Fünf Schwerter für die Freiheit

Opinion seems pretty evenly divided on PEKING OPERA BLUES. One camp regards it as possibly the best film to come out of Hong Kong in the last twenty years, while the other camp thinks it's "stoopid".

Oddly, I come down somewhere between the two.

The first thing to understand is that POB is NOT a kung fu film. Yes, it has fighting in it. It has gunplay and it even has torture. But it is not a kung fu film. Mostly, it's a comedy adventure and those of us familiar with Hong Kong cinema will be well-aware that Hong Kong humour is, at best, an acquired taste, especially for us gwai-loh.

The next thing to understand is that its importance lies in the way it completely subverts the traditional gender roles in Chinese society. Some of this lies on the surface - in the way that Cherie Chung's character tries to get some stage acting in but is chastised by her father for it (at this time in China, all female roles on stage were played by men). Some of this lies in the subtext - in the way that Brigitte Lin's character is completely in charge of both her female and her male companions. And some of it lies in between - in the way that Lin dresses as a man (a long and honorable tradition in Chinese storytelling), but a bit odd here as she's not actually *disguised* as a man.

Add to this that all three female leads are headstrong women who know what they want (Brigitte Lin is just stronger, even, than the other two) and that the men are followers (Mark Cheng follows orders, then Brigitte, and Kwok Keung Cheung just follows Mark) and you can begin to see the impact this must have had when it came out in 1986 - years before we had Xena Warrior Princess or Veronica Mars.

Overall, I think POB is a good movie, though probably not a great one. When I watch it (I have the dodgy DeltaMac DVD release with the eccentric subtitling - "There's a girl. Knock her up!") I just can't help feeling that this should have been much better than it was.

Maybe if Tsui Hark were to do a remake today, POB would be the movie it always deserved to be ...

In Peking Opera Blues, director Tsui Hark takes us back to 1913 China: daughter of the general Tsao-Wan [Lin Ching Hsia] is torn between the love for her father, who plans to secure a loan from the Europeans in order to aid president Yuan, and the support for a rebellious group, who see in Yuan's leadership a peril for the republic and therefore plan to unmask him by stealing the loan papers and handing them to the congress.

The movie follows the deeds of three women, different by social class (one is daughter of the general, another one a greedy street musician whose goal is to get rich and leave China, the third one a theatre performer - or, more precisely, an aspiring theatre performer, as acting at the time was only allowed to men) and, yet, put together by Fate. As the three eventually join forces, we get to see a lot of colorful Peking Opera performing, as well as amusing and endearing situations. The movie, indeed, deals with the problems of mutual trust and loyalty, especially in those situations when the ideals come to clash against the personal ambitions.

The only aspect of the movie I was a bit put off by is the ease with which the group is always able to escape the most dangerous situations. Even the hardest-to-die Bruce Willis would have been puzzled on how to leave the mansion... and Spiderman himself would need more than one try to leap successfully from a mansion to the top of a tower! Apart from this, Peking Opera Blues is a beautiful movie, more over enriched by a gripping soundtrack, dazzling theatre choreography and, most of all, an intense story that is sure to make you smile with joy at some moments and shiver with terror in other circumstances. 8/10

Really enjoyable film in so many ways ... funny, clever, exciting, thrill ride from start to finish. What the plot is or means we may never exactly know [what is that coveted document everyone is willing to die for, anyway? and how is the second general connected to the first?], but we get the basic story idea. Subtitles are such poor translations to make them added humor. I know this doesn't sound like a winner, but trust me - a bonafied "don't miss" feature.

This film is simply amazing. It is the most entertaining movie I have ever seen and it is well filmed. This movie didn't have the biggest budget, but it has the largest ambition.

I would recommend seeing Farewell My Concubine(great movie) first to better understand the setting of this movie, which takes place in 1920's China. Once you have seen Farewell My Concubine, this movie becomes much more accessible to the casual viewer.

Peking Opera Blues has a bit of everything...and then some. Tons of comedy, excellent action sequences, dramatic twists, well implemented music, fast pacing, etc. Peking Opera Blues has all the ingredients of a recipe for success, and I would say it is the ultimate light hearted flick.

NOTE: The once infamous subs are now fixed with YesAsia's version of the DVD. It has a really clear image too. Buy it now!

Before I saw this movie, I had always considered Chinese opera rather boring. Now I would be willing to give it a chance. Not that any Chinese opera would be like this movie. Even though the movie is full of amazing stunts and also very funny, the film doesn't veer in the realm of ridiculous like a lot of movies in this genre do. Part of the credit must go to the three convincing female leads, each one with a different strength. Director Tsui Hark also should be given credit by keeping the movie together even while our three heroines are pursuing different goals (success, greed and justice). A fun movie for all.