The Himalayan

 

Director: Wong Fung
Year: 1976
Rating: 7.5


Dubbed.

What a very nice surprise this 1976 kung-fu film turned out to be. Even though there is really not a huge amount of action – and Angela Mao is only in one lengthy fight – the production values are terrific and the story is complex enough to be involving. The film was directed by Huang Feng - the man who discovered Angela and directed a few of her films - and the action choreography was from Sammo Hung – who also appears in a small role - and Han Ying-chieh. The two of them teamed up like this a few times. The old master and his protégé. And for historical purposes, let’s mention that one of the extras and stuntmen was Jackie Chan well before his eyelid operation. Some of the other minions who get involved in the action are Yuen Wah, Billy Chan and Corey Yuen. The future of Golden Harvest is here. 


The prologue states that Golden Harvest had to travel to Nepal and Tibet to find the students from the Mi School who still had the knowledge of a certain style of fighting to perform in the film. Hmmm? I am not sure what that meant as nearly all the fighting is performed by well-known actors from either HK or Taiwan, but certainly much of the film appears to have been shot in Nepal and there are some lovely scenes of the mountains and temples. In fact, one fight takes place on the steps of an ancient temple which strikes me as a bit tacky – though admittedly visually stunning. 


A splendid festival takes place in which the uncle of Angela's father is looking for a groom for her. He is played by Han Ying-chieh and the father is Kwan Shan – the father of Rosamund Kwan. A melodious Indian/Nepalese song is performed, a horse-racing contest takes place where you have to spear a live chicken at the finish line and in which Sammo participates - looking more like a pirate on the Seven Seas than anything, and there is a little friendly martial arts contest between a prospective groom and bride. That is an intriguing custom – sort of getting them prepared for married life! After the festivities are over the young man (Ling Hon) is asked if he would be willing to marry Angela. He is reluctant but his brother accepts on his behalf.  They will return later for the wedding. Ling is in love with his cousin while Dorian Tan is in love with Angela. He is a servant and has been Angela's kung-fu sparring partner since childhood but he is not of high enough status to marry her.  


The villain of the story – there always has to be one doesn’t there – is Chen Sing and he has other ideas for this happy day. He comes up with this complex plan to seize power and steal the wealth from Kwan Shan. It is his brother who has been chosen to be the groom but on the way to the wedding he kills him and replaces him with a double. The two of them get married and are fairly happy but somehow in all this time and one assumes the pleasures of the marriage bed, Angela never notices that the mark on his forehead that the dead brother had has been painted. Chen sets his devious plan in motion - he is truly evil in this one with that smile of his and willingness to kill anyone in his way. It is almost Shakespearean when it all comes crashing down. With the help of a servant/ plaything, Angela Wang (who gets topless and has a sex scene with Chen in the film) he murders his fake brother and brilliantly frames Angela for it and for having an affair with Dorian. Her father Kwan Shan is forced to sentence her to death – the method - being tied to a raft sent down the rapids!


 
Needless to say, she is rescued by Dorian and the two of them plot their revenge. First though they realize that neither has the kung-fu skills to defeat Chen and so they beg a Shaolin priest to teach them his skills that seem to comprise primarily of  . . . breath control. Yes that deadly weapon – breath control! So the two of them spend hours trudging up and down a hill carrying a load of rocks - and blowing against a piece of paper. Finally, Angela is able to blow a hole through the paper and blow out a row of candles - and they feel that they are ready to take on Chen! It’s great for party tricks but I don’t really see how this prepared them for a fight to the death. Strangely enough though, this blowing ability does come in handy in a very odd wonderful way during the final fight.


This last fight is terrific and extended and Sammo gets involved as a minion of Chen beating up the elderly Kwan Shan which just felt cruel. Both Angela and Tan Tao show some stunning moves – Tan Tao is a terrific kicker and delivers a blizzard of kicks - and Angela performs a few flying kicks (one to poor Sammo) that are amazing.  Overall this is an excellent film though a lot more fighting from Angela would have been welcome and the training period goes on for too long. There were a number of other smaller fights as well. A lovely one between Chan Sing and a blackmailer played by Tony Lou Chun-ku on the high steep steps of this gorgeous temple and the blackmailer rolls down every one of them. The final freeze frame of the film is a bit of a slap in the face – almost a social indictment of the class structure. A good mix of drama and action and fabulous location shooting.