THE BLADE (Hong Kong, 1995)
Directed by: Tsui Hark
Starring: Zhao Wen-zhou, Moses Chan, Xiong Xin-xin, Austin Wai, Song Nei, Ngai Sing

“While making THE BLADE, the market was not my primary concern. I had a burning desire to make a particular type of film; I just had to do it.” - Tsui Hark

Missing out on seeing THE BLADE on the big screen would be like going to the carnival and not going on the gnarliest, biggest and wildest ride. A masterpiece by anyone’s standards, THE BLADE was Tsui Hark’s last truly great film before he began 15 years of wandering in the artistic wilderness. It’s a reimagining of Chang Cheh’s landmark, 1967 martial arts film, The One-Armed Swordsmen, as a psychotronic phantasmagoria full of scars and tattoos, mutilation, amputation, sexual frustration, and sharp, heavy chunks of steel splitting muscle and breaking bones. 

In THE BLADE, the world is a feral pit where heroes die screaming. Floating on this roiling sea of blood, like Noah's Ark, is the sword factory, Sharp Manufacturers, a refuge from the violence raging outside its walls. But the Master’s daughter (Song Nei) is getting bored and so she decides to play with the help, manipulating two apprentice swordmakers into a contest for her affections, setting On (Zhao Wen-zhuo) and Iron Head (Moses Chan) against one another. But when you let the violence in you can't let it in just a little, and soon it all comes flooding over the walls as Lung (Xiong Xin-xin) enters the picture. "I kill pigs for money," he hisses, mouth full of shark's teeth. And he flies. And he's fast. And he murdered On's father. Once On learns this there's no stopping the chaos and blood that rains down from the heavens as he destroys everyone around him in his quest for revenge.Rapid cutting, berserker camera movement, frenetic choreography and compositions packed to bursting with rhythm, texture and detail, Tsui Hark's revved-up ancient China roars away from the viewer like an out-of-control freight train, never saying what can be shown, never showing what can be said. Brains and eyeballs are battered and bruised and the audience has to run to keep up, but the experience of seeing one of the world's best directors at the top of his game is indescribably ecstatic.