TIGER KILLER (1982) is a straightforward adaptation of one story from the sprawling Chinese literary epic, "The Water Margin." It tells the tale of Wu Song, who slays a man-eating tiger preying on farmers and villagers and becomes the hero of the province, getting appointed as a constable by the local magistrate. He is reunited with his older brother, the short, disfigured Wu the Elder, a peddler of buns, who invites Wu Song to move in with him and his new wife. The wife, Golden Lotus, is an attractive young former maid who had been forced to marry Wu the Elder as punishment for getting caught with her master by the master's wife. She takes a liking to the handsome, strong Wu Song, who rebuffs her attempts to seduce him. When Wu Song is sent on a long journey, the wife begins an affair with a rich local merchant. When Wu Song returns from his mission, he is met with shocking news which sets off a series of violent acts of retribution.
All this is told in Chapters 23-26 of the version of the book published in two volumes as "Outlaws of the Marsh" in 1981 by Indiana University Press, with translation by Stanley Shapiro. Other film versions of the book include THE WATER MARGIN (aka SEVEN BLOWS OF THE DRAGON), ALL MEN ARE BROTHERS (aka SEVEN SOLDIERS OF KUNG FU), THE BRIDE NAPPING and THE DELIGHTFUL FOREST, all also reviewed on this site.
THE TIGER KILLER, directed by Li Han-hsiang (LOVE ETERNE, DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER), tells a simple tale, but is well shot on magnificent Shaw Bros. studio sets and wonderfully acted by a cast that includes the forceful and energetic Ti Lung as Wu Song; the lovely Wang Ping as the adulterous wife; Liu Yung as the lusty merchant; and Wang Lai as the duplicitous Madame Wang, who arranges the meetings of the adulterous lovers. Acting honors especially go to Ku Feng, as Wu the Elder, who squats on the ground and covers his legs in a long tunic to play a dwarf-like short man who walks the streets selling buns and is frequently ridiculed and tormented by abusive townsfolk until his devoted younger brother comes back into his life. Ku Feng won Best Supporting Actor for this performance at the 1982 Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.
After the fight with the tiger, there is one brawl in a tavern, where Wu Song takes on some bullies, and a full-on kung fu showdown in the three-story Lion Restaurant between Ti Lung and Liu Yung. The battle with the tiger is accomplished by having a trainer double for Ti Lung in long shots of the character scuffling with an actual tiger, intercut with close shots of Ti with a none-too-convincing tiger dummy. Ti Lung also played Wu Song in THE DELIGHTFUL FOREST (1972), which follows the character in the immediate aftermath of the events in TIGER KILLER, and THE WATER MARGIN (1972) and its sequel ALL MEN ARE BROTHERS (1973), both of which take place much later.
