''Come Drink with Me'' ( zh, t=大醉俠, l=Great Drunken Hero, p=Dà Zuì Xiá) is a 1966

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted ...

'' film produced by

Shaw Brothers Studio Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, and operated from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

and directed by

King Hu Hu Jinquan (29 April 1932 – 14 January 1997), better known as King Hu, was a Chinese film director and actor based in Hong Kong and Taiwan. He is best known for directing various ''wuxia'' films in the 1960s and 1970s, which brought Cinema of ...

. Set during the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

, it stars Cheng Pei-pei,

Yueh Hua Yueh Hua (; 14 July 1942 – 20 October 2018) was a Shanghai-born Hong Kong actor, later based in Canada, with Shaw Brothers Studio and TVB. Yueh is one of the most versatile and prolific leading actors of Shaw Brothers. Yueh starred in five ...

and

Chan Hung-lit Chan Hung-lit (7 June 1943 – 24 November 2009), was a Hong Kong actor famous for portraying villains from the 1960s to 1980s. Background Chan started his acting career after joining Shaw Brothers Studio in 1964. and mainly acted in ''wux ...

in the leading roles, and features action choreography by Han Ying-chieh. Considered one of the greatest wuxia films of all time, ''Come Drink with Me'' was both a critical and commercial success, and launched the career of Cheng Pei-pei as a star of the wuxia genre. It was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

39th Academy Awards The 39th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1966, were held on April 10, 1967, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. They were hosted by Bob Hope. Only two of the Best Picture nominees were nominated fo ...

, but was not nominated.

Plot

Zheng Bi-qiu, a provincial magistrate and the son of the governor, is kidnapped by the bandit Jade-Faced Tiger. Tiger demands Zheng release his imprisoned master, but when the principled man refuses, he instead holds him for ransom: demanding to the Governor that the master be released in five days, or his son will be killed. The Governor’s other child, a young woman known as Golden Swallow, is sent to rescue her brother. Initially disguised as a man, Golden Swallow is herself an adept swordfighter and martial artist, demonstrating her skills against Tiger's bandits when they confront her at a local inn. A local beggar, known as Drunken Cat, acts as Golden Swallow’s guardian angel, covertly saving her from an ambush attempt later that night. When Golden Swallow goes to thank him the next day, he feigns ignorance, appearing only as a hedonistic drunkard collecting scraps with his army of children. However, he covertly communicates the bandits whereabouts via a coded message in a song, describing the

traditional Chinese character Traditional Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets of the contemporary written Chinese. The traditional characters had taken shapes since the clerical change and mostly remained in the same structure they took at ...

meaning temple ( 廟). Jade-Faced Tiger’s gang have occupied a local

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monastery with the support of its corrupt abbot, Liao Kung. Golden Swallow penetrates the compound disguised as a parishioner, but is swiftly found out by Jade-Faced Tiger and forced into a confrontation. Despite her skills, she is woefully outnumbered, and narrowly escapes with her life. During the brawl, she is injured by one of Tiger’s poison-tipped darts. She is rescued in the woods by Drunken Cat, who nurses her back to health. While she's convalescing, Golden Swallow learns that Drunken Cat is actually Fan Da-pei, a Shaolin master and a leader of the Green Wand Kung Fu school, which he otherwise keeps a secret. Liao Kung is Fan’s

blood brother Blood brother can refer to two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, hand or ...

, having him into the martial arts society when he was a starving orphan. Greedy for power, Liao Kung killed their master to take over the school, and sought the valuable bamboo staff that is their symbol, which Fan has obtained. Although Liao Kung claims to be the legitimate heir to the throne, as he was the most senior student, Fan maintains that his murderous deeds have negated that right. However, he’s unwilling to fight his blood brother, both out of gratitude for saving his life, and because of Liao’s superior skills. Fan negotiates a prisoner exchange between Zheng Bi-qiu and the bandits’ master. However, after Bi-qiu is handed released, Fan ambushes the bandits and prevents them from releasing their leader. As the government soldiers march the bandit leader back to prison, the bandits attack the procession. Golden Swallow, leading her female warriors, manages to fight them off, killing all but Jade-Faced Tiger, who is spared at the intervention of Liao Kung. A fight with Fan ensues, and he holds his blood brother and swordpoint, demanding he reform his evil ways in exchange for his life. Liao seemingly agrees, but then later attacks Fan at his house. In their final confrontation, Fan kills Liao with their master’s bamboo staff.

Cast

Production

''Come Drink With Me'' was shot on-location in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and at the Shaw Brothers Studio in Hong Kong. It was the breakthrough role for actress Cheng Pei-pei, who was only 19 years old at the time of filming. Cheng did not have a martial arts background, but was a trained

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

and choreographer, which director

found conducive to his style of action filmmaking. Hu told critic

Tony Rayns Antony Rayns (born 1948) is a British writer, commentator, film festival programmer and screenwriter. He wrote for the underground publication ''Cinema Rising'' (its name inspired by Kenneth Anger's '' Scorpio Rising'') before contributing to ...

(quoted in Bey Logan's book) that he had deliberately chosen a ballet dancer for the lead female role, "... rather than fighting. I'm very interested in Peking opera and particularly its movement and action effects, although I think it's difficult to express them adequately on stage, where the physical limitations are too great". King Hu was said to recognise that some of the fights are stylised as opposed to realistic but claimed that combat in his movies was "always keyed to the notion of dance".

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

is rumoured to have appeared as one of the child singers near the beginning of the film. Lead actress Cheng Pei-pei denied this in the audio commentary to the Hong Kong DVD release of the film. Still, the film is listed among Chan's acting credits on his official website and autobiography.

Reception

This film was a great success upon its release in Hong Kong and made a star of Cheng Pei-pei and others.

Home video

In 2003, Intercontinental Video Limited (IVL), through

Celestial Pictures Celestial Pictures is a diversified entertainment company focusing on Asian-language film and television content including production, aggregation, distribution and the operation of TV channels. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the company owns th ...

, released a digitally restored version of this classic film with a new trailer and interviews, including Cheng Pei-pei. In May 2008,

Dragon Dynasty Dragon Dynasty is a joint venture started by The Weinstein Company and Genius Products. The company was created on May 23, 2006 for the sole purpose of distributing East Asian films on DVD in the U.S., whose licenses are held by, or will be acqui ...

released their own edition with an improved transfer, the original Mandarin mono soundtrack and exclusive supplements, including a newly recorded

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

with Cheng Pei-pei, trailers, and interviews with the cast (Cheng Pei-pei, Yueh Hua) and director King Hu.

Sequel

A sequel, '' Golden Swallow'', was released in 1968. Cheng Pei-pei reprised her role, with

Jimmy Wang Yu Jimmy Wang Yu (; born Wang Zheng Quan; 28 March 1943 – 5 April 2022) was a Hong Kong-Taiwanese martial artist, actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. Initially a contract player for Shaw Brothers, he rose to fame for his starring r ...

as her male co-star.

Unproduced remake

Producers

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

and

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...

announced in April 2007 that they would invest in movies with Asian themes. One of the movies they announced was a remake of ''Come Drink with Me'', directed by

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

.Weinsteins investing in Asian films
/ref> However, little has been heard of the project since then, and in June 2008, Tarantino announced his next project would be ''

Inglourious Basterds ''Inglourious Basterds'' is a 2009 war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger and Mélanie Laurent. The film tells an altern ...

'', leaving the status of the remake undisclosed.

References

External links

On a possible sequelReview

* * {{King Hu 1966 films 1960s action films 1960s martial arts films 1960s fantasy films Hong Kong martial arts films Wuxia films Girls with guns films Shaw Brothers Studio films Films directed by King Hu Films set in the Ming dynasty