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The
Blood Brothers |
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Year:
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1973
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Director:
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Chang
Cheh |
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Cast:
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David
Chiang, Ti Lung, Chen
Kuan-Tai, Cheng Lee |
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The
Skinny: |
Three
men who are as close as brothers are forced to endure the
ultimate test of friendship when one of them gives in to corruption
and his love for his brother's wife. Widely considered to
be Chang Cheh's best film. |
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Review
by
Magicvoice: |
The epic story from director
Chang Cheh is told via flashback. The story picks up after
we see Ma Hsin I (Ti Lung) has been killed by Chang (David
Chiang). Chang tells his story to the court of how he and
his brother Huang Chung (Chen Kuan Tai) met Ma during a conflict
with some bandits on the road. The three of them quickly bonded
and became best friends. However, Ma falls in love with Huang's
wife Mi Lan (played by Cheng Lee) who reciprocates. Ma then
leaves the group to join the Chinese Army.
Some years later, Chang, Huang
and Mi Lan are called by Ma to join him in the field. Upon
their arrival, they discover that Ma has become a corrupt,
power hungry general. Ma immediately commences a secret love
affair with Mi Lan, and soon plots to kill Huang. Needless
to say, the friendship of the three men takes a turn for the
worse, leading a series of betrayals and wonderfully executed
fight sequences.
Ti Lung demonstrates his exceptional
acting ability as the flawed Ma who starts out sympathetic
but becomes almost completely unlikable by film's end. Blood
Brothers was shot during the glory days of Shaw Brothers
Studios and really looks it. The film is lavishly photographed
using rich colors and mostly outdoor locations. The interior
sets are strikingly detailed as are the costumes. Some people
think that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the first
kung-fu film to mix great production values and choreography
with a great story and romance. Blood Brothers did
it years earlier, as did many of Chang Cheh's other classic
films.
Although it is difficult to
watch the charismatic Ti Lung play a bad guy, Blood Brothers
is not to by missed if you are even a little curious about
classic Shaw Brother's kung-fu. Hopefully SB will release
their library remastered on DVD very soon as the true scope
and beauty of a movie like this will not be fully appreciated
until then. (Magicvoice 2002) |
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| LoveHKFilm.com
Copyright ©2002-2017 Ross Chen
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