Five Great Heroes from Shaolin

The Emei Sect holds the Yuen Yeung Swords, a pair of blades with special significance—yuen yeung the Chinese words for mandarin ducks, symbols of faithful love in traditional culture for their habit of living in pairs of male and female. Bik (Chung Shiu-lee) and Kam (Wong Hok-sing), are sworn lovers, but Chi Sin (Sek Yin-tsi) and Bak Mei (Cui Tsi-chiu) both have crushes on Bik, and the latter steals her Yuen sword. Years later, the sword is handed back to Bik by Chi Sin, who, heartbroken, has become a monk; allowing Bik and Kam to finally get married. Meanwhile, Ng (Yu So-chow) who has a crush on Chi Sin, decides to follow his path and becomes a nun.

Produced during the wuxia heatwave in the early 1950s, the film cross-referenced the Emei and Wudang Sects conflicts, fantastical weapons and visual styles from supernatural wuxia films or swordplay novels such as Legend of the Swordsmen of the Mountains of Shu. The characters are also based on legends of the southern Shaolin school. An interesting collage of popular trends, the film injects laughter and thrill into the traditional wuxia genre. The film also highlights the masters' youthful romances, suggesting that their heroic legends originated from love loss and emotional regrets, an interesting narrative touch long before Wong Kar-wai's Ashes of Time (1994).

Please note that this version of the film is incomplete, with unintended cuts.

# Post-screening talk with Matthew Cheng

The contents of the programme do not represent the views of the presenter. The presenter reserves the right to change the programme should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.