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Just got back from Cinematheque Ontario, where we saw The New One Armed Swordsman, the first film in their Heroic Grace series of Shaw Brothers martial arts epics. And all I can say is, THE SLASH, THE SLASH!

The film is directed by Cheng Cheh, who is pretty much famous for the amount of male-bonding/homoeroticism he included in his films. And this one stars two of Cheng's favourite actors, David Chiang and Ti Lung. Chiang is the titular one-armed swordsman (it's a Chinese movie thing, just go with it) who's all broody until Ti Lung shows up. Then he's all happy and in love. This being a Cheng film, it's not going to end well, but the fact that the two boys are all over each other makes it all worth while. And you've got to love a guy who goes ballistic when someone messes with his boyfriend. (

blktauna agrees. Check out her review.)

This would be David Chiang, who I think is the prettiest.

This would be Ti Lung, who gets my sweetie's vote as the prettiest.

(An extra bit of slash trivia: David Chiang and Ti Lung starred in a lot of films together and were apparently quite good friends. Until "something happened." After which they refused to talk to each other and refused to work together. To this day neither will say what caused the rift and they've vowed to keep the secret until one or both of them is dead. The slash fans among you will probably be able to guess what my little conspiracy theory is for what exactly it was that drove them apart.)

Anyway, if there's anyone in the Toronto area who's at all interested in HK film, I'd totally recommend seeing this series. It's one of the few chances you'll ever have to see classic Shaw Brothers films on the big screen. And if you go to a screening, say hi. (I'll be the incredibly short woman with the incredibly tall bloke.)