Swordsmen (2011)
Swordsmen / Wu xia (2011)
1080p BluRay Rip | MKV | 1920 x 816 | x264 @ 11467 Kbps | 01:54:59 | 11,25 Gb
Audio: Chinese DTS 5.1 @ 1509 Kbps; Chinese AC3 5.1 @ 448 Kbps | Subs (srt): English, Chinese
Genre: Action, Mystery, Drama | Hong Kong, China
1080p BluRay Rip | MKV | 1920 x 816 | x264 @ 11467 Kbps | 01:54:59 | 11,25 Gb
Audio: Chinese DTS 5.1 @ 1509 Kbps; Chinese AC3 5.1 @ 448 Kbps | Subs (srt): English, Chinese
Genre: Action, Mystery, Drama | Hong Kong, China
Wuxia is about a simple paper mill owner (Donnie Yen) who lives in a village with his wife (Tang Wei) and two children. One day his shop was robbed, and in defending his store, the owner managed to kill two robbers. A detective (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are assigned to investigate this case and a scientist, began to suspect that the shopkeepers are not as soft and calm as his appearance, and martial arts battles approached the city, seeking a hiding expert wuxia.
IMDB
Also Known As: Dragon
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Swordsmen (2011)
The year’s runaway winner for the most generic film title, Wu Xia is a carnival of pulp cinema clichés, flashy visual effects, fundamental moral torments and brutal, melodramatic excesses that are often worthy of Shakespeare. Under the assured direction of Peter Chan (Perhaps Love, The Warlords), what could have seemed chaotic and derivative becomes wildly imaginative and thoroughly compelling. This stylish homage to One-Armed Swordsman – Chang Cheh’s classic from 1967, which similarly charts a formidable martial arts master’s struggles to lead a reformed life of domestic bliss – is one of the best Hong Kong films in recent times.
Swordsmen (2011)
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The story takes place in 1917 – as if anyone is keeping up with the historical specificity – and the gentle papermaker Liu Jinxi is enjoying his peaceful existence with his wife (Tang Wei, understated) and two children in a rural village in Yunnan. That is, until the hapless hero chances upon a general store robbery, where he somehow causes the death of two notoriously violent criminals while bumbling about. Because Liu is played by Donnie Yen (who also serves as the film’s action director and choreographer), and nobody is exactly lining up to see him just act, it probably takes the viewers less time than the visiting detective and forensic expert, Xu Baijiu (Takeshi Kaneshiro, alternately nerdy and manic), to dig into the hero’s unspeakable past.
Swordsmen (2011)
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But no matter. For the film’s myriad of visual wonders – ranging from CGI sequences that take us inside the bodies of unwitting kung fu victims to slow-motion replays of the exhilarating fight scenes, in which Xu wanders and inspects around in real time – never really let our attention slip. For what it’s worth, Chan has even presented his audience with visions of Xu’s conflicted alter ego walking outside his body – which may suggest an undiagnosed case of schizophrenia in most other self-respecting movies, but here it’s merely an embodiment of the character’s splitting faith in humanity. Wu Xia may be the first ever martial arts psychodrama in history.
Swordsmen (2011)
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It all sounds rather outrageous, and the film’s intriguing first half is indeed more detective mystery than chopsocky. However, as Xu’s persistent investigation ultimately leads him to the 72 Demons gang, a secret league of deadly assassins headed by a Tangut leader (Jimmy Wang Yu, who played the titular hero of 1967’s One-Armed Swordsman) and his wife (Kara Hui), emotions run high and the action turns fierce. While there’s an anti-gravitational rooftop chase and a thrilling bull pen combat to boot, it’s with the brief yet poignant human dramas – if not also musings on karmic connections and free will – that the film truly dazzles. And if Wu Xia never rises above and separates itself from its peers, blame the title.
Swordsmen (2011)
No More Mirrors.