Special Agent X-7 (2K Digital Version)

Dir: Chung Chang-wha
Scr: Gwak Il-ro
Prod Cos: [HK] Yulin, [KR] Asia Film
Cast: Diana Chang Chung-wen, Nam-koong Woon, Kim Hye-jeong, Wang Hao, So Sze-po
[KR] 1966 [HK] 1967 | Colour | DCP | Mandarin | Chi & Eng Subtitles (with Korean projected subtitles) | 104min

James Bond films took the world by storm after the release of Dr No in 1962, inspiring a wave of spy flicks in Asia. Special Agent X-7 has an all-star lineup, with Hong Kong’s ‘Most Beautiful Creature’ Diana Chang chung-wen as well as Korea’s Nam-koong Woon, known for his sculpture-like good looks, and Kim Hye-jeong, Best Actress winner at the Buil Film Awards. International in more ways than one, this 1966 co-production was filmed in Seoul, Tokyo, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

The story localises the Bond formula while also maintaining a touch of internationality, changing the setting to a Hong Kong wedged between East and West, getting involved in the conflict between South and North Korea. A spy organisation of the North trying to smuggle a large shipment of gold is tracked by the South Korean agent X-7 (Nam-koong Woon), drawn into a series of fierce battles with not only his enemies but also Hong Kong gangsters with eyes on the gold. The film’s character designs, gadget-filled fight sequences, as well as its visceral histrionics and eroticism all closely follow the conventions of spy cinema. The Bond girl from Hong Kong is played by Chang, whose kiss scenes in the film are strikingly bold for 1960s Hong Kong. Director Chung Chang-wha made his first Hong Kong feature Watching Home Town in 1958, and his work in Special Agent X-7 so impressed Run Run Shaw that it pathed the way for Chung to later move to Hong Kong, working for Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest.

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