Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters

The late-1960s and early-1970s saw a resurgence of swordplay films across Taiwan and Hong Kong, with the most spectacular ones coming from the Shaw Brothers studio in Hong Kong. At the same time, the much lower budget Taiwanese dialect films were tapping into the booming market of Southeast Asia. With its balletic choreography, expressive cinematography and kinetic editing, Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters rivals the best Shaw Brothers swordplay films of the era. This tale of generational revenge features three of the Taiwanese dialect cinema’s biggest names: opera superstars Yang Li-hua and Liu Ching as the eldest and second sisters, and the goddess of melodrama Chin Mei as the third sister.-UCLAFilm&TV