The Sword of Many Loves
Reviewed by YTSL
What is this film other than a romance-rich fantasy
(whose protagonist, a swordsman essayed by Leon Lai, falls for a mysterious
character played by Cheung Man and is coveted by an expert poisoner portrayed
by Michelle Reis)? I don't know, and -- I would wager -- neither do
the makers of this 1993 movie. For the most part, with its various
pig jokes, sexual innuendoes and fights involving watermelons, malt sugar
and all sorts of poisons (some of which bring about incredible physical reactions)
along with more conventional weapons, it does play like a good-natured parody
of the often visually astounding swordplay dramas that were the rage in Hong
Kong for far too short a while. However, it should be pointed out that
this work also has its share of unsettling scenes (e.g., a rape, a massacre
of a wedding party, at least one decapitation, and the killing of a child
by his mother, followed by -- I am NOT kidding... -- her using her bare hands
to bloodily investigate the contents of his stomach [to prove a point she
cares about but not that many others do]).
Which is the titled THE SWORD OF MANY LOVE(R)S? Again, I don't know
this answer; and wonder whether there really is one in light of the film's
Chinese title being -- the very different -- "Flying Fox Story". But
then, I also would have trouble deciding who is a or the Flying Fox of the
often disjointed story I saw unfold over the course of this rather strange
-- to say the least -- and surely not particularly well edited movie!
Still, I have to be honest and say that I really don't care too much and
actually enjoyed viewing this film even though it is unquestionably uneven,
quite puzzling and often silly. This is not least because THE SWORD
OF MANY LOVE(R)S is absolutely chock-full of: Incredibly weird characters
(including a master villain -- who more than one person wants dead -- who
is as prone to kiss as reprimand his horribly spoilt heir and a scorpion-eating,
underground-burrowing dwarf who later gets poisoned and dies after his bones
outgrow the rest of him); imaginative elements (including a fight that takes
place inside of a well in the middle of a sandstorm); and attractive moments
(notably those involving Leon Lai, Cheung Man and malt sugar as well as Cheung
Man, Michelle Reis and a single bathtub).
Then there are the side-splittingly funny -- especially when you know their
context -- lines which pepper this offering and include the following:
"You are to marry me and be my sex slave" (Michelle Reis' character to Leon
Lai's); "You are indeed the world's lewdest man" (Cheung Man to Leon Lai);
and "Why did you fancy my sword and my girls?" (Elvis Tsui's evil character
to his arguably more morally corrupt son). To top it off, there's the
inadvertently hysterics-inducing typo that transformed a sought-after medical
manual into "medical manure" along with the well meaning -- but not easily
culturally (not just linguistically) translatable -- "may you be happy in
hell" (N.B. It ought to borne in mind that the Chinese vision of hell is
one where dead people can use hell monetary notes -- burnt as offerings by
their living relatives and friends -- to bribe that domain's as-apt-to-be-corrupt-as-those-on-earth's
officials)!
If you are the kind of person who requires a large dollop of logic with everything
(even entertainment) and hate watching people bouncing and flying like there's
no tomorrow as well as swelling up, breaking out in spots, howling like wolves
and such like, this production -- whose ending was apparently deliberately
left open for a (never made) sequel -- is one to definitely stay far away
from. However, should you possess the kind sense of humor well served
by many a Hong Kong movie or have a particular appreciation of the kind of
visual treats that wuxia fantasies often provide, this admittedly flawed
-- yet far from entirely spoilt -- work ought to be worth checking out at
some point. And for those who fall into the latter two categories plus
find at least one of the trio of Leon Lai, Cheung Man and Michelle Reis to
be rather delectable, THE SWORD OF MANY LOVER(S) should provide quite a bit
of viewing pleasure.
My rating for the film: 7.