Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Clans of Intrigue Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 22, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow's Shawscope Volume Three set.

It's maybe not even that much of a joke to state that lately it has felt like there's a new Blu-ray release of a venerable Shaw Brothers film coming out every week, and in fact there have been some weeks where my own review queue has had more than one Blu-ray release of a Shaw Brothers film in any given seven day period. That said, and even granting a two title per week release schedule, it would take literally years, and arguably maybe even a decade or more, for labels to get around to releasing the entire Shaw Brothers output. In that regard, then, this massive newest volume in Arrow's evidently ongoing Shawscope series may be thought of as something of a "shortcut", at least in terms of offering a veritable gaggle of films, even if wending your way through this gargantuan enterprise will hardly seem short in any way, shape or form, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Once again, as with the first two volumes in this series, Arrow has aggregated both better known and lesser known films, delivered with typically solid technical merits and some very appealing supplements. This set has been packaged to be a shelf mate with its two "siblings" (for more information on the packaging, see the supplements section in the main Shawscope Volume Three Blu-ray review).

For "rabid completists" interested in what's already been released by Arrow in the Shawscope department, the following review links may be of some assistance:

Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray review

Shawscope Volume Two Blu-ray review

The quasi-"liner notes" for this film included in Arrow's immense insert booklet call Clans of Intrigue "Hitchcockian", though I personally might choose another famous Brit known for mysteries, namely Dame Agatha Christie. This film is rife with martial arts action, of course, but it may be of more interest for a really fun and at times maybe slightly shocking (at least for its time) plot that sees a focal character who in fact might be compared to the central figure in Hitchcock's The Wrong Man , in that he's unjustly accused of a crime (in this case murder rather than a "mere" robbery). That said, once Chu Liuxiang (Ti Lung) has been accused and given one month to clear his name, his investigations uncover a multigenerational saga of intrigue and subterfuge that I personally found quite reminiscent of any number of Christie tales ( A Murder is Announced, available on Blu-ray as part of Miss Marple: Volume 1, springs instantly to mind).

Without getting into anything resembling spoiler territory, there are "secret" identities galore suffusing this mystery, and one of the "reveals" seems positively provocative when placed within the context of a seventies film. The film is based on a series of stories by Gu Long, and in fact Ti Lung went on to play the character of Chu Liuxiang againLegend of the Bat and Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman. That fact may obviously give away the none too surprising denouement that Chu is in fact able to clear his name, if only after a lot of interstitial chicanery.

Clans of Intrigue Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Clans of Intrigue is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's almost overwhelming insert booklet lumps all the films together on its informational page about the transfers, as follows:

All fourteen films in this boxset are presented in their original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with their original Mandarin plus Cantonese and/or English (where applicable) monaural soundtracks. Every effort has been made to present these films in their original and complete versions using the best materials available.

One-Armed Swordsman was restored in 4K resolution by Celestial Pictures and L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2020. Additional grading was completed at R3store Studios, London in 2024.

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, The New One-Armed Swordsman, The Lady Hermit, Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, The 14 Amazons, The Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Jade Tiger, The Sentimental Swordsman, The Avenging Eagle, Killer Constable, Buddha's Palm and Bastard Swordsman have all been newly restored by Arrow Films in 2024, in collaboration with L'Immagine Ritrovata, Hong Kong Film Archive and Celestial Pictures. The original 35mm negatives for these films were scanned at L'Immagine Ritrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, The New One-Armed Swordsman, Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, The 14 Amazons, The Avenging Eagle, Killer Constable and Buddha's Palm were graded at R3store Studios, Lady Hermit, The Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Jade Tiger, The Sentimental Swordsman and Bastard Swordsman were graded at Dragon DI, Wales. These restorations have used the entire film negative without resorting to the practice of "framecutting" resulting in the loss of film frames at each negative splice point.

The mono mixes were remastered from the original sound negatives at L'Immagine Ritrovata. Additional sound remastering was completed by Matthew Jarman/Bad Princess Productions. The audio synch will often seem loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue and sound effects were recorded entirely during post-production, as per the production standards of the period.

All original materials supplied for these restorations were made available from the Hong Kong Film Archive via Celestial Pictures. The additional sequences in the uncensored version of Clans of Intrigue were sourced from a 35mm print held by Celestial Pictures. For the presentation of the alternate South Korean cut of Killer Constable, efforts were made to access original film materials for this version held at the Korean Film Archive, but this was not possible. A Korean VHS copy was used as a guide to reconstruct this cut in high definition, using the new 2K restoration of the original Hong Kong version for the bulk of the film and standard-definition inserts for the audio and unique footage. The original trailers were restored by Arrow Films from the original 35mm materials held at the Hong Kong Film Archive.

The disc also offers the following information and playing options when accessing the Play Menu:

Four extended scenes that were censored from the negative and all video versions of Clans of Intrigue were found in the Celestial Pictures Archives.

You can view the film with or without these scenes through seamless branching, though you may notice a drop in picture and sound quality due to the condition of the surviving materials.

Putting aside the variances the uncensored material offer, this is even without those moments a sometimes variable looking presentation. I found the first half hour or so to have less than fulsome densities and saturation, though things start to improve at around the 30 minute mark, and when there's finally some good, old fashioned outdoor material (if only briefly), there's some vibrant pop to the palette. Otherwise, though, I found quite a bit of this presentation to be kind of pale, though interestingly some of the almost pastel hues that adorn some of the costumes in particular still resonated reasonably well. A lot of the film takes place either in near darkness or actually at night, and as such fine detail can at times be relatively minimal. In better lighting, textures on fabrics in costumes or sets are rendered well. This is another presentation with quite a few anamorphic oddities sprinkled throughout, including a couple of almost fish eyed moments as cameras pan. Probably due at least in part to the widely changing lighting conditions, grain can definitely spike and ebb, and some moments have a fairly splotchy yellow or blue hued grain field.

Clans of Intrigue Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Interestingly, at least given the glut of Mandarin / English pairings dotting this set of Shawscope features, Clans of Intrigue offers either Mandarin or Cantonese language tracks in LPCM Mono. There's frankly not a ton of difference between the two that I could discern in terms of overall amplitude or mixes, though that said dialogue and voiceover can sound just slightly phased in Cantonese, something that may be exacerbated by a slightly brighter high end on the Cantonese track. Otherwise, though, the two tracks are largely interchangeable, and as so often tends to be the case, no matter what language is chosen, sync as they say can be loose. Dialogue is rendered without any issues whatsoever. Optional English subtitles are available.

Clans of Intrigue Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by James Mudge


• Theatrical Trailers

  HK Theatrical Trailer (Mandarin #1) (HD; 3:05)

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer (Mandarin #2) (HD; 4:04)

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer (Cantonese) (HD; 3:05)

Clans of Intrigue Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I actually found the mystery side of this offering probably more consistently engaging than the martial arts activity. A plot element that may not be exactly the same but it still arguably maybe The Crying Game adjacent is just one of several little twists the story offers. Technical merits are generally solid, though I found the video presentation to be a little wan at times. James Mudge's commentary is a worthwhile listen. Recommended.