Mysterious young woman Shen appears in the lives of a martial arts clan whose past is now coming back to haunt them. The guilty men aim to get to Shen before she finally metes out her form of justice, but the truth of the original crime becomes increasingly complicated. The son of one of the targets unknowingly befriends the vengeance-seeking woman and vows to help her cure the malady that causes her to use a walking stick. Soon, the generations are forced to confront each other and the crimes of the past.
The first thing to mention is the title – yes, there is vengeance on the menu, but precious little snow, so anyone expecting an atmospheric, wintery genre flick like ‘The Shadow Whip’ might be disappointed. That said, similarly to that other Lo Wei-directed Shaw Brothers film, ‘Vengeance of a Snow Girl’ features a heroine (though in this case that might be ‘anti-heroine’) who devotes her life to revenge. Once again, it also proves that revisionism about Lo Wei’s skills as a director – or lack thereof – seem to be a modern narrative that reviewers don’t want to shake. That’s not to say that he is one of the great genre film-makers, but once again he helms a well put together, engaging and thoughtfully shot film that looks amazing; the new Blu-ray release is stunning and highlights how Lo Wei appeared to give his cinematographer, Wu Cho-Hua, plenty of time to compose exquisite shots. This doesn’t quite fit into the one-take clumsiness that Lo Wei is now associated with.
‘Vengeance of a Snow Girl’ works well because it is a feast for the eyes while also having substance beneath the veneer. The characters and their motives change through the story and there is an important message about letting go of hate, along with atoning for past crimes. This bulks up what might be a simple revenge story and adds a layer of intrigue that keeps things interesting throughout. Li Ching is, by turns, stunningly beautiful, vulnerable and frustratingly stubborn, but acquits herself very well when asked to perform each part of her character (though the ‘stunningly beautiful’ part isn’t really stretching her skills). Paul Chang is excellent as the conflicted son of one of the targets and the cast is rounded off with a heroic turn from Tien Feng.
‘Vengeance of a Snow Girl’ isn’t perfect; there’s an unintentionally amusing scene where Yueh Hua and Li Ching are given a series of side missions to acquire a MacGuffin to cure her and it all gets a little bit too much like ‘Monty Python & The Holy Grail’. Nevertheless, there’s crisp action throughout, a captivating story, a bittersweet ending and plenty of ammunition to suggest that Lo Wei did know what he was doing.
Eureka Entertainment recently released ‘Vengeance Of A Snow Girl’ as part of their ‘Martial Law: Lo Wei’s Wuxia World’ box set. You can order it now from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
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