Martial Heroine

Lady General Fa Muk-lan

Dir: Wong Hok-sing
Scr: Lee Sau-kei
Librettist: Ng Yat-siu
Prod Co: Baida
Co-starring: Mak Bing-wing, Chan Kam-tong, Chan Ho-kau, Poon Yat On, Hui Ying-sau
1961 | B&W | Digital File | Cantonese | Chinese Lyrics | 99min

Fung Wong Nui takes on the role of the classic heroine Fa Muk-lan, who goes to war on behalf of her elderly father. On her way to the frontlines, she encounters and befriends several other draftees, including Lau (Mak Bing-wing). Despite many triumphs, Muk-lan is injured in battle. Lau takes good care of her, and Muk-lan falls in love with him. When Lau takes Muk-lan home, she proposes that he can marry her sister, who looks a lot like ‘him’. After the war is won, Lau goes to the Fa family to seek their daughter’s hand in marriage, where he finally discovers Muk-lan’s secret. However, Muk-lan soon puts her life in danger…

Shot in the style of a stage performance, the film’s female characters all wear Cantonese opera-style make-up. Fung Wong Nui excels in the role of the cross-dressing heroine, capitalising on her tall physique and substantial training under the tutelage of Chan Tit-ying. She displays a wide and impressive range of stage combat techniques with multiple weapons. And though the general tone of the film is serious, she manages to convey a light-hearted side to her character when she takes part in a drum dance with Poon Yat On during the scene where she assassinates the enemy.

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