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Cast:
Tien
Fong
Roy
Chiao
Hsu
Feng
Angela
Mao
Li
Lihua
Han
Ying Chieh
Pai
Ying
Helen
Ma
Ho
Pak Kwong
Paul
Wei
Action:
Sammo
Hung
Producer:
King
Hu
Director:
King
Hu
Score:
 
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THE
FATE OF LEE KHAN
AKA:
Ying Chun Ge Feng Bo
Year:
1973 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Many
reviewers (myself included) try to link Hong Kong/Taiwan's
great martial arts directors to foreign contemporaries in
order to put their work into some kind of context. Liu
Chia Liang's work is compared to the care and craft of
Kurosawa, Chang Cheh's ability to produce grand statements
within the studio system recall John Ford, etc... To find a
suitable comparison for legendary genre film-maker King Hu is
a trickier proposition. Though his work rarely houses anything
extraordinary in terms of choreography, his ability to
formulate ornate storylines from simple premises - while
making sure they are nothing short of absorbing - means his
work is justifiably considered to be near the pinnacle of the
genre. His attention to atmosphere and use of the environment
to create it has a hint of Sergio Leone to it, while his
ability to squeeze tension from claustrophobic settings is a
reminder of John Ford mixed with Hitchcock. However, before I
lose sight of the fact that this is meant to be a review of
'The Fate Of Lee Khan' rather than an essay on King Hu, I'll
move swiftly on and leave the deeper analysis to
another time...
The
inn of closet revolutionary Wendy houses a motley crew of
bandits, scholars and plotters. Among them are four beautiful
waitresses hired by Wendy for the visit of heinous official
Lee Khan who is expected to pass through the desert any day
soon, while a fellow inn-keeper also throws his support behind
a potential assassination plot and the bid to get a vital
military map. As Lee Khan has a ferocious band of warriors
accompanying him wherever he goes, the revolutionary movement
also sends two of their best men to the inn to support the
rebels - one poses as the inn's accountant while the other is
a intrusive troubadour. However, word gets out that Lee Khan
suspects that a stratagem is being devised and decides to send
out his own spies to investigate the inn. As each new
character who arrives at the inn arouses interest, Wendy and
her supporters try to uncover the motives of each new guest.
The major surprise comes when Lee Khan himself arrives though
and has no intention of letting his reluctant hosts know who
he suspects.
Similar
in story and tone to 'Dragon Inn', 'The Fate Of Lee Khan' is a
masterclass in getting the maximum from every aspect of
production. King Hu takes a cast of actors and actresses who
normally take supporting roles and thrusts them into the
limelight, directing them all with such confidence that a few
of them give career-best performances. Foremost among them is
'The
Big Boss' heavy Han Ying Chieh who flourishes in his
unusual role. Han is finally given the chance to play a hero
and is allowed to incorporate a few eccentricities that make
him memorable. Meanwhile Angela Mao is cast as a vulnerable
heroine rather than the superwoman she often portrayed and Roy
Chiao is suitably multi-layered as the undercover
revolutionary.
If
'The Fate Of Lee Khan' has a major weakness it is the first
half of its duration. While the first twenty minutes are the
expected exposition, the following twenty unfortunately get
lost in a repetitive slew of bandits and suspicious
characters. Even though 'A
Touch Of Zen' is double the length of this feature, it
never drags as awkwardly as 'The Fate Of Lee Khan's second
quarter. Time is wasted on incidental brawls and the usual inn
fights that crop up in even the shabbiest of kung-fu films -
somehow a little more is expected of King Hu's work. Though
this is intended to create tension, it has the opposite
effect. The choreography is only average to begin with, but,
as with the rest of the film, it gets better in the second
half.
Fortunately,
'The Fate Of Lee Khan' moves up a couple of gears in its
second half and cements King Hu's reputation as a genre
stalwart. When Lee Khan arrives (played superbly by Tien Fong)
the film turns into a triumph of tension and suspense. Hu
plays masterfully with the characters motives and agendas and
pits the two sides against each other in a highly secretive
battle of wits in the inn. When the action does move outside,
Hu once again utilises the environment and uses it to serve as
a grand contrast to the confines of the inn.
King
Hu was responsible for 'Come
Drink With Me' and 'A Touch Of Zen', two films that
continue to enthral to this very day. 'The Fate Of Lee Khan'
is not illustrious enough to share their glory, but has some
great moments in its favour. Despite a slow and at times
wearisome first half of the film, it eventually blossoms into
a distinguished genre work that is recommended to any fan of
the Jade Screen.
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