Among the earliest Hong Kong films to be entirely shot in mainland China with a full mainland Chinese cast, “The Romance of the Book and Sword” and its companion “Princess Fragrance” are based on Louis Cha’s homonymous novel. Released later in the same month, both films feature all the elements that make these types of novels and their adaptations immensely popular in China.
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The rather labyrinthic story (even with omitting two of the book’s lengthiest subplots) is set in 18th-century China during the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. The Red Flower Society are a secret group of people who aim to overthrow the Qing government and restore Han Chinese rule in China. The organization is led by a number of heroes with Chen Jialuo as their leader. As the movie begins, one of the leaders, Yu Wanting, ambushes Emperor Qianlong and tries to blackmail him with a secret he keeps about his genealogy in order to sway him towards the goal of the Society. The result however, is the emperor sending assassins to the hideout of the group, with many of the rebels dying and Luo Bing, a young woman everyone is trying to protect, escaping.
A bit later, we watch the rebel’s efforts to save one of their leaders, Wen Tailai, being escorted by a convoy of soldiers to Beijing. Along the way, the heroes encounter some Uyghur tribesmen who are pursuing a group of mercenaries who have robbed them of their holy artefact, a Quran. Chen Jialuo aids the tribesmen in defeating the mercenaries and recovers the holy book, earning the respect and admiration of Huoqingtong, the tribe leader’s daughter. Chen Jialuo and the heroes follow Wen Tailai’s trail to Hangzhou, where Chen coincidentally meets and befriends the Qianlong Emperor, who is in disguise as a rich man. However, after they discover each other’s true identities, they become suspicious and wary of each other. At the same time, it seems a number of other secrets involving the two and the Society are also lurking.
Ok, first things first. “The Romance of Book and Sword” is a mess, with the pacing, the way the story unfolds and the presentation of many of the characters being rather faulty. It actually becomes evident quite early on that the movie is exclusively directed to people who have already read the novel, since this is the only way to fully realize what is going on in the movie, at least apart from the main storyline. As such, the editing by John Chow, particularly regarding the succession of scenes, is quite problematic.
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Furthermore, the story ends up bordering on being soapy, with the lost brothers arc in particular, and the way one of them is eventually swayed, which does not make that much sense. Lastly, the musical parts also seem rather disconnected from the rest of the narrative, in an effort at presenting a musical part that borders on Bollywood tactics.
Apart from this, however, the movie screams ‘big budget’ and ‘epic’, with the production being of the highest quality. The location shooting results in a number of exceptional scenes, with the meeting with the Uighurs and the majestic finale being among the most memorable. DP Bill Wong captures all the settings, both exterior and interior with the same prowess, with the visuals in general being among the best traits of the film.
The action choreography is also of the higher level, with Lu Yong-Quan presenting a series of impressive scenes throughout the movie. The one in the beginning with the assassination attempt is just a prequel, as the one in the restaurant, when the upper hand changes a number of times, and the one close to the finale, within the stairs and corridors of the Liuhe Pagoda, are definitely top notch. Both the direction and the audiovisual aspect come together in the best way in these scenes, which are definitely the highlights of the film.
Considering the issues with characterization, the acting is expectedly on an average level. Zhang Duofu as Chen Jialuo plays the man with a purpose, who is willing to go to extremes to achieve it, convincingly. Chang Dashi as Qianlong Emperor is also good, particularly in the way he hides his identity, while the scenes where they both try to conceal who they are while both knowing of the other are quite well presented, highlighting the chemistry among the two. Yang Junsheng as Heshen highlights his sinister corruption nicely, although in a small part.
“The Romance of Book and Sword” suffers particularly for the way an extensive book was shrunk to fit in a feature format, with the issues with the story and characters and the narrative in general deeming it a mediocre effort, despite the prowess in action and the audiovisuals.
