Centering on the legend of the four ancient Chinese heroines, the film was a novelty for audiences at the time, as the singing performance was in Cantonese and used huangmei operatic rhythms—a popular trend in the 1960s, yet it retained traditional flavours by using operatic luogu (gong-and-drum) percussion in the battle scenes. ‘Movie-fan Princess' Connie Chan Po-chu not only sings Cantonese songs and huangmei tone solos in the film, she also wows the audience by taking up the doumadan (female warrior) role for the first time as the Tang dynasty female general Fan Lei-fa, showing off her superb operatic martial skills, together with Shum Chi-wah, both inherited from Peking opera master Fen Ju Hua. Yu Kai's weaponry prowess and renowned female comedian Tam Lan-hing cross-dressing as a male general are also brilliant in this gem.

# Post-screening talk with Prof Chan Sau-yan & Sam Ho

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