Big Bad Sis [沙膽英] (1976)
Starring Chen Ping, Wong Chung, Chen Kuan-Tai, Chong Lee, Siu Yam-Yam, Ku Kuan-Chung, Wang Hsieh, Queenie Kong Hoh-Yan, Kong Oh-Oi, Daan Fung, Yeung Chi-Hing, Chiang Nan, Teresa Ha Ping, Wong Ching-Ho, Shum Lo, Chan Lap-Ban, Kong San, Wong Jing-Jing, Mak Wa-Mei
Directed by Sun Chung
Expectations: Excited to see another Sun Chung movie.
The Shaw Brothers catalog boasts many female-led action films, but rarely do they feel as actively feminist as Sun Chung’s Big Bad Sis. Themes of female empowerment and sisterhood are front and center throughout, elevating the film beyond its exploitation and action roots. Don’t worry, though, this is quite far from an Oscar-bait message film; Big Bad Sis gets its point across while being relentlessly entertaining. Unfortunately, it’s not as potent as it could’ve been — an incredibly overlong, gratuitous sex scene mars the film’s mid-section — but fans of Chen Ping and Shaw Brothers crime films of the era should find a lot to enjoy here.
Big Bad Sis is centered around Ah Ying (Chen Ping), the Big Bad Sis of the title. She works alongside many other women in a textile factory, but she is much more than a co-worker. The film begins when a new hire, Ah Fong (Chong Lee), is assaulted in the bathroom by a group of thuggish co-workers. Sai Chu (Siu Yam-Yam) senses that something is wrong and checks on Ah Fong. She tries her best to overcome the group of abusive women, but she is no match for them. By this time, the situation has attracted more attention, and Ah Ying steps in to break it up. Her fists and strong spirit are formidable, and in teaching the bullies a lesson, she gains the friendship of Ah Fong and Sai Chu in the process. Ah Ying is a woman who has the power to stand up to oppression in all its forms, and in helping her co-workers she finds a new purpose. She isn’t a trained martial artist, but she begins to teach Ah Fong and Sai Chu self-defense tactics.