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February 10, 2006

SEVEN SWORDS SEQUEL UNDERWAY?

Seven SwordsTsui Hark has a habit of publicizing everything he does as a potential film project, which means that just because he announces his plans to make a film it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to happen (his JOURNEY TO THE WEST adaptation has been rumored to be happening for several years now). But now Nansun Shi, his wife and producer, has announced that they're going to film a sequel to SEVEN SWORDS later this year.

According to MonkeyPeaches, Tsui blames the poor critical response for SEVEN SWORDS to the fact that it's only the beginning of a very complex story and that the sequel will clear a lot of things right up. The movie is based on a book series, and the following volumes depict the martial arts masters in the film fighting their way to Beijing to meet the emperor, only to discover that he is a weakened figurehead who is tired of being manipulated by his advisors.

February 10, 2006 at 10:35 AM in News | Permalink

Comments

I've got to admit to enjoying the hell out of Seven Swords and really looking forward to a sequel; as a reaction to the prettification of wuxia spectacle via Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou (along with the current crop of imitators), I thought it was muscular, fun, gorgeous to look at and generally well-cast (that Michael Fitzgerald Wong's easy on the eyes, I'll tell you that for free). It's not flawless, but I thought its stumbles were generally not for a lack of ambition, but a surfeit of it. The middle section has points where it loses itself in intrigue, but I thought the Yen romance was handled exceptionally well. Great villain, totally decent Leon Lai perf. The action is classic Tsui Hark, and not balletic in the slightest, which I appreciated. It has a serious ouch factor. And the film's morality is, for me, its strongest point: it is turned on by movement but disgusted by violence. A line at the beginning of the film describing Lau Kar Leung says it all: "He knows martial arts, but he doesn't want to hurt anybody." It never makes revenge look righteous. I dunno, I was really taken by it, and I would welcome the sequel. Well, either that or Chinese Banquet 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Posted by: Abe Goldfarb | Feb 10, 2006 12:49:26 PM

But it was completely impossible to follow the action. So badly edited and directed that all that amazing choreography was just wasted.

Posted by: Andrew Cunningham | Feb 10, 2006 2:49:46 PM

Actually, I thought the action was largely coherent, and when it wasn't, it was dizzying, breathless, as if the camera had been hitched to a weapon and swung into combat. All the most important action scenes kept their geography for me. I usually kick up a stink among my friends about overcut action; I prefer long, elegant takes, like the ones you'd see in Knockabout or Magnificent Butcher, or even the alleyway fight in Sha Po Lang. But when it's an aesthetic choice, as in Seven Swords, The Bourne Supremacy or No Blood No Tears, it can work wonders (this is, of course, a matter of opinion, and it might give some people huge headaches). Tsui Hark is one of the only directors who can get away with the quick cutting in my humble opinion, and ever since The Blade, he's been pushing it further and further. I adore the style, and the unpredictability and artful artlessness of it.

Posted by: Abe Goldfarb | Feb 10, 2006 4:55:14 PM

how was the film hard to follow? My 13 year old brother completely got it, and when we watched it at home my 9 year old brother nearly got all of it, and they're not movie analysis prodigies...

Posted by: quadshock | Feb 10, 2006 6:02:35 PM

"And the film's morality is, for me, its strongest point: it is turned on by movement but disgusted by violence. A line at the beginning of the film describing Lau Kar Leung says it all: "He knows martial arts, but he doesn't want to hurt anybody." It never makes revenge look righteous. I dunno, I was really taken by it, and I would welcome the sequel."

Abe, I have this little hunch that you're going to get a lot out of your viewing of FEARLESS too. :)

Posted by: YTSL | Feb 10, 2006 6:15:21 PM

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