Martial Heroine

An Agnostic and Sagacious Intercession

Dir: Chu Kea
Scr: Lee Yuen-man
Librettist: Pong Chow-wah
Prod Co: Wing Sun
Co-starring: Mak Bing-wing, Mak Sin-sing (aka Mak Cheuk-wing), Chan Ho-kau, Poon Yat On, Lan Chi Pak, Leung Chui-fun
1962 | B&W | Digital File | Cantonese | Chinese Lyrics | 91min

Adapted from the well-known opera The Hero’s Blood on Mount Pipa, the film tells the story of the rash and proud Kar-fu (Mak Bing-wing), who suspects that his fiancée Yuk-lei (Fung Wong Nui) is in love with his brother Kar-lung (Mak Sin-sing). He goes after Yuk-lei with his sword, while swearing to kill his own brother…

In the film, Fung Wong Nui plays a gentle, gracious young gentlewoman, but on her wedding night, when there is an attempt on her life, she transforms into a martial heroine, exhibiting many different and impressive combat techniques. Another key highlight of the film is the group scene modelled after the traditional Prime Minister of Six States. Aside from veterans such as Mak Bing-wing and Mak Sin-sing, the scene also features younger opera performers who would later become stars in their own right, such as Yau Sing-po, Yuen Siu-fai and Lam Kam-tong. An impressive display of traditional skills, epic staging, and dazzling spectacle, it is one of the many sequences in the film that make it an unmissable treat for Cantonese opera fans.

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