International Festival Premiere | In Competition
China, 2025, 147’, Mandarin, Mongolian
Directed by: Tsui Hark
Screenplay: Tsui Hark, Song Xuan
Cinematography (color): Gao Hu
Editing: Lee Moon-ho
Production Design: Tsui Hark
Music: Henry Lai, Li Ye
Producers: Tsui Hark, Fu Ruoqing, Nansun Shi
Cast: Xiao Zhan (Guo Jing), Zhuang Dafei (Huang Rong), Tony Leung Ka-fai (Ouyang Feng), Zhang Wenxin (Huajun), Bayaertu (Great Khan), Alan (Tolui), Ada Choi (Li Ping), Hu Jun (Hong Qigong), Wu Xingguo (Monk Sole Light), Li Chen (Guo Xiaotian)
Date of First Release in Territory: January 29th, 2025
In Tsui Hark’s self-deprecating short for the omnibus
Septet: A Hong Kong Story, a character says Tsui used to hide away and read wuxia novels by himself as a child. To say Tsui Hark loves the wuxia genre is about as surprising as saying John Woo likes filming gunfights.
For most Hong Kong filmmakers, the one wuxia author whose work they would most like to adapt is undoubtedly the late Louis Cha, whose novels written under the pen name Jin Yong have spawned films and television series for decades. Mixing pseudo-history with fantasy, Cha’s vast martial arts universe is occupied by chivalrous heroes, sinister villains who thirst for powerful martial arts, and life-and-death grudges that drag on for generations.
Legends of the Condor Heroes:
The Gallants isn’t Tsui’s first foray into Cha’s works – he produced the
Swordsman trilogy, based on
The Smiling, Proud Wanderer – but how does one even try to adapt one of the most beloved pieces of Hong Kong popular literature ever? Considering
Condor Heroes book has such a sprawling story that it would only work as a TV series, Tsui only adapts several chapters of the novel’s second half and omits key characters such as main antagonist Yang Kang.
The Gallants focuses on the romance between naïve wuxia hero Guo Jing (Xiao Zhan) and Huang Rong (Zhuang Dafei). In a busy opening 30 minutes, Tsui lays out the foundation of their relationship in flashbacks, showing Huang helping Guo attain the powerful Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms and their subsequent falling out when Guo mistakenly blames Huang for the murder of Guo’s teachers.
After their falling out, Guo returns to his adopted home in Mongolia, where he reunites with his adopted father Genghis Khan, who is preparing for war against the invading Jin forces. Meanwhile, Huang Rong is being pursued by Ouyang Feng (Tony Leung Ka-fai, who played Ouyang’s rival Huang Yaoshi in Wong Kar-wai’s
Ashes of Time), a villain seeking to take the
Novem Scripture from Huang in order to become the martial artist to rule them all.
If this sounds complicated, I can assure you that Tsui has miraculously achieved the daunting task of making a
Condor Heroes film that is accessible to newcomers without resorting to yet another origin story. In order to lay out the complex character dynamics, the film’s narrative covers surprisingly little ground for a 147-minute film. However, thanks to skilful editing by Korea’s Lee Moon-ho, the film moves at a brisk pace without leaving audiences confused about all the criss-crossing feuds.
Also credited for the action design, Tsui seems to be having a great time bringing Cha’s intricate martial arts moves to life. Leaning into the fantastical element of Cha’s action, Tsui employs computer graphics for the (literal) heavy lifting in the fight sequences. Newcomers may be surprised the action looks more like
Dragonball than
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but Cha’s characters have always possessed powers that are just as rooted in magic as they are in physical agility.
Given Tsui is credited in at least five different posts, there’s no doubt that
The Gallants is a passion project for the veteran filmmaker. Unable to make a slavishly faithful adaptation of the novel, Tsui instead aims to find a balance in capturing the spirit of Cha’s vision while opening an entryway for newcomers. Judging by the post-credit sequence showing Guo Jing visualising intricate battleground formations from the novel,
The Gallants is only an appetizer for Tsui’s bigger and more ambitious adaptations of Cha’s universe. If he manages to have this much fun on the sequels, then I, for one, welcome it wholeheartedly.
GUEST:
TSUI Hark, director
Tony LEUNG Ka-Fai, actor
Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark (b. 1950) made his film directorial debut with the 1979 mystery-wuxia The Butterfly Murders (1979) and soon became a leading figure of Hong Kong’s New Wave of filmmakers. As a producer, Tsui is responsible for iconic Hong Kong films, like John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow (1986) and Ching Siu-tung’s A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), while his work as a director covers every conceivable type or genre. Tsui owns two Best Director Hong Kong Film Awards and is today one of Asia’s most bankable filmmakers.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
1979 – The Butterfly Murders
1983 – Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain
1986 – Peking Opera Blues
1990 – The Swordsman
1991 – Once Upon a Time in China
1995 – The Blade
2000 – Time and Tide
2010 – Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
2011 – Flying Swords of Dragon Gate
2014 – The Taking of Tiger Mountain
2025 – Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants