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THE
ASSASSIN
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1993 Reviewer: Rob
Daniel
A
minor entry in the early nineties Hong Kong swordplay boom,
'The Assassin' is an efficient actioner that delivers the
goods with brutal efficiency.
At a lean 78 minutes the film borders on
inconsequential, but unlike other Hong Kong movies whose brief
running time suggests heavy re-editing ('The Three Swordsmen',
'The Dragon Chronicles') 'The Assassin' seems to have been
planned as a swift, bloody Boys' Own adventure.
The
postage stamp plot has Tong Po Ka (Zhang) ripped from his
beloved Yiu (Kwan) in the opening scene and brutally tortured
by the authorities before being pitted against psychopaths in
a fight to the death. Having
survived this, Tong is recruited by the Eunuch Ngai as an
assassin (and rechristened Tong Chop), charged with leading
other lethal killers against the enemies of the Ming Dynasty.
When Tong rejects the Killer's code for a life of
agricultural bliss with Yiu and her new family, Ngai gives
Wong Kau (Mok), a callow hitman who craves the top position,
the opportunity to slay Tong and achieve his dream.
'The
Assassin' is a "lads' movie" from barbarous
beginning to sword-clashing climax.
In prison Tong's eyes are sewn shut, the procedure
shown in unflinching close-up with latex effects superior to
the lurid Shaw Bros ketchup.
Cruelty is the watchword throughout as dismemberment,
torture and infanticide are packed into the breathless running
time. Traditional
martial arts and wirework are at a minimum, the emphasis
heavily on visceral bludgeoning over wushu balletics.
The "men only" credentials are sealed with a
concubine orgy that has Eunuch Ngai utilizing a large dildo to
compensate for his obvious shortcomings.
That
(Cat III) violence is so prevalent is not surprising when
looking at the production team.
Director Billy Chung is responsible for such slices of
cinematic sadism as 'Love to Kill' and 'Trust Me U Die', while
co-writer Roy Szeto had previously displayed a taste for the
macabre in 'We're Going to Eat You' and 'A Chinese Ghost Story
III'. Co-action
director Stephen Tung contributed to the woefully under seen
'The Blade', although he is not asked to be as ambitious here.
But,
Chung seems to be looking beyond Hong Kong for his
inspirations; the prison torture scenes recall the
bloodcurdling Euro-period horrors of the 60s and 70s, there is
a nod to gladiator films, and a thousand slasher movies are
evoked when Eunuch Ngai stalks treacherous concubines through
a maze of pillars, eviscerating them in turn.
Visually, he asks cinematographer Chiu ('Raise the Red
Lantern') Fei to ape the red and blue palette
ubiquitous in HK movies of the period, although the
photography for the desert tavern climax actually prefigures
Christopher Doyle's "look" in 'Ashes
of Time'.
Zhang
Feng-Yi's presence lends respectability to the pulp for those
who remember him from 'Farewell My Concubine' or the equally
masterful 'The Blue Kite', and Rosamund Kwan, in a glorified
cameo, lends the film some heart.
The boy-band pretty Mok Siu Chung is too cute to pose a
serious threat to the masculine Zhang, and is only hindered by
a wig recalling Cher's 80s shaggy perm.
Like
an ultra-violent episode of 'Hercules', 'The Assassin' is
enjoyable while it lasts.
Evidence suggests it was not intended to be anything
more.
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