The Sword Identity

SHADOW AND SOUND
This is another Chinese film that had me scratching my head. The bad guys in this are the Japanese, who we never see. There is discussion and fighting among the various martial arts schools and the military as to what weapon and technique to use against the Japanese. A sword copied from the Japanese and altered in China is being promoted by one man, who is thought of as a Japanese pirate. Hence the title.

The movie appears to have some levity by design in an attempt to keep the action/drama from becoming too boring. However the foreign humor is well...foreign humor and only the slapstick aspect translates well.

The martial arts aspect of the film is stressed in some minor fighting hints in a technique the old master calls, "Shadow and Sound." The film appears to have some Chinese cultural appeaL that is not universal unless the theme is pirating from foreign countries is okay for the defense of the nation. The fighting is minimal and even the women who dress in...

A master strikes once - this film strikes out
THE SWORD IDENTITY (Orig. title WO KOU DE ZONG JI, 2011, 111 minutes) must be one of the most simultaneously rewarding and downright confusing martial arts films ever conceived. A master from China conversant with its history might appreciate this in full. I could only appreciate it in pieces, or rather, piecemeal.

Set in the Mind Dynasty - though I rather question both the costumes I saw and the dialect as I heard it - an argument sets in among the martial arts school masters as to how to deal with a Japanese pirate who has infiltrated the unidentified city.

To simplify the background: a military general previously perfected a technique that would defeat the Japanese katana as it was back then. Another general, and I think this was the first general's brother, developed a technique that would defeat the warrior rather than the sword.

The military strategy was an attack formation to defeat the Japanese "pirates"; the martial arts technique was designed...

form follows function
When is a sword not a sword? That is a question asked by this film. In a land of tradition (and traditional weapons), how does something new get added to the mix? This interesting film tries to show some of the ways in which that question could be answered. A good, off-beat look at a martial arts genre film.

Click to Editorial Reviews