Chat gim (2005)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Hark Tsui

Writers:

Chi-Sing Cheung (writer)
Tin Nam Chun (writer)

Release Date:

29 July 2005 (China)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

Seven warriors come together to protect a village from a diabolical General.

Plot Keywords:

Sword | China | Martial Art | Decapitation | Hero

Awards:

2 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Donnie Yen	...	Chu Zhao Nan
Leon Lai	...	Yang Yun Chong
Charlie Yeung	...	Wu Yuan Yin
Liwu Dai	...	Xin Long Zi
Chia-Liang Liu	...	Fu Qing Ju
Duncan Lai	...	Mulang (as Duncan Chow)
Yi Lu	...	Han Zhi Ban
Jingwu Ma	...	Master Shadow-Glow
Jason Pai Piao	...	Liu Jingyi
Honglei Sun	...	Fire-wind
Michael Wong	...	Prince Dokado (as Michael F. Wong)
Jingchu Zhang	...	Liu Yufang
So-yeon Kim	...	Luzhu
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jiajia Chen	...	Kualo
Michelle Mee	...	Luzhu (voice)
Wenjie Wang	...	Duogeduo Swordsman
Lixiao Yang	...	Girl in blood

Also Known As:

Qi jian (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Seven Swords (International: English title)
Seven Swords of Mt. Tien - Part I (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Seven Swordsmen Leave Mt. Heaven (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
The Seven Swords (International: English title)

Runtime:

153 min | Singapore:141 min (cut)

Country:

South Korea | Hong Kong | China

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin | Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Norway:15 | Ireland:15A | Germany:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Argentina:16 | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:M | Singapore:PG (edited version) | Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Xinjiang, China

Company:

Film Workshop

Trivia:

The opening film of the 2005 Venice Film Festival.

Very, very excellent

The East Asian film industry has always been strong in it's own right, but recently it has clearly been exploding in terms of its appeal to a Western audience. The older Jet Li movies have attained a sort of cult status, but perhaps starting with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Oriental cinema has really hit the mainstream. Hayao Miyazaki has even brought anime to the fore. "Seven Swords", I believe, is a great movie that marks yet another strong phase in the "easternization" of Western cinema. Given that Hollywood has failed recently to impress as much as it has in the past, it's key source material being old TV-shows, biopics and remakes largely of Eastern films, the shift of our attention east is not surprising. As with movies like "Hero", "Seven Swords" possesses some remarkable cinematography and even more remarkable fight choreography. To an extent the extremely well designed fight scenes are superior to many before it, specifically because of its rejection of wire-stunts. The result are some intense and believable fights that are far more aesthetically pleasing then, for example, watching Chow Yun Fat sail through the air. Many will appreciate, and rightly so, the strong ensemble cast featuring all round fine performances. Essentially I find very little to fault in this superb film!!! Hollywood can may attempt to defend their claim as the masters of cinema, but I'll eagerly await the day when they can produce a martial arts film of even nearly this ones quality. Until then, I'll continue to appreciate with great pleasure the steady flow of truly entertaining work coming from most notably China, Japan and Korea.