Come Drink with Me is a Shaw Brothers classic that really demonstrates the earlier days of Kung Fu cinema. Many movies made since it’s release in 1966 (including Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which Cheng Pei Pei was also in) have been inspired by the sword work in this film.
The movie is about a woman named Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei Pei) who has been sent to free her brother (a Government official) and fight off the thugs.
Golden Swallow ends up fighting many of these thugs after a few run ins and ends up being shot with a poison dart. She is rescued by a man known as ‘Drunken Cat’, and he does his best to cure her of the poison and joins her cause to fight the thugs and rescue her brother.
A Pioneer of Martial Arts films
This movie (as stated above) set a new standard of swordplay and inspired many movies made since. Many consider this movie to be one of the greatest Hong Kong movie ever made – I personally don’t agree, but it is definitely a historically significant movie as far as Kung Fu Cinema is concerned.
The entire movie shows hints of techniques used in current day martial arts films such as basic wire work, special effects and even just the general flow of the fight scenes.
It has it’s moments that show it’s age (what film doesn’t?), but this can be overlooked. There are a few jump cuts here and there where someone will seem to disappear from one area of a scene and pop up somewhere else, or in particular a shot where Golden Swallow falls – they show her beginning to fall, but the next show she’s already on the ground!
Other than a few technical issues the film is shot brilliantly and shows a quality ahead of it’s time for a Hong Kong film.
The Martial Arts
The fight scenes are visually as good as any made since, just a little slower paced. In each fight the breaks between attacks are longer, the techniques are more step by step but done in a way that really allow you to see just what’s going on in the fight.
Some funny moments have the characters doing a couple of short weapon movements that defend against a multitude of attacks in a pretty unrealistic way, and the actors themselves don’t look trained to me (I could be wrong). The actors do move a little, but the only natural looking fighter would be Cheng Pei Pei.
The fight scenes fell a bit short with some ordinary sound effects and lack of music which I think robbed the excitement a little bit. This really demonstrates how fight scenes in movies have evolved using these elements of film making.
The strength in the fight scenes is without a doubt the visuals of the choreography. Almost all of the fight scenes are a ‘one against many’ style of fighting that have the enemies circling the main fighter, and attacking one after the other. With each counter attack being different and quite often dealing with a complicated mess of weapons, it shows a high level of technical (martial arts) thought being the planning of each movement.
Would I recommend it?
I am guilty – I can see the significance of this film and appreciate it as a step in the quality of martial arts choreography, but I’d only recommend it to die hard Kung Fu movie fans. If you’re an action junkie (I am to some degree! We’re very spoilt these days), looking for some excitement or a deep & meaningful plot – this movie isn’t for you.
It’s a step in martial arts movie history that has a basic good vs evil plot. If you do see it, watch it for it’s significance as a pioneering martial arts movie.
Find it on DVD
Unless you live in the US or Canada (this only available
in Region 1), you’ll have to go region free for this one!
Come Drink with Me on DVD
