The story of “Killer Constable” is very similar to Chang Cheh's “The Invincible Fist” released in 1969 starring Lo Lieh, right down to the portray of a blind girl caught between her father and the constable who's sent to arrest him. But director Kuei's version is more downbeat, gloomy and blood thirsty. This is hardly a surprise since he's well known for making highly violent horror thrillers and his style is definitely present here.
Buy This Title
on Amazon
During the turmoil period between the Hans and the invading Manchus two million taels of gold go missing from the imperial treasury in the Forbidden City. Summoned in by the Dowager Empress to hunt down the culprits is the reputable, righteous but equally ruthless Chief Constable Leng Tien Ying (Chen Kwan Tai) and he has to complete his mission in ten days. As the body count rises on both sides during his quest, constable Leng finally learns about the mastermind who's responsible for the robbery and the shocking truth behind it.
Chen Kwan Tai puts in a superb performance as the killer constable, who's a judge, jury and a cold blooded executioner all rolled into one package but he gets results. Leng is a relentless dark character who's royal to his superiors but his take no prisoner's attitude towards criminals is questionable because it's so final. Nonetheless, Chen is majestic and intense in his role and shows a great range of emotions. This is a return to form for him since he left Shaw Brothers in 1975 to venture into his own business in Taiwan in which he directed himself in “Iron Monkey”. Upon returning in 1978, he starred in Chang Cheh's amazing “Crippled Avengers” with those actors from “Five Deadly Venoms” which kicked off his career again.
However, thanks to the direction of Kuei, “Killer Constable” is a different beast all together, compared to all Shaw Brothers wuxia sword fighting movies. Gone are the typical bright primary colored indoor sets and costumes, instead we get a bleak looking production with great atmospheres like the nonstop pouring rain, raging fire and fog. Furthermore, the fight in a dark room with gleams of reflections from the swords has a claustrophobic feel ,even though it's too dark to see the combatants. Together with the duel on top of a giant sundial, these are unforgettable set pieces and highlights. However, the overall brutal action is of the hacking with big swords variety, blood and gory, and the sight of severed limbs and heads is a common occurrence. Kuei's horror elements and the way he uses light and shadows are very much at play here. In a way, this is quite a refreshing take on the overall standard of swordplay wuxia outings made during that time.
As usual Ku Feng plays the main villain Fang Feng Jia with style; he's the sympathetic father to a pitiful blind girl Hsiao Lan (Yu Tsui Ling) who turns out to be the only kind and cheerful person whereas the rest of the characters are mainly criminals and killers. They're the starving local common people forced into doing crime in order to service. In fact the main characters here, the constables themselves can be considered as the villains even though they're depicted as doing the right thing. After all they're the invading Manchus. Jason Pai Piao has a memorable role as an assassin who uses poison darts besides his deadly blade. During the end fight, Yuan Wah turns up as the guard who gives Leng a hard time in an encounter so bloody and gory that the camera can't escape from being smeared.
For a Shaw Brothers production, “Killer Constable” is a unique though a bleak experience but a highly recommended watch. It's easily director Kuei's masterpiece even though it's his first venture into a period swordplay outing. Furthermore, the set pieces are atmospheric and besides, having Chen on board is a bonus.
qual è l’essenza del fatto che l’uomo – svolge il ruolo migliore per se stesso…