THE CAVALIER (1978)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical, sociological*

I'm not sure why this chopsocky comedy earned the title "The Cavalier." I suppose the intent was to associate "cavaliers" with "knightly heroes," as I've also seen four or five other HK films with the word "chivalry" in their titles. Both words were originally associated with mounted horsemen, and though it's no surprise that not a single character in the movie rides a horse, I'm not sure that any of these characters comport themselves even as unmounted knights.

So there's this old kung-fu patriarch whose only online billing is "Grandfather." He's apparently taught a lot of his skills to his granddaughter Peng (Lung Chung-erh), and he insists that it's time for her to get married. But Grandpa wants a grandson-in-law who can bring some kung-fu skills to the match, in order to produce "strong sons." His unique approach is to haul Peng into the town square of some city and announce that if any man can defeat Peng in battle, she'll become his bride. Peng seems basically okay with this proposition, and maybe that's because she trounces almost all challengers, and thus doesn't really think she's going to get beaten. (There is a big hulk she can't vanquish with her punches, but that guy gets dragged away by his jealous wife.) 

Two guys wander into the square. They call each other "brother" but they may be using the term figuratively, since they're both Ming revolutionaries working against the Ching tyranny. (Or was it the other way round? At one point their main enemy claims to be working for the much later Manchus.) Kan (Sze-Ma Lung), the dominant member of the duo, gets pulled into a fight with Peng and he counters her moves. Grandpa decides that he's officially proposed and demands that Kan marry Peng. Kan has deep political matters on his mind and can't be bothered with marriage, so he and his partner run away. Grandpa and Peng spend most of the film chasing them, during which time all four get into a lot of comical fights with flirtatious guys and petty functionaries. As is often the case, Hong Kong's idea of broad comedy registers as lame in my eyes (especially a moment where one of the defeated functionaries wets himself). But considering that writer-director Joseph Kuo had worked on the two BRONZE MEN films, most of the kung-fu scenes are rather sloppy, with even the excellent Chung-erh indulging in what some call "swingy-arm kung fu."

Only one sequence proves an exception, and it's also the only part of the film that causes me to rate the film's mythicity "fair." Toward the end of the movie, Kuo apparently decides to inject a little straight adventure into the mix. All through the flick, Kan and his allies (including another lady fighter, Nancy Yen) have prated about wanting to knock off Kung (Lo Lieh), the "war minister" of the enemy dynasty. Kan's coterie attacks Kung's pavilion, and Kung's forces gain the upper hand.

Along come Grandpa and Peng, still trying to drag Kan into marriage. Grandpa pulls a bunch of homemade grenades out of his robes and decimates Kung's soldiers. Then Grandpa squares off against Kung, and it's revealed that the two of them are old enemies. Kung claims he can best anyone with his "magic kung fu," but when he attacks, Grandpa repels Kung with his "negative soul-power," which for some reason manifests as a jet of steam from Grandpa's staff. Kung is flung away, and Grandpa thinks Kung is toast.

Instead, Kung's magic-fu makes him into your basic juggernaut, able to stave off all the blows of the remaining revolutionaries, all the while laughing like a manic hyena. (Lo Lieh really rocks the crazed laughter thing, all the more impressive since he's keeping it up while doing his signature fighting-moves.) At last Grandpa remembers his former teacher informing him that the only way to defeat magic-fu is with a "Yin-Yang" maneuver that combines the powers of one male and one female fighter. Grandpa enjoins Peng and Kan to attack Kung together and this leads to Kung's colorful defeat. But then Grandpa insists on Kan marrying Peng again, and so Kan heads for the hills, pursued by Gramps, Peng and a whole wedding entourage.

One odd thing about this opus is the total lack of romance between Peng and Kan. From what I can tell Chinese audiences like soppy romance as much as anyone else, and even kung-fu films are rife with lovers who court each other with karate chops. But aside from Kan telling Peng that he's not rejecting her because she's ugly, there's zero sense that the two of them have any romantic resonance. I guess in the writer's mind real romance would have offset the "Sadie Hawkins" vibe he was going for.