The story of the fighting women of the Yang family came to the screen in all of the colourful opulence and production splendour of the Shaw Brothers studio in 1972. With a cast full of the studio’s talent and large scale set-pieces to do the story justice, it continues to be considered the definitive telling of the story.
The loyal Yang family have, for generations, fought for the Emperor against any foreign invaders. While they have repelled these forces successfully before, the encroaching Western Xia kingdom manage to finish off the Yang forces, leaving just a few escaping generals remaining. When the generals return to the Yang fortress, the distraught wives and family of the fallen soldiers vow to fight on. The fourteen Yang women lead an army straight to the Western Xia base, but have to deal with numerous casualties on the way.
In an age of computer-generated armies and blue screen action, there is something so refreshing about watching ‘The 14 Amazons’. Bathed in Shawscope colour and with no expense spared (though there are, of course, studio sets and painted horizons on occasion), this is the kind of historical epic that even Hollywood had nudged aside by this point, but the Shaw Brothers studio were happy to lay on. The effort to put this on celluloid lends the story the grandiloquence it deserves and director Cheng Kang provides as many large scale set-pieces as the time allows.
While ‘The 14 Amazons’ is a spectacle every bit as entrancing as its reputation, the scale means that the human side could suffer. There is only so much character development and definition that can be included in two hours and with such a roster of powerful heroines, it’s unfortunate that not everyone gets a chance to shine. Nevertheless, the amazons themselves are every bit as rousing as their male counterparts in epics like ‘The Blood Brothers’ and ‘The Heroic Ones’. Lisa Lu is excellent as the Yang matriarch, giving her a kind of Queen Victoria stoicism as she leads the charge against Western Xia. Shaw’s icons Ivy Ling Po and Lily Ho are given ample screen time to charm and inspire, while the ever-dependent Yueh Hua and Fan Mei-Sheng fill out the cast.
‘The 14 Amazons’ is one of those brash, bold and defiant Hong Kong hits of yesteryear that continues to find new admirers. Long before the tired old ‘strong woman’ nonsense was getting used as a cause célèbre, there were grand productions like ‘The 14 Amazons’ that had heroic, powerful women front and centre. And this was many years before the trope came with a readymade lecture; this is merely fine actresses playing mighty protagonists that any viewer can find affecting. ‘The 14 Amazons’ might be over fifty years old, but with a gorgeous new Blu-Ray presentation to see it in, there has never been a better time to experience it.
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