The Bride With White Hair (4 Stars)

I recently said I was considering a Ronny Yu marathon. On second thoughts, I shan't do it, at least not in the near future. I looked at my shelf and remembered that I have more than 20 unwatched films. I need to catch up on my new films before returning to my old films, however good they are. Or maybe I can make a mix of my new and old films. I'll see.

Nevertheless, I've picked one of Ronny Yu's films to watch today. It was made in 1993, when he still lived in Hong Kong. It's a tragic drama. Cho I-Hang is a master swordsman. He's destined to become the leader of the Wu-Tang clan, but he doesn't have the heart to become a killer. He thinks that as a swordsman he should protect those in distress, not go into war against rival clans.

One day he meets a beautiful young woman who's a member of a rival cult. She tells him she has no name, so he calls her Lien Ni-Cheng. This wins her heart, because nobody has ever wanted to give her a name, but they can't remain together. She's the lover of her cult's leader, a Siamese twin whose sister is joined to his back. That's really weird. Whenever he makes love to a woman, his sister is lying on his back laughing hysterically. That would put me off.

War breaks out between the cult and the Wu-Tang clan. Lien enters the temple and slaughters almost everyone. Is Cho able to take revenge against the woman he loves?

This is Cho's master instructing the children in swordsmanship and calligraphy. I've heard it said before that the two disciplines go together, but I've never understood why.

It's a spectacular film that's been highly praised by critics. I find it lacking because of the dated special effects. When the sword fighters leap into action they're just a blur. If the film had been made ten years later, it would have been a lot better.