THE SWORD (1980)
The late 1970s and early ’80s saw a period of films released in Hong Kong known as the New Wave, or the First Wave, during which directors such as Tsui Hark began their film-making careers. It was also the period in which the famous Golden Harvest title card first appeared at the start of action movies; an image certain genre fans can instantly hear the sound of. Patrick Tam’s debut feature The Sword (aka The Famous Sword) falls into this period and under this banner; a minimalist wuxia movie focusing not on honour and revenge but simple ambition. Let’s take a look at this tale of ominous blades and selfish egos and see how it holds up today.
