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Goldenswallow The Last Duel is adapted from ‘Ghostly Mountain Cottage’ - the fifth book in Gu Long’s Lu Xiao Feng series which also spawned the better known ‘Clan of Amazons’.
I hadn’t really heard much about this one when I popped it into my DVD player but it turned out to be a right treat. Luckily I had a vague idea of the plot before I started watching it (a synopsis of the book from another site) otherwise it might not have made a whole load of sense, it’s a film that treats the viewer like they should know the source material rather than bothering to try and explain it. It’s still enjoyable though thanks to the abundance of wacky characters, locations and superbly over the top fight choreography.
Basically the plot runs as follows, Lu Xiao Feng (Barry Chan) gets himself into a spot of bother when he sleeps with the No.1 swordsman’s (Ling Yun) wife who then challenges him to a duel in front of the leaders of the martial world. He just about escapes with his life and has to take refuge in the mysterious ‘Death Manor’ - a haven for criminals and weirdos run by a mysterious masked man. As Lu Xiao Feng is the most famous swordsman around it isn’t long before the leader enlists him in Death Manor’s plot to seize the leadership of WuDang and therefore the martial world. Of course, being a Gu Long adaptation, there’s plenty of plot twists and double crosses along the way.
Not surprisingly, the most enjoyable aspect of the film was the action. Despite the fact it was made in 1978 it kind of reminded me of the wacky sort of stuff Shaw’s would produce in later films like Bastard Swordsman - they threw in just about every camera trick in the book (undercranking, wire work etc) to make the heroes look like they really possessed supernatural fighting skills - and it worked perfectly. There was also a healthy mix of open handed kungfu as well as weapon work - and plenty of it!
Although it might not be any where near as polished a Clan of Amazons, Last Duel certainly holds it own against any similar films (Moon Night Cutter, Big Land Flying Eagle) thanks to all the weird and wacky characters and inventive action. Barry Chan might not have the charisma of Anthony Lau (another famous Lu Xiao Feng) but the cast is pretty decent - Ling Yun is always menacing and I forgot to mention Nora Miao and Hsu Feng have small parts as well.
Certainly worth a look for swordplay fans!
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