Money and power? Save them for death seekers. Strangely enough, there were no reviews of this film until now. “Tien ya ming yue dao” when viewing is formed in a special logical construction, the quest, its episodes contain levers to other episodes that actualize this or that “piano in the bushes”. In other words, the Magic Blade has a wildly cool plot.
This is one of those movies that are automatically read for quotes. The beauty and dynamism can be compared with the classic Italian westerns, comedies of the Marx brothers, the anime Samurai Champlou and other unconditional monuments of cinema.
A funny association emerged with Zabriski Point, a godlessly leftist film imbued with a boring, schematic hippanic worldview, some subcultural contempt for hierarchies and money. "Tien ya ming yue dao" in this regard is much more expressive, and, sorry, "left" - the main character also expresses an aversion to power and greed, but his worldview is determined not by ideology, but by honor, constant reflection and a sense of duty. This not only makes my (absurd) association of these films viable, but also sharpens the perception of the film itself - when the hero gives a very pathetic speech about the importance of being alive and expedient, his words are rejoicing, like when in early childhood you read a book about honest and cool cowboys.
“Tien ya ming yue dao” is a beautiful, naive and important film about how vanity is bad and freedom is a thorny path that is interesting to walk along.