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To press free their boss, a gang of bandits kidnap the son of the gouverner. But the gouverner, instead of agreeing to an exchange of hostages or sending his troops, sends top official Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-Pei, disguised as a man), a master of martial arts and the kidnappees sister. When she first meets the bandits at an inn, she teaches them a lesson, only leading them to attempt to kill her that same night - she is saved by a drunk beggar called Drunken Cat (Yueh Hua) though, who also tells her where to find the rest of the bandits including their hostage - at a temple no less. Golden Swallow of course enters the temple the very next day, slaughtering many a bandit, but ultimately being hit by a poisoned dart shot by bandit-leader Jade-faced Tiger (Chen Hung-Lieh). Golden swallow manages to escape only with the help of Drunken Cat, who nurses her back to health, protects her from the bandits following her, and does some investigating on his own, soon finding out that the bandits are in league with Abbott Liao Kung (Yang Chih-Ching). Now Drunken Cat and the abbott have a history together, as the abbott was once Drunken Cat's benefactor and they trained under the same master. Only the abbott eventually started to use his (supernatural) skills for evil, since when Drunken Cat has avoided him. But to prevent the abbott from doing more evil and helping Golden Swallow on her mission, Drunken Cat sees himself forced to face the abbott in battle after all - but that said, the abbott's skills in martial arts might even exceed Drunken Cat's ...

Come Drink with Me was King Hu's very first martial arts movie, but he seems to have felt at home in the genre right away, not only by pushing all the right buttons, but by taking wuxia cinema to new heights, by blending genre traditions with elements from both Japanese samurai movies and action movies and westerns from the West. The result is a beatifully put together martial arts flick with plenty of inventive and excitingly filmed action setpieces, but one that's also strong on story and that affords itself some heart amidst all the on-screen goings-on. And on top of that, Cheng Pei-Pei sure makes an impressive heroine, back when heroines were all but a given in martial arts cinema.

A deserved classic that easily stands the test of time, and most certainly a must-see!

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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