In 2024, it’s quite easy for cinema-going audiences to identify the Chinese genre of fantastical martial arts tales known as wuxia thanks to films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hero (2002), and, more recently, Śakra (2023). Though a popular form of cinematic storytelling, wuxia has gone through periods, like any other genre, of waxing and waning, even going so far as to be banned in various forms by the Chinese government in the late 1940s. However, a new approach to wuxia stories, moving away from tales of chivalrous acts and onto internal/interpersonal turmoil, allowed a resurgence to occur, including one work notable for its cast and crew yet often overlooked: director Patrick Tam’s The Sword (名劍). Via Eureka Entertainment, fans of Hong Kong cinema can get their best look at Tam’s dramatic action thriller with a 2K HD restoration that includes three different audio tracks, two audio commentary tracks, and two featurettes running roughly 21 minutes. For a film whose significance is so large feeling like it’s been lost to time, the materials may not seem like much, but they are mighty.
A scene from THE SWORD. Photo courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.
Having trained for more than 10 years, swordsman Lee Mak-yin (Adam Cheung) is on a journey to find famed master Fa Chin-shu (Tien Feng), a reclusive sword master who lives this way due to the number of challenges he receives. Along his way, Lee stumbles across a girl in need who calls herself “Little Rock” (Jade Hsu) and his former childhood sweetheart, Sau Foon (Lee Hoi-sang), both of whom cross his path at fortuitous moments. But the path to Master Fa is fraught with more challenges than Lee could realize as he unknowingly enters a web of conspiracy that Master Fa’s been trying to avoid for years, and, at its heart, is a potentially cursed sword known as the Harmonious Sword whose smelting in anger punishes all who call it master.
L-R: Adam Cheung as Lee Mak-yin and Jade Hsu as Fa Ying-chi in THE SWORD. Photo courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.
The Sword is a film wherein audience expectations are set by whatever summary you’ve read in advance. IMDB says the film is about “A swordsman and a samurai work together to find a blade;” meanwhile, Letterboxd says, “Swordsman Li Mak-Jan is on a quest to find a powerful sword previously owned by a master. His mission is in jeopardy when he learns that his twin and old girlfriend’s partner are after it as well.” Neither of these are true, though Letterboxd is closer. The film is about inevitability and how, when we seek things, we commit to the outcome (desired or not) when we find it. To that end, the narrative does involve a swordsman (Lee) questing and it does involve someone else functioning at a cross-purpose, but not in the way either summary implies and certainly not with the relationships either implies. As portrayed by Cheung, Lee is a person of great gentleness and chivalry, meaning that he’ll fight if he has to, but if he can avoid brandishing his sword he will. When he meets Little Rock, it’s because she’s appeared in his room at night, pulling a sword on him to lie in bed with him so as to avoid being captured by a man in black. Though a blade is pointed at his neck, there’s no threat, which is why he comes to her aid and eventually welcomes her as a traveling companion. She leaves upon their accidental meeting with his ex, Sau Foon, only to return later to the tale in a coincidental way. As written by Lau Shing-hon (House of the Lute), Clifford Choi (Hong Kong, Hong Hong), Wong Ying (Encounters of the Spooky Kind), Lo Chi-keung, Lau Tin-chi, and Tam, The Sword isn’t a straight adventure tale, but a dramatic thriller in which people are not who they seem and connections are only made clear the further into the journey we, the audience, go.
It does involve a sword and those who quest for it, but it’s also about what the sword represents – not as a cursed object, but as a metaphor for those who seek the sword walking a path of violence. The film opens with Master Fa bringing the sword to a swordsmith and learning of its potential tragic past and future, thereby setting into motion Fa’s own actions to get rid of the sword as a means of avoiding a violent end. But, as the proverb says, “live by the sword, die by the sword,” and Master Fa, Master Lee, and all the others who would claim the Harmonious Sword as their own will suffer the same fate. It’s a surprisingly poignant and tragic notion which courses through the narrative, an element that audiences are likely to forget given the spectacular stunt work helmed by Tang Tak-cheung (The Dragon, the Hero) and Ching Siu-tung (Hero) and executed by talent such as Eddy Ko Hung (The Postman Strikes Back; The Miracle Fighters) and Norman Chui (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin; The Shadow Boxing), as well as Hsu in her feature debut (she’s the sister of filmmaker King Hu’s frequent collaborate Hsu Feng (Dragon Inn; A Touch of Zen)). Through Lee’s quest, an admirable one from his perspective, the audience is challenged to reconsider whether it’s actually a selfish one and what it means to put the work of the sword ahead of the heart. Specifically, and powerfully, the sacrifices that can come from putting all of one’s effort into martial arts, as well as the naïve perspective that comes from believing that all masters are honorable, all combatants are decent, and that true victory matters more than the medal. Through the villain of the film, Chui’s Lin Wan, we are given the antithesis of Lee, someone who’s willing to take on titles through theft and corruption, all while having someone else do his dirty work. It’s not enough for the script to make us hate Lin Wan for marrying Say Foon or treating her horribly, it makes a point to compare to the two men and Lin Wan’s willingness to cheat and swindle. If you go into The Sword expecting some kind of straight tale of adventure, you will be sorely mistaken. But if you open yourself to something deeper, The Sword will show you the way.
You’re here for the restoration, so let’s get into it.
A scene from THE SWORD. Photo courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.
First, according to the Eureka Entertainment site, The Sword is limited to 2,000 copies. These 2,000 copies include an O-card slipcase with new artwork by artist Grégory Sacré (examples of his work can be found here: Gokaiju), a 1080p 2K restoration, and a booklet with an archived interview with Tam plus a new essay from East Asian cinema expert Leung Wing-Fai. Unlike the O-card slips from 88 Films which are made of sturdy board, the one included with the retail copy provided by MVD Entertainment Group is flimsier, more like the slips used in U.S. releases. As such, the slip does more to offer a different look for the home release than it does provide actual protection. The artwork itself is lovely, suggesting a tale that’s artful and philosophical, not just action-packed, and the slip is the only way to get this look as the included liner is double-sided, but neither side is of Sacré’s work. Instead, the liner features one of the original posters as the front art, text making up the majority of the back (four small stills align the bottom), and the inside art is from the scene on the wooden bridge wherein Lee works to save Little Rock (despite all appearances which suggest she can take care of herself). The booklet is understated with the usual stills making up the front and back covers, the insides filled with cast and crew information, viewing notes (love this about Eureka), Blu-ray credits, and, of course, the essay from Leung Wing-Fai and the archived interview with Tam. Leung’s essay offers historical context for where Hong Kong cinema was at the time of The Sword, the significance of Tam’s directorial debut, and the tragedy that courses through the narrative. The archived interview, transcribed for this release, is between Tam and Arnaud Lanuque from June 26th, 2013, in which they discuss his career which covers his work as both director and editor.
For on-disc, there’re two elements to address: the bonus features and the presentation. Since the prior paragraph addressed the supplemental materials, we’ll continue that way by pointing out that there are three audio options before pressing play: Cantonese Mono, Mandarin Mono, and English Mono. The Mandarin track isn’t mentioned in the press materials for the release, but it’s important to be aware that the option exists. For this home review, the original Cantonese Mono was selected. Additionally, there are two audio commentary tracks, one with frequent Eureka contributor Frank Djeng and one with action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. When you load the disc, it may look overwhelming with audio options, but it’s not as intense when you realize the first three are just audio tracks for watching the film. Below these on the menu are two featurettes, one with martial arts cinema expert Wayne Wong titled Forging Ahead that runs for just under 18 minutes and one with easternKicks film critic Andrew Heskins that runs just over 13 minutes. Both of them are in traditional talking head interview style with no inclusion of the interviewer and snippets of the film shown at different points in between answers from the interviewees. Wong’s discussion focuses more on the film specifically and its significance within the wuxia genre, while Heskins takes a larger view approach, enabling audiences to connect this work with others past and future to it. Though neither is exceptionally long, given their different approaches, the viewer feels as though they learn a great deal from them to better appreciate The Sword as a singular work that is, perhaps, not as well-known as it should be.
But what everyone wants to know is how is the restoration: beautiful.
L-R: Tien Feng as Fa Chin-shu and Adam Cheung as Lee Mak-yin in THE SWORD. Photo courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.
You could take many of the scenes within The Sword and hang them upon your wall. When comparing scenes in the restoration against the original trailer, details are significantly sharper, colors are more robust, and the wear of time is gone. On the plus side, this translates to sequences in which Lee’s beautiful blue outfit clashes against the naturalness of the deteriorated location overrun with foliage as he looks for Master Fa, where the browns and blacks of the inn where Lee bumps into Sau Foon gives the heartbreaking conversations a warmth and richness, and where Yuen Gei’s (Bonnie Ngai) home with its pinks don’t overpower the scene. Where the aforementioned scene on the bridge used as the inside of the liner looks overwrought with darkness in the original trailer, one can more easily discern details of the characters, the water under the bridge, and the movements of the characters within the scene — an element that’s really important as Little Rock’s purser wears black. Well before audiences would be blown away by the likes of Christopher Doyle’s work in Hero, cinematographer Bill Wong (Once Upon a Time in China; Nomad) would utilize color to signify the internal position of the characters, whether on the search and hopeful (blue), in conflict (robin’s egg blue), or in battle (white), which beautifully contrasts against the production design (such as the rich red of Lin Wan’s reception room. There’s intentionality throughout the film and this restoration captures it all in a way that audiences have not yet had the chance to experience.
Norman Chui as Lin Wan in THE SWORD. Photo courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.
Expectations are an absolute killer and they’ll get audiences every time. Have them too high and there’s no way a story can reach where you want it; set it too low and everything is forgivable. With a film like The Sword, being a wuxia comes with a certain expectation like general themes, characteristics for the players, and type of martial arts action. This is where the expectations should begin and then be left behind as The Sword is so much more, both in its beauty and its mystery. It’s a story that starts simply enough and then rewards the audience with complexity that will leave them bereft at the close. Now, with a HD restoration from Eureka, audiences have a chance to discover this respected tale for themselves and it is, quite simply, an easy recommendation to make whether you’ve seen the film or not.
The Sword Special Features:
- Limited edition (2000 copies)
- Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju)
- 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration
- Original Cantonese audio and optional English dub tracks (original mono presentations)
- Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
- *NEW* audio commentary by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
- *NEW* audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- *NEW* Andrew Heskins on “The Sword” – A new interview with film critic Andrew Heskins (easternKicks) (13:02)
- *NEW* Forging Ahead – A new interview with martial arts cinema expert Wayne Wong on The Sword and the wuxia genre (17:58)
- Original theatrical trailer
- A limited edition collector’s booklet featuring an archival interview with director Patrick Tam and a new essay by East Asian cinema expert Leung Wing-Fai
Available on Blu-ray November 26th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Eureka Entertainment The Sword webpage.
To purchase, head to the official MVD Entertainment Group The Sword webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Recommendation
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