Broken Oath
This is simply one of Angela Mao’s best films.
It has some of her very best fight choreography, a great revenge oriented
plot (borrowed admittedly from the Japanese film Lady Snowbird) and an
intensity that few of her films have equaled.
Her father murdered by four traitors and her mother
framed and sentenced to jail, Angela is born in prison. As her mother dies
in childbirth, her last words to her fellow prisoners are to tell her daughter
to gain revenge on her father’s killers. As a baby she is placed with a
Buddhist nunnery (though for some reason she is the only one with her head
unshaven!).
As she grows up, she has a burning anger and hatred
inside her that she can’t explain. When three men attempt to rape her,
she kills them with pure savagery and tells the abbot “something in me
urges me to kill”. The monastery asks her to leave, but also finally
tells her about the story of her parents. Needless to say – she immediately
seeks to find the men and gain revenge. A pickpocket and her pet killer
scorpions come along to assist her.
Angela tracks them down one by one – in a gambling
parlor, in a brothel and finally at a well guarded home. With the use of
sword, staff, knives, her scorpions and other implements of death, she
takes them down. The choreography is excellent – Angela is incredibly graceful
and powerful and has rarely looked so quick with her leg thrusts.
The final fight against the strongest of the four
enemies and his henchmen goes on for nearly 20-minutes and is wonderful.
One of his henchmen is Sammo Hung and he duels Angela in a lengthy fight.
She goes up against a number of men all hidden behind masks and they slowly
wear her down with sword cuts to her body. Does she have enough left to
gain her final revenge?
This film is considered a classic for good reasons
as Angela dominates it completely with her personality, charisma and fighting
skills. This was Angela's last film for Golden Harvest.
