The Sword Identity

source: The Sword Identity

This is another Chinese film that had me scratching my head. The bad guys in this are the Japanese, who we never see. There is discussion and fighting among the various martial arts schools and the military as to what weapon and technique to use against the Japanese. A sword copied from the Japanese and altered in China is being promoted by one man, who is thought of as a Japanese pirate. Hence the title. The film appears to have some Chinese cultural appeaL that is not universal unless the theme is pirating from foreign countries is okay for the defense of the nation. The fighting is minimal and even the women who dress in red, found it boring. I had a hard time developing an interest in the plot. The martial arts aspect of the film is stressed in some minor fighting hints in a technique the old master calls, "Shadow and Sound." The film appears to have some Chinese cultural appeaL that is not universal unless the theme is pirating from foreign countries is okay for the defense of the nation. The fighting is minimal and even the women who dress in red, found it boring. I had a hard time developing an interest in the plot. PARENTAL GUIDE: No F-bombs, sex, or nudity. There are some scenes which imply sex is about to happen which is part of the levity.

Unlike the other reviewers I quite enjoyed this film (apart from the racist stereotypes that seems to be quite acceptable to most of the viewers in my cinema). I think if you've never studied martial arts a lot of the martial arts in this film will seem nothing but comical. I remember demonstrating to kung fu drills and sets for some neighbours when I was a kid, and instead of seeing the power in the completion of each movement, they burst into a heap of laughter. Martial arts for most requires contact with another person (or at least a dummy). From my eyes (13 years of kung fu, including a few years of teaching until injuries stopped me) the martial arts in this film was performed very well. I'd be interested to know if those who didn't like it can sit through Kill Bill or the Matrix trilogy, in which the martial arts are painfully unbelievable. The plot of the film hasn't been particularly well translated into English, including the film's English title, which should be something more akin to "the Dwarf Pirate", which is what Japanese pirates were called in China. I wonder if this has contributed to its poor ratings. Unlike other viewers, I thought the comic moments were frequently laugh-out-loud funny. The cinematography is beautiful. The acting is fine if not good. The plot is no worse than the majority of martial arts films out there. I thought if anything, I would say it is more artistic than the majority of martial arts films (that tend to have much higher budgets).

This is not your typical martial arts movie, so if you're looking for that you will likely be disappointed. This is a tale of tradition vs innovation. The directing style is also creative, reminding at times a theatre play, and injecting at other times paradoxical comedy. Some of the fights are intuited, not shown, in others most of what you see is the blade or the feet. It's worth it. It's also an incredible insight into the master's POV. KungFuCinema states "The film is beautifully shot, with a Zen-like spareness to the compositions" - and they're right! check out the review, it's worth reading. I wrote this review - the first time I ever did so - to compensate for the negs here, in my mind they just didn't get it. Yes at times it is slow-moving, yes if you are looking for action you'll have to work your way through it, but if you choose to watch it it's definitely rewarding.

This is definitely most boring recently filmed Chinese movie I've seen. No doubt about it. I also saw Flying Swords of Dragon Gate same day, and I almost gave that one a 2, just because of how bad this one is. But, no, both got a well deserved 1, as movies like this should never be created as they are waste of time and money for everybody involved, especially the viewers like me. Maybe its trend with movies based on Anime/Comics/whatever, but over the top still posing and slow moving action are NOT a good thing. I cannot imagine mentally well adjusted individuals finding crap like this movie entertaining enough to sit through it.

If you're looking for martial arts fantasy action, this is not the movie for you. In fact this movie was not meant for an international audience, or a blockbuster audience for that matter (unlike the much more extravagant productions Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger, House of Flying Daggers, or Curse of the Golden Flower, etc.). But as an artistic and philosophic film it's quite excellent. The "absurd/comical movements" one of reviewers mentioned are actually very realistic for the most part, compared to the above movies mentioned where people do completely impossible feats (they do make for nice action, yes, but that's not what this film was aiming for at all). In most other martial arts movies, what's on show is flourish, feats of fantasy, and badassery; in this movie it's a different kind of badassery -- it's simplicity and martial arts philosophy, "fighting like a true master." If you can dig that, and if you're the type of movie-goer who pays attention to and likes all the little unspoken details that, if left unnoticed, makes you lose sight of the meaning and beauty of the story, then this is something you won't want to miss. The story itself isn't even the point, it's just the vehicle. That said, viewers with some knowledge of and appreciation for historical Chinese philosophy might enjoy this more.

one of the worst Chinese martial arts movies. on second thought, perhaps the worst Chinese movie ever. horrible screenplay, scenario, dialog, directing. the only thing that might be okay to watch is the cinematography, the camera shooting angles that sometimes showed some beauty in it. this is one of the worst screenplays ever drafted by a Chinese comic writer with lot of weird so-called Chinese martial arts, the hands and the legs movement, lot of hollow and meaningless gestures dotted with sound effect to give false illusions. bad acting worsened by pretentious and ridiculous screenplay and dialog that almost affected bad acting even further to every character involved in this lousy funny movie. one thing amazed me greatly is how such terrible screenplay could still find investors to waste their money to make it into realistic production. nowadays, it seems that only brainless morons are rich.

This movie was not a martial arts epic, although the plot did revolve around the foundation of a new sword fighting school. Do not watch this movie for the action. It was an unexpectedly absurd comic film which felt more like a stage play than a screenplay. The fight scenes, such as they were, seemed more like awkward, choreographed dances, including people jumping and gasping in unison in the background. That said, I found it very enjoyable, once I got over the ridiculousness of it. The characters were likable and their motivations made sense within the film's twisted logic. The directing choices were interesting, with the backgrounds being both stark and beautiful at the same time. Many of the scenes occurred at night, further focusing the viewers attention on the characters rather than the visuals. At no point was this movie laugh out loud funny, but the director committed to the absurdity of it enough to hold my interest. I would recommend it so long as you don't enter into watching it with skewed expectations.

I found it initially long and boring like most artsy-fartsy (avant-garde) movies, but because of my knowledge in military history, it became fascinating. The cinematography is more modern than traditional kung-fu flicks. The primitive dialog and long pauses were very risky forays into the Cinéma vérité style. The scene of the four masters semi-recumbent along a table domino-style represented the solidarity and unyielding stubbornness of traditional Chinese Martial arts. It symbolized Traditionalists as unwilling to allow new weapons/fighting styles, labeling them as foreign, even though these new forms were made by their own people. The Yua Fei Dao (two-handed sword used during the 1st Dynasty Qin) was the precursor to the Chong Dao, the weapon featured in this movie. This movie was a small glimpse into the rich military history of early unified China and how Chinese weaponry adapted to the enemy and evolved with each succeeding dynasty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR7RlwSGj50

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