The Pirate (1973) November 21, 2007
Posted by Cal in : 1970s films, Kung Fu , trackbackDirector: Chang Cheh; Pao Hsueh-Li; Wu Ma Cast: Ti Lung; David Chiang; Tin Ching; Fan Mei-Sheng Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: Shaw Brothers
Pirate Chang Pao-Chai (Ti Lung) springs a leak after an otherwise successful raid on a foreign ship. He goes ashore to get materials to patch his ship up, where he encounters corrupt Qing officials and poor, oppressed peasants. Being a good man at heart, he decides to help out and becomes an even bigger outlaw in the process.
Try and guess if you can spot what the problem with The Pirate is going to be from the plot synopsis above. No, I’m not saying it’s unimaginative and formulaic (although it is). That’s right – hardly any of it takes place at sea! Actually, I’d say there are fewer sea scenes than in that other pirate film that never was, Project A. Trouble is, though, that Project A didn’t suffer as a result. This does.
Things start off promisingly enough. There’s a battle between the pirates and a ship full of…erm…rather Chinese-looking Englishmen. The ships are great though, and there are some big explosions going on. However, land is always in sight, which does spoil the effect somewhat. It’s not piracy on the high seas so much as piracy in a bit of a bay somewhere. Never mind, I thought, maybe things will pick up later…
It’s always a welcome change to see Ti Lung take the starring role for once instead of David Chiang (who’s given a “guest starring” credit but does feature quite heavily). It seems like I’ve seen a million of these Ti Lung/David Chiang films, but in truth I’ve probably only seen about five-hundred-and-eighty-thousand or so. For this, Chang is “Jointly Director” (as it says in the credits) with Pao Hsueh-Li (who worked on many other Chang Cheh films in co-directing capacity) and jack-of-all-trades Wu Ma.
The three directors do not improve anything, and were probably only utilised to speed the process up to knock this out as quickly as possible. The story is a real letdown. Ti Lung as Chang is utterly unbelievable as a pirate when he comes ashore because he’s such a compassionate character and always looking out for the peasants, which seems totally at odds with the whole point of being a pirate. Things do improve toward the end when he starts beating up the bad guys, but it’s too little too late and can’t save the movie. When the film ends, we get a little epilogue which tells us that Chang Pao-Chai was a real person and what happened to him after the (highly fictionalised, I suspect) events depicted in the movie. Well, fancy that.
The only other notable element is Dean Shek. In one scene, he appears to be unaware he’s being filmed, and if you watch him later in the film he has a brief background action scene and it is blatantly obvious he hasn’t got a clue what he’s been asked to do and looks incredibly uncomfortable.
There are bucketfuls of historical epics from Chang Cheh during the early to mid 70’s, but I’d say this is probably the worst of the lot. For completists only.
Comments»
Wu Ma directing is often not a good sign. A fine actor but his films tend to put me to sleep
Probably will pick this up - can’t resist an Iron Triangle film
Couldn’t agree more on Wu Ma. Did you ever see Circus Kids??? That was one of the most bizarre viewing experiences I’ve ever had, and not in a good way!
If you go into this with low enough expectations, you might get some enjoyment out of it. Personally, though, it didn’t feel like an Iron Triangle film to me. I doubt if Chang Cheh had all that much involvement.
Not seen Circust Kids. What I have seen of his output did something kung fu films rarely do: send me to sleep. Along Came a Tiger, Young Tiger, New Shaolin Boxers, the obscenly overrated Showdown At The Cotton Mill, all dull films. Dead And The Deadly wasn’t too bad though
Yes, New Shaolin Boxers was a real disappointment.
Funny you should mention Dead and the Deadly: I haven’t seen that in years but I’ve recently got it on DVD, so expect it to turn up on these pages in the not too distant future!