Jue sha ling

A solidly good, but not especially great film. The brilliant (and unique) opening of the film does a great job of grabbing the audience, but then the film itself gets mired down into a tale of clan politics with healthy doses of action. The whole thing feels like it should have had another round of editing at the script stage, because there are story elements (like the seductress) that just walk on and off the stage for no particular reason. It's chock full of neat ideas, and there's a good twist at the end that makes it worth seeing, but overall it can't quite reach the heights it's aiming for.

The other reason it's notable is for its direction, the director really comes up with some brilliant shots that help to keep this film visually interesting even while the story is muddled down. I'd recommend it for students of cinematography as well as Shaw Brothers fans.