Reviewed by: dleedlee Date: 06/16/2004 Part I is slow getting started. Told via flashback, a lot of time is spent introducing the characters. Chung Ming (Wu Fung) is a student in Shanghai who meets Chow Fung (Ng Kwan Lei). They fall in love but Chung Ming is called away back to Hangzhou for a family emergency. His father, a merchant, has been imprisoned in Guilin by warlord Yuen (Sek Kin). But before leaving, Chung Ming finds the time to impregnate Chow Fung. When Chung Ming goes to Yuen to straighten things out he meets Yuen’s niece, Bik-Si (Yu So-Chau). Bik-Si is a crack shot with the pistol and takes a liking to Chung Ming. Chung Ming is tricked into geting drunk and then blackmailed into marrying Bik-Si. Yu Ling, a friend of from Shanghai, pays a visit to Chung Ming and reminds him of Chow Fung. He arranges a meeting of the two. They decide to run away and start a new life along with their baby son. Now working as teachers, Yuen’s general (Lau Hark Suen) tracks the pair down and has Chow Fung arrested. The standout in the film for me was Yu So-Chau. The film is pretty flat except for the scenes where she appears. Yu So-Chau looks quite fetching in her cape and jodhpurs (and reminding me of Brigitte Lin in Peking Opera Blues). Also, for some reason it looked like her voice was dubbed as her mouth movements are out of sync with the dialogue. Cheung Ying Tsoi appears in the beginning of the film as a friend of Chung Ming’s but is not seen for the rest of the film until Part 2. Sek Kin and Lau Hark Suen as a villanous pair is genius. The film has a nice musical score throughout supported by classical instruments like the erhu. Reviewer Score: 5

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