The Six-Fingered Lord of the Lute (1965) Director: Chan Lit-ban Cast: Connie Chan, Lee Kui-on, Nancy Sit, Sek Kin, Yung Yuk-yi Publisher: Tien Seng; Format: VCD English subtitles: No Previous to this film, Chan Po-chu was usually the supporting actress to such stars as Tso Tat-wah and Yu So-chau (in mohup films) and Yam Kim-fai (in opera films), or else she played the girl in love with hero Cheung Ying-tsoi. The Six-Fingered Lord of the Lute helped catapult her career as a leading actress and also paved the way for the new-style mohup films of the late 60s. The movie is quite long. I remember as a kid going to see episode 1, then episodes 1 and 2, and finally episodes 2 and 3—all at different times. The basic premise is that there’s this guy with six fingers seeking revenge and causing disturbance to the martial arts world and wanting to be the top-notch martial artist. So in the beginning, evil seems to win over good, but by the end... good does triumph over evil. Episode 1: Someone wants Lu Chong Hung (Sek Kin) and Sai Moon Yat Leung (famous Mandarin actress Lam Jing), to deliver a mysterious box to Gold Whip Han Shuen. They send one of their men to find out who is the mysterious master who wants this box delivered, and he returns fatally wounded. Their son Lu Leung (Chan Po-Chu) gives chase and gets kidnapped. His parents think he’s been killed. They plan to deliver the box and take revenge for their son. Meanwhile, the Six-Fingered Lord tells people that the box has great power, and he also starts killing people and putting the blame on the Lu family. Now everyone is after the them and the box. Why does he do this? It’s explained in the last part of the movie. Tam Yuk Wah (Lee Kui-on) is told by her father Tam Chin to go and rescue Lu Leung. She is caught and chained by her uncle, the guy with the skull on his head. Meanwhile, we see who kidnapped Lu Leung: the two brothers of the Saint Demon. Suddenly, this mysterious ugly woman appears and rescues Lu Leung. The Lus finally deliver the box to Han Shuen, who opens it to discover the head of his son! Han and his daughter Yuk Ha (Tam Sin-hung) understandably want to kill the Lus, but the Saint Demon arrives and fights the Lus, leaving the wife injured. Ultimately, she dies and Lu goes crazy. Then later, Han is mysteriously killed and Yuk Ha thinks Lu Leung’s family did it because of the character painted in blood on her father’s shirt. She vows revenge and beats Lu Leung with a whip. Then Lu Leung gets rescued by seven martial artists. There are some cut scenes in this episode, so this is the best I can summarize. Episode 2: Everyone now thinks that Six Fingers is this other lute player who lives up in the mountains. So everyone involved goes up there to kill him and to kill Lu as well, since the real Six Fingers made everyone think Lu did the killings. Well, the truth comes out that Yuk Ha’s father was killed by her sifu, who lied to her that Six Fingers had done it. Meanwhile, Yuk Wah is en route to save Lu Leung and meets up with Kwai Lo (Nancy Sit). She infiltrates Six Fingers’ mansion to save Lu. This part features the biggest and longest fight scene with lots of people. Great! You can see the agility of both Lee Kui-on and Chan Po-chu here. Back at the mountain, people are getting killed or killing each other. The guy with the big face mask attacks Six Fingers’ carriage—but does he die? And who is the guy behind the mask? And what will happen next? Stay Tuned! Episode 3: The opening credits provide a summary of what has happened so far. You find out the guy behind the mask is Dong Fong Bak who belongs to the same generation as Lu’s father. So he is about 50 years old but looks 20—this was because he took something called “look sum sun” which made him young. By this time, it’s obvious that Yuk Wah is infatuated with him. And he is saying that she looks so much like her mother. So does he really love her or just the image of her mother? Lu Leung is upset because it seems like the person he loves loves someone else. Lu trys to express his feelings to Yuk Wah and then leaves to go find Six Fingers and take revenge. He meets up with Han Yuk Ha, who is also looking for Six Fingers. The lute music starts playing, causing them to attack each other. In the heat of battle, they fall off a cliff. They wind up on some island where they learn some powerful kung fu. Three years later they return to town and learn that Yuk Wah and Dong Fong Bak are getting married. Upset and saddened, Lu Leung becomes depressed. Before the wedding, Yuk Wah is kidnapped by her own mother, Hak Ching Fa. This is the ugly woman from before. Dong Fong Bak once loved her and wanted to marry her. But he ditched her, and now he is after her daughter. Hak Ching Fa takes Yuk Wah’s place at the wedding and surprises everyone when she lifts the veil. And if that weren’t enough, then the Saint Demon shows up demanding that Yuk Wah marry his son. A big commotion ensues, and Hak and Lu Leung disappear. Hak tells him where to find Yuk Wah but he is too honorable to take advantage of her and tells her to go back and marry Dong Fong Bak. Then the lute music starts playing and makes them have feelings for one another. This scene of the movie is left to your imagination, but it makes you assume that they made love. In the next scene Yuk Wah is crying in shame and Lu Leung is kneeling before Dong Fong Bak asking to be killed. Now our heroes confront Six Fingers. They are no match for his powerful lute but luckily are rescued by Duen Mok Hong, who is in love in Lu Leung. Then Yuk Wah is kidnapped by Six Fingers and forced to marry Kwai Lo, who turns out to be his son. The reason why Six Fingers wanted the Lu Family killed is that long ago he was a thief and they were the ones who caught him and beat him up. As a result, his wife and son died because they had no food. The ending scene is touching. Dong Fong Bak finally manages to kill Six Fingers but is fatally wounded. Before he dies, he give Yuk Wah a letter. The end song goes on to say that he was in love with Yuk Wah because she looked like her mother. So now Yuk Wah gets over her infatuation with him and accepts Lu Leung as her new love. Having restored order to the martial arts world, everyone else goes their way. And poor Kwai Lo is alone again, saying his home is the four corners of the earth—hence the name of the song. Chan Po-chu played male roles in many opera movies prior to this, but The Six-Fingered Lord of the Lute made her even more popular as a guy. Because of this movie, fans started to fall in love with her this way and she got even more roles as the male lead. Amazingly, she was only 18 years old at the time but already an experienced actress. Reviewed by Sue Guttilla Lu Leung embarks on a long, strange journey. Lu Chong Hung goes crazy after losing his wife and believing his son to be dead. Young Wai Lo, just a good kid mixed up with bad people. The Saint Demon and his ugly, drooling sons. Does Dong Fong Bak really love Yuk Wah? Lu Leung is understandably upset. Hak Ching Fa is not the bride that Dong Fong Bak was expecting. The Six-Fingered Lord of the Lute plays a deadly tune. Our heroes are talented musicians too!