Beautiful Swordswoman (1969)

Revenge may be a dish best served cold but Beautiful Swordswoman served it up family style. The golden age of women with swords was coming to a close. Wang Ling had her chance in the genre as a spoiled daughter at home and unbeknownst to everyone else a beautiful swordswoman in disguise along with her faithful governess sidekick.

Yuan Yuan trains in secret and receives her assassin assignments from her old sifu. She and her governess disguise themselves in a myriad of ways, even as a new bride, in order to take down her targets. Her doting father never suspects his docile and obedient daughter has another side to her. Before long her secret life and her family life converge when she learns a devastating secret about her “father”.

The sword fights were pretty good for the time although there were a lot of swipe and falls. Yuan Yuan wasn’t afraid to aim for the face. Her nemesis used rings to kill his enemies. Wang Ling gave a strong performance as Yuan Yuan keeping the overacting so common in the 60’s to a minimum. Ma Chi played the loving father to the hilt and also the creepy murdering rapist.

There were some exciting fights early in the film and then it began to be dragged down in melodrama. The end was encumbered by the diametrically opposed familial cry for revenge and the punishment for killing a parent. Yuan Yuan was burdened with forgiving the unforgiveable and also settling her parents’ blood debt which seemed impossible. Family dynamics can be tricky.

6 March 2024

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