Broken Oath – Eureka

Director: Jeong Chang-Hwa
Screenplay: Shih Kang
Starring: Angela Mao Ying, Michael Chan, Bruce Leung, Kuo Cheng-Yu, Guan Shan, Chao Hsiung, Fong Yau, Chang Pei-Shan
Country: Hong Kong
Running Time: 102 min
Year: 1977
BBFC Certificate: 15

When Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 came out in 2003, there was much talk about the films that influenced it, as is often the case for the director’s work, which revels in referencing older cult classics. The title that came up most often was Lady Snowblood, a violent Japanese revenge movie from 1973, starring Meiko Kaji.

However, Tarantino’s film wasn’t the only one to take inspiration from that early 70s slice of exploitation, which itself was based on a manga by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura. In 1977, whilst the initial kung-fu boom was beginning to fade, it was used by Golden Harvest as a template for a vehicle for Hong Kong martial arts cinema’s own badass heroine, Angela Mao.

Lady Snowblood was an unusual choice of film to remake, at the time, as it wasn’t a big international success. It was only a relatively minor success in Japan. It’s largely Tarantino’s influence that has given it the reputation it holds now.

Nevertheless, remake it they did, putting King Boxer director Jeong Chang-Hwa at the helm.

Eureka have released a few Angela Mao films on Blu-ray over the past couple of years and they’re adding Broken Oath to the collection. I got hold of a copy and my thoughts follow.

Broken Oath follows the story of Lotus Lin (Mao), a young woman raised in a Shaolin temple. Her father was a respected general murdered by four mysterious swordsmen and her mother was imprisoned after attempting to kill the man responsible for the act. Lotus’ mother gave birth to her in prison and, before dying shortly after, asked those present, most notably the pickpocket “Thousand Hands”, to bring the child up as a tool for vengeance.

Driven by this innate desire for revenge, despite not yet being aware of her past, Lotus’ violent actions cause her to be cast out from the temple. Thousand Hands finally fills her in at this point though and Lotus embarks on a quest to find and kill the men responsible for her father’s death. Along the way, she encounters a government agent who is also investigating the same group of criminals. Together, they form an unlikely alliance, combining their martial arts skills to bring justice to those who wronged Lotus and her family.

So yes, those familiar with Lady Snowblood will recognise the set-up (and there are splashes of Female Prisoner Scorpion thrown into the mix too). However, Jeong’s film develops its own personality as it moves on. The second half, for instance, develops a more complicated narrative than its predecessor and it becomes more typical of a Hong Kong martial arts film by the end.

This works in the film’s favour, in my opinion, as Broken Oath, whilst quite nicely shot, doesn’t have the ultra-cool style of its Japanese counterpart and isn’t quite as slick, making for a fairly average revenge-movie during the first half of the film. It also throws in a few too many characters, getting a little confusing as it goes on.

What improves in the second half, however, is the action. There are some decent fights early on but they notably develop and expand later on. The action was choreographed by the great Yuen Woo-Ping and Hsu Hsia (who also worked with Yuen on Drunken Master). The choreography isn’t as inventive as that Yuen would devise in the years following this, but it’s still strong, with some great leg and weapon work. The final showdown, in particular, is loads of fun, cramming numerous high-quality scraps into a 20-minute extravaganza.

The well-handled fight scenes help Mao to show off her martial arts skills (including some great pole fighting) but she also gets to display the range of her acting skills. With her character working ‘undercover’ in places, she gets to trick and occasionally seduce her enemies. This plays well to her contrasting natural beauty and intense gaze. It was the last film Mao made for Golden Harvest though. She moved back home to Taiwan the year it was released and started making films there instead.

There are some famous faces in minor roles too. For instance, you can find the late great Corey Yuen, Dean Shek, Yuen Biao (who’s listed on IMDB but I didn’t spot him myself) Lam Ching-Ying and, in a fairly substantial credited henchman role, Sammo Hung. He gets a great couple of fights in the latter portions of the film.

Overall then, whilst Broken Oath took a little while to truly grab my attention, it’s a solid entry to the kung-fu and revenge movie genres and, once the action shifts up a gear in the second half, it’s a real treat.

Film:

Disc/Package: