Life Gamble (1979)

Life Gamble [生死門] (1979)
AKA Life Combat

Starring Phillip Kwok Chun-Fung, Lo Meng, Alexander Fu Sheng, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Kara Hui, Li Yi-Min, Lin Chen-Chi, Shirley Yu Sha-Li, Ku Feng, Lau Wai-Ling, Dick Wei, Suen Shu-Pei, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Chiang Sheng, Lam Fai-Wong, Lu Feng

Directed by Chang Cheh

Expectations: Looking forward to the first Chang Cheh of 1979.

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According to my Letterboxd stats, Life Gamble is the 63rd Chang Cheh film I’ve seen. Nothing should surprise me by this point, but Life Gamble made me doubt the master. At one point I declared the film a complete misfire, so I’m surprised to say that I was ultimately won over by this strange and different Chang Cheh movie. Action is generally the first major component of a Chang Cheh film, surrounded and strengthened by wonderful drama and emotions. With Life Gamble, he withholds almost the entirety of the action until the second half. it’s presented as a dramatic work first, with a complex mixture of characters harboring a sea of intentions, desires, and double-crosses. The low-hanging fruit would be to call this Chang Cheh’s attempt at a Chor Yuen-style wuxia, but while there are broad similarities, Life Gamble never incorporates the mystery element so often found in Chor’s films. I see it more as a combo of King Hu’s “everyone converges on an inn and tensions mount” structure with the more colorful martial world seen in Chang’s Brave Archer films, or even his One-Armed Swordsman sequels.

The credits roll while the cast stands resolutely still against the classic, colored backgrounds of many Shaw Brothers opening sequences. The music, which is excellent throughout, booms around them with notes of tragedy, announcing a serious film. The story begins with a blacksmith, Qiu Zi-Yu (Phillip Kwok Chun-Fung), who is asked by Mo Jun-Feng (Lo Meng) to make a new set of daggers. Qiu refuses as he doesn’t make weapons, but Mo Jun-Feng knows a secret. Qiu is a famed weaponsmith of the martial world, in hiding since an injury caused him to question what his devastating creations have done to the world. But as we know from Death Duel & Full Moon Scimitar, you can’t simply leave the martial world, so before he can clang hammer to anvil Qiu is caught up in the life-and-death struggles surrounding a stolen piece of jade worth 500,000 silver taels!

The credits don’t list anyone other than Chang Cheh and Ni Kuang as the authors of Life Gamble, but Cool Ass Cinema mentions that it’s an adaptation of an obscure novel by Taiwanese author Zhu Yu [朱羽]. Not satisfied with this single shred of information, I scoured the Internet and eventually found a bio in Chinese, as well as some sales listings for copies of the book (which shares the same Chinese title as the film). I also found a very nice Chinese blog where the writer compares Chang’s film to the novel it adapts! Anyway, the story is structured and paced like a slow-burn novel, words I never would’ve thought to associate with Chang Cheh. Life Gamble was made during Chang’s less artistically driven period, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still try new things. The question is whether he was successful in crafting a slow-burn movie, though, and I’m still unsure of that. The first two-thirds of the movie is almost entirely talking heads, and while I wasn’t bored with the well-plotted intrigue, it was a lot for someone expecting a traditional Chang Cheh action film. A re-watch is necessary, knowing what the film is, to truly assess it in this regard.

When you pass through the trial by fire talking, though, arriving at the gambling den with the players and their plans in place, the movie is excellent from that point forward. The talking lulled me into a complacent mindset, where I took the built-up tension for granted. I didn’t even feel it was there, to be honest. In my notes I wrote something like, “I don’t feel the stakes for these characters, good intrigue but lacking palpable tension.” And yes, that’s how I felt going into the gambling den, but as soon as the tension exploded during the game, I realized it was there the whole time. This “silent tension” fueled the rest of the film, and made for an overall enjoyable experience.

In the hours following watching Life Gamble, I kept thinking about this silent tension and how it snuck up on me. How was this possible? There’s a lot of characters, and they all have multiple plot lines, but I never felt confused. I suppose it’s just not that exciting to watch people talk about their plans, but it does turn the knife a bit, so slowly I wasn’t even aware of it. Some credit is surely due to Chang Cheh and Ni Kuang for their script (and Zhu Yu for his story), but my main takeaway is that the cast performed remarkably well. Life Gamble gives its actors a chance to act in a way that isn’t usually possible in a Shaw Brothers action film. The cast is deep and stacked with many of my favorites (Lin Chen-Chi is perfect as the wuxia femme fatale with a killer smile), and they all have meaty roles that depend on their dramatic abilities.

The action, when it comes, is varied and exciting, choreographed by Leung Ting, Lu Feng, and Robert Tai Chi-Hsien*. Each member of the cast has a unique style and weapon, making their clashes more than simple fights. The flag finale is the most impressive, but you can’t go wrong with all the various daggers, darts, and daring techniques. As much as I enjoyed the beauty of that tension release, I imagine the action isn’t going to be enough to sway the majority of fans into the positive on this one. It’s good, but it’s not legendary, and after that lengthy build-up it needed to be flawless and incredible to bring the film home. It was enough for me, but if it’s not for you, I completely understand.

Life Gamble is sure to split the fans, but I enjoyed it (eventually). Some movies are easy to like, while others require patience and consideration. Life Gamble is the latter, and my feelings for it have grown more intense with the passage of time.

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Additional Note: Just a few days before the release of Life Gamble, Jackie Chan’s debut as director and #1 HK Box office king of 1979 was released, The Fearless Hyena!

* According to Terrence Brady’s Alexander Fu Sheng: Biography of the Chinatown Kid, Robert Tai wasn’t pleased with how the results differed from the original intent, so he removed his name from the film.

Next up in this chronological journey through the Shaw Brothers Martial Arts catalog is Kuei Chih-Hung’s long-lost martial arts comedy, The Reckless Cricket! I have to finish putting together my subtitles before I watch that one, so it might take a little while. See ya then (hopefully soon)!