The 2011 centenary of China's Xinhai Revolution, which ended millennia of imperial rule and ushered in the republican era, presented filmmakers with a revolutionary challenge: how to make the subject matter appealing to modern audiences while traversing complex ideological and historical terrain, yet steering clear of offending the mainland censors. Director Herman Yau Lai-to took up the challenge by attempting to subvert convention in his homage to Qiu Jin, a feminist rebel nicknamed The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake , whose martyrdom, in 1907, was an early salvo in the struggle against the Qing dynasty. Hong Kong's most prolifically eclectic director of the past 20 years turned Qiu's saga into a martial arts adventure related largely in flashbacks, sneaking an abundance of information between fight sequences to chronicle her biography and beliefs. Yau is uniquely suited to bringing together the diverse themes underlying Qiu's life. From the Queen to the Chief Executive (2001) remains one of the most politically bold features shot in Hong Kong; Whispers and Moans (2007) is a refreshingly frank look at women; and The Legend Is Born - Ip Man (2010) and Ip Man - The Final Fight (2013) showcase his skill with the costume kung-fu genre. The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake lacks balance between narrative and action. The martial arts choreography by Tony Leung Siu-hung and Checkley Sin Kwok-lam is too over the top to mesh with the dramatic scenes and is often only tangentially connected to the titular heroine. On the other hand, the film largely avoids the turgid treatise that has been the problem with so many fact-based Chinese sagas, including famed auteur Xie Jin's Qiu Jin - A Revolutionary (1983). Qiu's persona is in little need of artificial embellishment. A lady of letters well versed in wushu and frequently dressed in male garb, she further defies convention by leaving her husband and children to seek higher education in Japan. Scriptwriter Erica Li Man is at her best when delving into such passages, combining the genre demands of her Ip Man scenario with the sensitivity to women's issues she so entertainingly displayed in My Mother is a Belly Dancer (2006). Adding to the texture is Yau's offbeat casting. The role of Qiu was a natural choice for Li Lihua when the saga was first brought before Hong Kong cameras six decades ago in The Dawn of China's Revolution (1953). Crystal Huang Yi, on the other hand, does not spring to mind when thinking of a 21st-century Qiu. Huang does a great job of combining the protagonist's intellectual and athletic prowess, even managing to hold her own when pitted against accomplished scene stealers Anthony Wong Chau-sang and Lam Suet. The two deliver nuanced portrayals of Qing officials sympathetic to Qiu but nonetheless duty bound to prosecute. Their moral dilemmas are one of the epic's more gratifying aspects. 48hours@scmp.com The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake , January 18, 2pm, Hong Kong Film Archive. Part of the Movie Talk IV programme
