| 'The Knight of Knights' (1966) is an exciting wu xia pian swordplay kung fu film directed by Hsieh Chun, penned by Chang Cheh (that may explain the ultra-violence in the film), and made in the wake of films like 'Come Drink With Me' (among others). Chiao Chuang is Wen Su Chen, a noble swordsman who travels under the disguise of pretentious scholar Wu Shiying, with the aid of two apprentices (they're actually sidekicks). In the Jinnan area, a series of bizarre crimes are taking place near the Zhaoqing Temple: men and women on the street are mysteriously vanishing! When Wen Su Chen's comrades-in-arms are slaughtered one-by-one (one of them is played by a young Chen Hung Lien; he was Jade Faced Tiger in 'Come Drink With Me', only here, he's a protagonist, for a change) by rotten-to-the-core monks from Zhaoqing Temple, he conducts an investigation. When the evil monks, led by Abbot Minkong, must be stopped, Wu Su Chen and his allies plan to vanquish these nefarious antagonists.
The villains in 'Knight of Knights' are straight-forward bad guys; the filmmakers make no attempts to humanize them. For Li Ching fans, like me, she briefly appears as a young woman who gets captured by the Zhaoqing monks and Wen Su Chen saves her, her brother, and her sister-in-law. Ku Feng appears as Carpenter Yan, Li Ching's on-screen brother. If I am not mistaken, a young Lily Li also co-stars. Lily Ho/He Li Li appears as a government official's daughter and a potential love interest to Wen Su Chen. There seems to be a small continuity problem: Lily Ho gets tossed into the ocean, Wen Su Chen saves her from getting raped by a corrupt official, and he gives her some privacy when she changes from wet clothes to dry ones. Lily Ho may have used a body double in this scene where her character is nude. At the time, Lily Ho was lean and when we see pans of her body double, she looks...ahem..."well-fed". Oh, well! What does it matter? The swordplay battles, for a 1960's HK film, are well-staged and dynamic. The pagoda that's rigged to collapse and the trap door with the pit of fire underneath are some nice touches of detail in the story. Even the art direction is neat: the elevator behind the closet door, for example.
The violence in 'Knight of Knights' does get a little over-the-top, at times, but it's kind of tame compared to the likes of 'The One-Armed Swordsman' trilogy or 'Five Element Ninja'. 'The Knight of Knights' is 88 minutes (the version I saw was played at PAL speed on a NTSC DVD) of action-packed, visceral adventure. Enjoy! |
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