The penniless, wimpy but kind-hearted scholar Lo Chih-Chiuh (Anthony Wong Yiu-Ming - not a born actor) stumbles through life like all young scholars in this kind of movie do. He stumbles into a place known as the Black Mountains where he meets two slightly nuts taoist swordsmen/monks (Eric Tsang & Richard Ng) who haven't much useful to contribute to world peace besides bickering with each other and fighting inconclusive duels. He befriends them, more or less with their swords on his throat.
The dubious duo proves useful when bandits attack the travelers. The taoists are a little overzealous, and let Lo Chih-Chiuh find (or in his case: not find) his way around alone while they chase the surviving bandits.
Of course the scholar soon finds himself under attack from some of said bandits. Fortunately, a friendly girl demon (Cherie Chung - not a born actor either, whatever her millions of fans may say) rescues him, and even protects him from her mistress (Ivy Ling Po). This can only end one way. The two fall madly in love and even the returning taoists cannot convince the the scholar to leave well enough alone. Not even when they try to kill his new girlfriend does he listen!
Together the young lovers flee to Cherie's demon lair and have a few days and nights of musical montage love. The chief demoness learns all too soon of the affair, but shows herself mercyful. If the lovers part and Lo Chih-Chiuh swears on his life never to divulge anything of his adventures to anyone, no one has to die. The lovers can't do much else and agree (whatever became of a romantic lovers' death together?).
In the not so far future the scholar will meet "another" woman whom he will marry and even have a child with. What happens next will surprise only the slowest of us...
After it has finished riffing on A Chinese Ghost Story, Golden Swallow comes into its own as a not very spectacular but nice and enjoyable wuxia. Our leads aren't strong actors, but make a likeable enough pair. Their stiffness would be a lot more troublesome in a modern setting, in Olde Fantasy China such stiffness is something I have come to expect from star-crossed lovers.
Direction, comic relief and so on are all solid, if unremarkable, leading to a film that should make for an enjoyable time if you like mid-80s wuxia (as I of course, do). Novices to the genre should probably go with one of the classics of the genre.
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