem of confused loyalties between 3 of them. Still, I think his acting performance outshines his 2 other contemporaries.
Chan Kuan Tai, the hero I looked up to in "The Boxer From Shantung", has come as something of a shock to me in this film. He appears wiry, less macho and makes a mockery of his portrayal as an insensitive, possessive womanizer!
Ching Li, on the other hand, is a sweet, naive and good-hearted married woman at the beginning. However, as the story advances, she succumbs to a brief storm of feminine emotion.......falling so hard and so fast for Ti Lung till the whole incident spirals out of control which leads to tragic finale!
In the end, 3 big heroes died because of the helpless lady. Just not fair! The injustice of that seared my soul.
Post a Comment