Butterfly and Sword
Michelle Yeoh takes a stab at the kung fu flying
fantasy genre with a film that is amazing at times but is not completely
satisfying. Some of the action scenes are startlingly brilliant,
almost beautiful at moments and the flying looks effortless. Certainly
a cast of Michelle, Donnie Yen, Joey Wong and Tony Leung is worth a visit,
but the movie never clicks on an emotional level. It is a film that sometimes
flies but often plods along. When the characters are not flying or fighting,
the director seems to have no idea what to do with them.
Though the plot is a bit confusing and almost
unimportant, it is about some friends (Michelle, Donnie and Tony) who grow
up together from childhood to become martial arts masters (though we never
have any idea how this transformation took place). One day they are homeless
kids, then masters of the art of killing. They are ordered to get a letter
from another martial arts clan. There is also time spent needlessly following
a bit of a love quadrangle between the characters. Donnie loves Michelle
who loves Tony who loves Joey. Well, at least Donnie gets Michelle in Wing
Chun!
My favorite scenes are when Michelle makes her
first appearance in a carriage in which the runners are floating in the
air. It's a magical scene. Then later when Michelle uses Tony as an arrow
to literally go through the enemy is quite amazing. This is a film that
could have been a classic perhaps if they had spent more time developing
a plot and made the heroes more likable. Though we know we are suppose
to root for the trio, we really are given no reason to. By the way if you
just want to see the action scenes – go to the end credits where they are
all replayed!
My rating for this film: 7.5
Reviewed by YTSL
It might well be so that a primary cause of
my considering what has been succinctly described as "[p]leasant, adroit,
completely generic" (by Howard Hampton in Fredric Dannen and Barry Long's
"Hong Kong Babylon" book) to be more special than others do is that it
was the first "new wave" "wuxia" production I ever saw (first in home video
format; and now -- as of a few days ago -- on the big screen). Whatever
the reason, I must admit to still thinking that although it is not as visually
stunning and imaginative as certain others of its type, it might well be
the best introduction that most people can have to that which may be best
described as swordplay fantasy dramas (although they also tend to contain
dollops of comedy, sprinklings of horror and infusions of romance).
BUTTERFLY AND SWORD contains many elements that
I (now) realize are entirely typical of the type of Hong Kong movie(s)
which I really like. Viewed from a certain perspective, a strong case can
be made for the film's makers having sought to ensure that it combines
and possesses ALL of the representative portions of the supposedly historical,
often supernatural, action epics churned out for a too short period of
time. Put more specifically, this 1993 effort has in it: Rival martial
arts factions; an evil eunuch; a sought after piece of paper; people who
love those who have set their hearts on others; metaphor-laced conversations;
the use of otherwise ordinary objects rather than just swords or even bare-knuckled
fists as amazingly deadly weapons; a fairly complicated (some might say
confusing) plot; and -- of course -- flying people galore.
Even this fan of it must admit that BUTTERFLY
AND SWORD can feel somewhat formulaic in parts. It also is rather
obvious that it was not made with as ample a budget or on a scale and with
a color scheme to really rival that of such as "Swordsman II" and "The
Bride with White Hair". This movie further is hardly distinguished
by its director not seeming to have unequivocally decided what ought to
be the production's chief focus plus who should be its most sympathetic
character. Re the former: Is it the fighting or the romance(s)
(The film's prologue and end-song -- English translations of which can
be found here
and here
appear to indicate that it is the matters of the
heart. But the amount of effort and time which look to have been
lovingly lavished on staging and filming certain of the movie's Ching Siu
Tung-choreographed fight scenes seem to point to it being otherwise)?
Re the latter: Is it Butterfly, one of the two main swordsmen in
the film or the head of their "Happy Forest" band and their (honorary older)
Sister Ko?
I would argue though that what this offering lacks
in sheer spectacle and drive is made up to a large extent by its having
more (sense of) humanity. To my mind, BUTTERFLY AND SWORD also benefits
a great deal from its possession of a capable cast, led by four individuals
whose contributions to Hong Kong cinema ought not to be underestimated.
Joey Wong (the star of "A Chinese Ghost Story" and a memorable presence
in "The East is Red") endows the Butterfly title role with so much charm
that conversations which involve bras, underpants, farting and pigs brains
actually seem amusing rather than utterly ridiculous or uncalled for.
As Meng Sing Wan, Tony Leung Chiu Wai is equally effective in scenes that
involve comedy, tragedy, heroic poses and human emotion; amply showing
once more why he's (already) a two time "best actor" as well as double
"best supporting actor" winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards. And
Donnie Yen (who was a worthy foe for Jet Li in "Once Upon a Time in China
II" and Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Kar Fai in "Dragon Inn")
makes the character of Yip Cheung simultaneously sweet as well as
pathetic and understandable as someone who is great in battle but a loser
in love.
With regards to the film's lead actress:
Her acrobatics in the bamboo forest alone should suffice to give credence
to my opinion that to watch Michelle Yeoh in martial artistic action is
to behold an amazing combination of balletic grace, lethal prowess, suppleness
of body and beauty in motion. And while it is true that she does
not perform as dangerous stunts in this wire-fu spectacle as in "Police
Story III: Supercop" and this ensemble piece is not a showcase of her talent(s)
like with "Wing Chun", IMHO, the role of Sister Ko is the most complex
-- and morally ambiguous -- one that the woman who was accorded the nickname
of "Princess Michelle" on the set of "Tomorrow Never Dies" has been awarded
thus far. Accordingly, it is the one which most amply allows her
to display her not inconsiderable acting -- and not just in fight scenes
-- ability (I have a feeling though that this is the last as well as first
time in which she will be singing the theme song of a movie!).
Others whose performances help make this, then,
entirely respectable offering into entertaining and enthralling fare for
me include: Jimmy Lin, whose Prince Cha may be light-weight in character
but whose "ball-fu"(!) is certainly striking and fun to watch; and the
actor who took the deceptive form of the elderly eunuch. Then there
are the child actors who played the young Sister Ko, Sing, Yip, Ho Ching
and the other members of what has come to be labeled as "the Gang of Fatty"!
It surely is a credit to them that thus far in my Hong Kong movie viewing,
the "childhood flashback" scenes in this film are some of the most (independently)
noteworthy and engaging as well as spirited.
My rating for the film: 9.0