The Sword <名劍> marks the feature-length directorial debut for former TVB and Commercial Television director Patrick Tam, one of the instrumental figures who helped shape the Hong Kong New Wave era during the early-1980s.
The Sword <名劍> stars Adam Cheng as Li Mak-Jan, a young swordsman on a quest to challenge the legendary master Hua Qian-Shu (Tien Feng). En route, he encounters a young female fighter (Chui Git) as well as his old flame (JoJo Chan Kei-Kei), who is now married to a scheming swordsman Lian Huan (Norman Chu).
Just like Tsui Hark’s The Butterfly Murders <蝶變> and Johnnie To’s The Enigmatic Case <碧水寒山夺命金>, Patrick Tam’s The Sword <名劍> turns Shaw Brothers’ old-school wuxia genre inside out with a revisionist take that is both sombre and pessimistic.
But the biggest standout in this movie is Ching Siu-Tung’s terrific martial arts choreography, mixing rapid cuts and wireworks to amp up the sword-fighting scenes with enough style and vigour.
Then, there’s Adam Cheng. He is perfectly cast as an eager young swordsman whose long-awaited duel with the legendary master isn’t a mere win-or-lose situation. Instead, his nihilistic course of action only brings a bleak, yet tragic consequence.
While the overall storyline is decent at best, The Sword <名劍> remains an integral piece of filmmaking that deserved a place as one of the best and must-see Hong Kong movies of all time.
ScreenHK 