Lady General Hua Mulan (1964)
Reviewed by: mpongpun on 2002-05-12
If you are looking for gung fu, skip this flick. It’s a costume-Chinese Opera flick. Emphasis is on singing. The flick is about China's most famous woman warrior by the name of Hua Mu Lan (Ivy Ling Po). Mu Lan supposedly lived and fought in the fifth century AD. Mu Lan’s father (Yang Chi Ching) was drafted to go to war, but he was too sick to fight, so Mu Lan offered to go in his place. Her father rejected the offer, but she insisted. Mu Lan suggested they have a sword fight and if she won, she'd go. Of course, Mu Lan won the fight. She then cut her hair, donned her father's armor, and joined the Emperor's army using her father's name. For over a decade, she fought as a man without her true identity being exposed. Her gallantry at the front lines and amazing fighting skills impressed the hell out of her General (Ching Miao) that he offered Mu Lan his daughter's hand in marriage. Expectedly, the marriage never took place (guess why!) and Hua Mu Lan returned home and became her plain old self again.