| Saviour of the Soul | |||||||||||
| Native Name: |
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| Cinematography: | Peter Pau | ||||||||||
| Studio: | Teamwork Motion Pictures | ||||||||||
| Distributor: | Newport Entertainment | ||||||||||
| Runtime: | 98 minutes | ||||||||||
| Country: | Hong Kong | ||||||||||
| Language: | Cantonese | ||||||||||
| Gross: | HK$36,476,495 | ||||||||||
Saviour of the Soul (Chinese: 魔宮奇俠; released in the Philippines as The Good and the Bad) is a 1991 Hong Kong martial arts action film, directed by Corey Yuen, and starring Andy Lau, Anita Mui and Aaron Kwok.
The film adapts elements from the Japanese manga series City Hunter, including its characters, but with a mostly different plot; the manga later received an official adaptation with Jackie Chan's City Hunter in 1993.[1] Saviour of the Soul II was released in 1992, but both films are not related to each other. Saviour of the Soul is the first film produced by lead actor Lau's film company, Teamwork Motion Pictures.
Ching (Andy Lau), May-kwan (Anita Mui) and Siu-chuen (Kenny Bee) are famous mercenaries who capture wanted criminals for a living. However, they are involved in a love triangle, as Siu-chuen is in love with May-kwan and has proposed to her, but May-kwan is in love with Ching and has been expressing her feelings for him all the time. May-kwan had blinded Old Eagle (Henry Fong), a member of the Green Dragon Society, earlier and he entrust his disciple, Silver Fox (Aaron Kwok) to seek vengeance on her by paying his disciple with his life. While picking up Siu-chuen's younger sister, Wai-heung (Gloria Yip), at a train station, Ching finally decides to propose marriage to May-kwan, but Siu-chuen is killed by the Fox while trying to save May-kwan, who then blinds Fox's right eye. Under the suggestion of her older sister May-wai (Mui in a dual role), May-kwan leaves Ching claiming she needs time to forget Siu-chuen, but to really keep him from Fox's wrath. However, Ching thinks of May-kwan everyday constantly seeks her by bugging her sister. During May-kwan's absence, Ching trains Wai-heung to be his assistant while also sharpening his swordplay skills.
On the night of Wai-heung's sixteenth birthday, the Madam of Pets (Carina Lau) is holding a martial arts contest to choose her husband and May-wai tricks Ching into believing the Madam of Pets is May-kwan. Ching enters the competition without an invitation card by knocking out the Madam of Pets' guards and proceeds to defeat the top competitor, Mr. Ford (Danny Poon), but the other competitors attempt to grab the Madam of Pets for themselves. During the chaos, Ching manages to remove the veil that the Madam of Pets covers her face with and realizes she is not May-kwan and leaves which upsets the Madam of Pets. Ching then confronts May-wai for tricking him but gets knocked unconscious when she shoots him with a Suffocate Bullet. She then unsuccessfully attempts to lure Ching to New York City before Silver Fox sneaks into her house and finds out where May-kwan is as he tapped her phone line before attacking her with his Thunder Bomb. Ching, who was hiding in May-wai's house to overhear her phone call with May-kwan, comes out and May-wai finally reveals to him that his sister has been living in the flat across from his.
Ching rushes to May-kwan and also calls Wai-heung over, but is a step behind Silver Fox. During their fight, Silver Fox inhales some Horrible Angel drugs and attacks May-kwan with by going through her body, which will turn her into Fox's slave in 24 hours. Ching arrives at this moment and engages in a swordfight with Fox and brings May-kwan to the hospital after fending him off. Wai-heung, who has a crush on Ching, hears May-kwan constantly murmuring Ching's name when the latter gains conscious and tells Ching the truth that May-kwan never loved her brother and was in love with him the whole time, and is heartbroken. Ching hugs May-kwan and finally expresses his for her love while the latter also expresses how much she missed him and knowing that her time is almost up, she tells him to destroy her when she becomes a Horrible Angel before falling unconscious again. Ching then bumps into May-wai who is treating her injuries inflicted by Fox's Thunder Bomb the hospital and forces her to reveal to him that the Madam of Pets is the only person that can save May-kwan.
Ching then brings May-kwan into the palace of the Madam of Pets and begs her to save his lover. However, the Madam of Pets is still upset at Ching and forces him to kneel through a trail of shattered glass which cut his knees. Despite fulfilling her request, the Madam of Pets still refuses to save May-kwan and Ching brings May-kwan home where he had turned on the gas pipes for it to explode when she becomes a Horrible Angel so they will die together and they embrace their moments together. However, Silver Fox arrives at May-kwan's flat capturing May-wai and Wai-heung and engages in a battle with Ching where is attacks Ching with Horrible Angel a couple of times before Ching snatches the drugs from Fox and inhales it himself. As Ching gains the upper hand, the Horrible Angel in May-kwan starts to take effect and Fox commands her to attack Ching. However, Ching is able to stop this by going through May-kwan's body with his Horrible Angel then lures Fox to his flat where the gas pipes he turned on explode. While Ching is struggling with Fox, the Madam of Pets and her followers arrive and save May-kwan from the explosion and also giving her the antidote to the Horrible Angel and claims to have save her so she will never be Ching, while in actuality she gave her an extra antidote for Ching, who survives the explosion as he took cover under a bathtub. Ching and May-kwan leaves and they roam the world together as a couple.
Saviour of the Soul was released in Hong Kong on 19 December 1991. In the Philippines, the film was released by First Films as The Good and the Bad on 23 September 1993; Andy Lau is credited in local posters as "Ricky Chan."[2] [3]
| Awards and nominations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Outcome |
| 11th Hong Kong Film Awards | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Aaron Kwok | ||
| Best Cinematography | Peter Pau | ||
| Best Film Editing | Poon Hung, Hai Kit-wai | ||
| Best Art Direction | Yee Chung-Man | ||
| Best Action Choreography | Yuen Tak | ||
| 29th Golden Horse Awards | Best Cinematography | Peter Pau | |
| Best Art Direction | Yee Chung-Man | ||
| Best Makeup & Costume Design | Shirley Chan | ||
| Best Action Choreography | Yuen Tak | ||