Broken Oath

This 1977 Hong Kong martial arts film is cracking stuff from beginning to end – starring Taiwanese star Angela Mao in the role of an orphan out to avenge the brutal slaying of her father and the consequent death of her mother.

In a prelude sequence, a young woman (Naomi Oka) is taken to prison for apparent murder where she befriends another imprisoned woman, Thousand Hands (Lai Wang), a skilled pickpocket. To make matters worse for the young woman, she is pregnant though her assassinated husband, General Liu, never had the chance to find out the happy news. When the time comes to give birth, she reveals her story and how she ended up being arrested: One day, she and her husband, General Liu of the Imperial Court, were travelling along a country road when they were cornered by thugs, who killed Liu before one of them, who had set his eyes on her, took her with him for ‘sexual services’, however, she managed to kill him. Minutes later, she was caught. Despite her situation, which yells self-defence across the hills, the young woman was imprisoned for murder. After the child, a baby girl, is born, the young woman knows she doesn’t have much time left on this earth and entrusts Thousand Hands to look after the baby, which she calls ‘Pure Lotus Liu’. She also urges the pickpocket to tell Lotus Liu about what happened to her parents, in particular her father, once she comes of age. Because the baby cannot be held in prison, Thousand Hands delivers the infant to a Buddhist monastery where she is raised by female monks according to the principles of Buddhism.

Years pass, and Lotus Liu has now morphed into Angela Mao, a feisty and attractive young woman with the spirit of ten fighters who, much to the chagrin of the abbess, does anything but abide by religious principles. In fact, she regularly skips class in favour of mastering her already impressive kung fu skills and kung fu seems indeed the only thing on her mind. During one occasion when she skips class yet again, she secretly sneaks into a nearby forest to practice even more martial arts when suddenly, three bandits turn up out of nowhere and begin harassing her. No problem for Lotus Liu who, thanks to her formidable fighting skills, manages to eliminate one thug after another in no time. Oh, and did I mention scorpions? That’s right! Lotus Liu seems to have a special relation to the dangerous and highly poisonous arachnids and manages to somehow place them on her enemies throats… though for some reason, always escapes getting bitten herself. Perhaps Scorpion Liu would have been a more suitable name for her? When the abbess hears about the incident, she is appalled that Lotus has broken one of the Buddhist principles (several in fact) and she is expelled from the monastery.

Cue for the next chapter in Lotus’ life, during which her path crosses that of our famous pickpocket again and another somewhat shady character, Chen Bang (Bruce Leung), who becomes her accomplice in tracking down the culprits responsible for her father’s brutal death after Thousand Hands finally reveals to Lotus her family background. Thousand Hands even pretends to the manager (Dean Shek) of a local brothel that she wishes to sell her apparent daughter for much needed money – it’s a cunning plan which is supposed to get Lotus close to Dou Qi (Yeh Fang) – one of the main culprits responsible for the death of her father. Unfortunately, Dou Qi manages to escape a deadly scorpion bite thanks to the quick-acting manager… Lotus is now in serious trouble as it soon emerges that she is a lass with one mission on her mind: to kill the four thugs who made her mother a widow. As the search is on for the other culprits, Chen and Lotus have to endure increasingly dangerous situations and later on, a subplot emerges about some other would-be killers who want Lotus out of the way because she hinders them in their own assassination plans – something to do with the current Imperial big-shot. However, Lotus seems to have a guardian angel close-by – a mysterious and dark clad traveller who turns up with advice whenever she finds herself in deep waters. Who is he and why does he keep following her?

BROKEN OATH is more complex than it sounds, with multiple subplots and some cameos from the likes of Sammo Hung (playing a baddie). The fight sequences and stunt choreography (orchestrated by Hsia Hsu) are first rate and Angel Mao does her status as a bona fide martial arts fighter proud. The camera work, courtesy of Wang Yung-lung, is equally impressive.

This Blu-ray has been released in a brand-new 2K restoration and as a Limited Edition release (2000 copies only), presented in an O-card slipcase and collector’s booklet. Additional bonus material includes various audio options, audio commentaries, interviews plus trailer.