Soul of the Sword
“Nothing can stop me.”
Soul of the Sword is a 1978 wuxia film directed by <PERSON> which follows a lone swordsman willing to do whatever it takes to become the number one swordsman.
Checked this one out as I was craving some more <PERSON> goodness and this was definitely one of his more complex roles, in that he plays a complete and utter bastard — seriously, I’ve seen him play a villain in Blood Brothers but even then, he wasn’t as hateable as he was here.
He’s also very compelling, in that his role here is almost a <PERSON>-esque role in that he becomes haunted by the ghosts he leaves behind, too driven by his own pride and goals that it is bound to end in tragedy.
Though the film boasts an unfortunate misogynistic streak and one of <PERSON>’s worst wigs, it does also feature one of <PERSON>’s finest performances. Here, he isn’t the wuxia hero but as mentioned, more a <PERSON> type and even gave me <PERSON> in Throne of Blood vibes. 378
It’s an intense, ugly performance that is very gripping and means the admittedly underdeveloped supporting cast (particularly his love interest, who seemingly has Stockholm Syndrome) is forgivable. It was good seeing <PERSON> here though.
The film is also visually spectacular, with some great imagery and music that helps set up the character driven story.
Overall, this was a very solid, if hard to watch Shaw Brothers flick. Content warning is advised but I recommend. 378