vengeance of the phoenix sisters

Chen Hung-Min’s 1968 directorial debut lends another poetic treat for curious audiences sitting in for this year’s Old School Kung Fu Festival spotlighting Taiwanese classics. Vengeance Of The Phoenix Sisters is the name with eighty-seven minutes of straightforward action and drama with just a few frills and snags but nothing that takes too much away from the institutionalized efforts to revitalize and restore this bygone action adventure. Chinese opera and silver screen stars Yang Li-hua, Liu Ching, and Chin Mei take on the respective roles of Xieufeng, Qingfeng, and Zhifeng in a story that leaps forward fifteen years following the deadly massacre of a former sheriff and his wife at the hands of three criminals he once jailed. Chen’s story takes off with Xieufeng front and center as she desperately begs her master and uncle, Zhenhai, for his blessing after years of training, hereby promising not to waste the skills […]

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