After three Clan leaders are assassinated, Kung Nan-Yen (Nora Miao) accuses Master Thief Chiu Liu-Hsiang (Ti Lung) as being the only man capable of the murders, but generously allows him one month to clear his name. Chiu Liu-Hsiang then sets off to find the real killers and uncovers a web of intrigue, where he cannot trust anyone and no one is quite what they seem…

Cho Yuan is not exactly the most accessible of directors to a western audience, who generally like their Kung Fu to be a lot more straightforward than this. It’s supremely ironic then that even the most casual viewer of Hong Kong cinema will know him by sight - he’s the main bad guy from Police Story!

I tried to watch CLANS OF INTRIGUE about two or three years ago, but gave up about twenty minutes in when I came to the conclusion that it was madder than a bucket of rabid squirrels. It’s taken this long to try again now that my tolerance for this kind of thing has increased quite a bit.

So what is CLANS OF INTRIGUE really like? Well, to my surprise, it doesn’t seem that mad anymore, but it’s still something of a frustrating experience to watch all the way through. It twists and turns more than a twisting turning thing, but it genuinely has a coherent core to it - which is more than you can say for a lot of films. No doubt this is the film that spawned the knock-off Lo Wei film TO KILL WITH INTRIGUE, which was released in the same year with a fraction of the budget and an even smaller fraction of the general public’s interest. However, I found the mainly studio-bound project a bit confining in places (I think there are maybe two or three scenes that are shot on location). That said, there are some great sets and at least two truly great special effects in this film.

Nora Miao is as lovely as you remember from all those Bruce Lee films before she retired and fended off the male population by getting the most hideous 80’s perm-job you could imagine. There’s also a tiny sighting of a young Yuen Wah as the Ninja Iga who appears in a vital flashback, but if you blink, you’ll miss him.

Ti Lung, although given the chance to shine on his own in this film, is just a blur for the most part. That’s the trouble with this film, I feel. It’s just so damn FRANTIC. You could probably go on for hours describing what happens (this happened, then THIS happened, causing x and y to fight, then THIS happened, and so on). I much prefer the more “simmering” style of Chang Cheh, where things take time to develop (usually involving a corrupt official or two) and the story is given room to breathe. It’s the same problem I have with ZU, but I realise the very reason why I’m put off a film is the same reason some people love them! So if fast and furious pacing is your bag, you’re probably going to love this.

Certainly, the fight scenes cannot be faulted. Using what would normally be an uneasy mix of Wuxia and Kung fu styles, CLANS OF INTRIGUE does somehow pull it off, and the film includes some excellent examples of choreography for its time. Also, the films inventiveness in this department is super-cool in places – I loved the shot of the table flying through the air during one fight scene!

Be aware that the Celestial DVD blurb and cover shots may contain information that give some of the ending away. However, as the film is quite convoluted, you will probably have forgotten the spoilers by the time of the big reveal. Nevertheless, if you’re planning to take the plunge, I recommend not reading the back of the box or looking at the cover too closely.