| As I understand it, this film was the first in the new wave of films that made HK the leading world film center in the 80s to mid 90s. As such it could be reviewed in several ways. As a messenger of what was to come, or for a westerner how it appears today. For those who have not seen it, it can be summed up as a murder mystery probably inspired by the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson with the highly intelligent scholar and the everyman, or in this case everywoman Green Dragon. In these terms it works very effectively today, as it did when it was made, and is timeless and will always be a great murder mystery story.
But as I noted above, it is more than that. It is the first of many and can only be understood in those terms with some knowledge of the HK films that both preceded and followed it. I have read that it was not well received in HK at the time, and this is understandable. Just about every aspect of the film is a break with the past--from the fast moving camerawork, the realistic lighting, the settings, particularly the use of location shots, and especially the characters. In particular the central character of the scholar who is neither effeminate nor a martial arts expert (see 60s films where the scholar is played by a woman for the former and 70s films for the latter). To my mind the aspects of the film that sadly did not carry into subsequent films are the quirky camera angles, the strong non-fighting central character, and the realistic plot (think "The East Is Red" for the opposite of that and martial arts experts jumping 30 feet in the air).
Why not 5 stars? Well there are two endings to the film. When the scholar solves the case and leaves, which is the natural ending, and what looks like a cop out by adding five minutes of unnecessary martial arts to the actual ending. A great film and totally to be recommended after the first showing, I always stop it when the scholar leaves |
