Director: Haofeng Xu.
Starring: Cheng Hui Yu, Yang Song, Yuanyuan Zhao, Ma Jun, Xu Fujing, Ma Ke, Zhexin Liu, Yao Weiping.
Running Time: 108 minutes
Certificate: 12
Boasting the screenplay to Wong Kar Wai’s wonderful THE GRANDMASTER as one of his accomplishments, Haofeng Xu takes on his directorial debut which was originally produced back in 2011. It’s debatable as to whether his later work is something to boast about, as THE GRANDMASTER was very much a visual film with a true visionary calling the shots. THE SWORD IDENTITY shows what can happen when both story and visuals fail.
Set in ancient china we find ourselves in a province which only allows four schools of martial arts. When a man arrives and wishes to set up a fifth, he must prove he and his weapons are worthy. Despite battling well he is accused of being Japanese, and thus his weapon is forbidden, but it becomes apparent that his weapon may very well be a legendary sword with great significance. The plot wants us to see the honour and pride these fighters take in their weapons, which is an interesting take on the genre. The weapons are characters themselves and we hear more about them than we do actual characters.
However, whenever a martial arts movie is this boring, you just know things have gone wrong. It’s apparent from the opening scene that Xu, adapting his own novel, does not have a grasp on the language of cinema. The camera barely moves and is kept in tight medium shots. It restricts the action and makes the editing plod along. Add to that the constant use of grey walls as backgrounds and the film is simply ugly. There’s no pace here at all, with even every line of dialogue followed by an unnatural pause. The weapons are truly the characters here, as none of the humans are fleshed out at all. Worst is a trio of dancing girls with horrid line delivery and no screen presence.
Some beautiful scenery aside, THE SWORD IDENTITY offers nothing of worth. The plot is plodding and uninvolving, the characters bland, the fight sequences slow and poorly shot, and the music is easily ignored. Perhaps more enlightening with a background in Chinese history, but it gets so much wrong I highly doubt it.
[usr=1]THE SWORD IDENTITY is out on DVD from 1st September.
