Rape of the Sword

Rape of the Sword
Film poster
Traditional Chinese	盜劍
Simplified Chinese	盗剑
Hanyu Pinyin	Dào Jiàn
Jyutping	Dou6 Gim3
Directed by	Yueh Feng
Written by	Wong Baak-yat
Produced by	Runme Shaw
Starring	Li Li-hua Lee Ching Chan Hung-lit Kiu Chong Tien Feng
Cinematography	Pao Hsueh-li
Edited by	Chiang Hsing-lung
Music by	Wang Fu-ling Zhou Lan-ping
Production company	Shaw Brothers Studio
Distributed by	Shaw Brothers Studio
Release date	8 November 1967 (1967-11-08)
Running time	78 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Mandarin

Rape of the Sword is a 1967 Hong Kong wuxia film directed by Yueh Feng and produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio, starring Li Li-hua, Lee Ching, Chan Hung-lit, Kiu Chong and Tien Feng.

This film is believed by many, including Yuen Woo-ping (action choreographer for the 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon),^[1] to be a loose adaptation of Wang Dulu's 1941 novel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, even though it doesn't explicitly state so.^[2] It has been noted that during the early Cultural Revolution it was impossible for the Shaw Brothers Studio (located in British Hong Kong) to get in contact with Wang Dulu (who lived in mainland China) to acquire the film rights.^[3]

The film starts out with two students fighting over the inheritance of their deceased master's sword called the "Green Frost Sword". Eventually, Han kills the other student and takes the sword. Han then brings it back to the king.

Later, General Zhong Ki, his daughter Zhong Jiaolong, and her servant Geng Liuniang visit the king. The king later forces the general to make his daughter marry Prince Lu Tianxia. Then at night, Geng, revealing herself to be an expert martial artist, goes to steal the "Green Frost Sword". She brings Jiaolong away to save her from marrying the prince. The prince arrives with his henchmen and a big fight occurs in which Geng seriously wounds the prince. Geng and Jiaolong then go into hiding. Jiaolong becomes Geng's disciple where she teaches her kung fu.

The king sees his son wounded and that the "Green Frost Sword" is gone. Han knows who the culprit is and the king sends him to find the suspect.

The next day Geng leaves a note to Jiaolong and leaves, but Han finds her. Geng is then revealed to be the widow of the student Han killed in the beginning of the film. They then fight and Han overpowers Geng, heavily injuring her while taking the sword back. Han assumes that she is dead. Jiaolong sets out and manages to find her teacher.

One day, Jiaolong goes out and meets a good bandit named Luo Yihu. Jiaolong fights briefly with him before bringing him home where he finds out who her teacher is. Luo turns out to be the disciple of Geng's kung fu elder sister. The three of them revolt against the evil king and get the "Green Frost Sword" back. They also meet a rebellious nobleman Master Liu who joins them.

They engage in a big fight where Han is eventually killed but Prince Lu Tian Xia manages to get away. In the end, the heroes decide to retreat and hope to get the prince later.

• Rape of the Sword at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
• Rape of the Sword at Hong Kong Cinemagic
• Dao jian at IMDb