And though martial-arts films dominated Hong Kong's production from about 1966 to 1976, any lists of the key films of the Seventies should include the works of Li-Han-hsiang. And one of the most ambitious films of the decade were those comprising his two-part saga, 1975's The Empress Dowager and The Last Tempest (1976). The two films center on the declining years of the Ch'ing dynasty and the rise of the Reform Movement; hypnotically, languorously and resonant, they draw wonderfully modulated performances from a host of Shaw's key actors. Other significant works, if in a tad more modest vein, are the two-part satire on power and corruption consisting of 1972's The Warlord and Scandal (1974), and a number of compendia of erotic fantasies such as Golden Lotus (1974). a seductive and highly entertaining version of the Chinese erotic novel, and Moods of Love (1977).
In the 1980's Hsiang would turn out two more films on the Empress Dowager -Tz'u'hsi which spotlights her early life - Reign Behind a Curtain (1983) and The Burning of the Imperial Palace (1983), both shot completely on location in mainland China as China-Hong Kong co-productions.
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| The fate of Lee Khan...hmmmmm |
Distinctive ballet interpretations of the martial-arts films would appear in the work of King Hu (Hu Jinquan), which included A Touch of Zen(1969), The Fate of Lee Khan (1973) and The Valiant Ones (1974), or the superlative philosophical swordplay thrillers that were directed by Ch'u Yuan at Shaws.
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| Michael Hui's homage to '70s American golden age of gumshoe cinema - The Private Eyes (1976) |
The martial-arts films that are best received internationally star the iconic Bruce Lee, who died prematurely in 1973. However, it was a series of three comedies that pointed to the development of a new and distinctive cinema for Hong Kong - Michael Hui, a TV personality, comedian and an erstwhile Shaw Brothers actor turned director, introduced a new wrinkle to the low-life Cantonese comedy in Games Gamblers Play (1974), The Last Message (1976) and 1977's The Private Eyes, a humorous take on life in contemporaneous Hong Kong.