A Little TLC(w): The Yang’s Saga: Episode 5 (1986)

Even though I’ve seen foreign-language films from a variety of countries, with a particular, Tony-Leung-Chiu-wai-driven emphasis on Hong Kong movies, The Yang’s Saga is the first TV property I’ve ever seen that isn’t in English. It’s been really interesting, over the course of this miniseries, to get a look at a different TV culture. I’m not about to make any sweeping generalizations about Hong Kong television based on this single exposure from the 1980s, of course, but it’s been a neat way to broaden my horizons (no full-on spoilers, but spoilery allusions.)

 

The events of the last episode have shaken the house of Yang, and as the war with the Liaos takes a heavy toll, the Yang matriarch, their only daughter, and the seven sons’ wives do what they can to stand for the family and hold things together. In the Emperor Song’s court, advisors try to open his eyes to a traitor in his midst.

 

It’s hard to get into too many specifics without entering spoiler territory here, so I’ll keep more to the edges. More great action, and a nice bit of unexpected humor derived from a minor character, an industrious, down-on-his-luck magistrate called to the court.

 

One thing I appreciate about this series is that, even though the women aren’t generally the focus, they’re frequently shown to be very capable. Here, the wives of Sixth Boy and Seventh Boy take it upon themselves to investigate something vital to the family, and most of the Yang women/in-laws can hold their own nicely in a fight. It’s also a quality that applies pretty equally to both heroic and villainous characters; the Liaos are led by a scheming matriarch, her husband serving largely as a figurehead, the bandits from episode 2 are led by women, and Royal Consort Pan is just as conniving as her father and brothers. Despite remaining mostly in secondary roles, the female characters’ roles aren’t worthless, and whenever they are brought to the fore, they generally make an impact.

 

I’m including this episode in A Little TLC(w) because Leung appears in it, but I really can’t say much of anything about Seventh Boy here without spoilers. So, in lieu of that, I’ll head straight to my final impressions on The Yang’s Saga.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – If you like martial arts period pieces, I think so. It’s not a perfect series, but it has some engaging characters/interactions and strong fight scenes.

 

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – I would. While this was early days for Leung’s career and his abilities have grown by leaps and bounds since then, this is still a nice example of the potential he displayed from the start. I really enjoyed Seventh Boy as a character, and a lot of that is down to Leung’s honest performances.

 

Warnings

 

Violence, light sexual references, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.

A Little TLC(w): The Yang’s Saga: Episode 4 (1986)

A pivotal episode. A lot goes down here, and some of the looser plot threads from earlier episodes come together in a big way. I’ll tread lightly to avoid spoilers.

The Yangs and the Pans have both pledged to serve the Emperor Song in fighting against the rebelling Liao clan. But while the Pans are in charge of calling the shots with the army, it’s largely the Yang sons executing those orders on the field, giving the grudge-holding Pans a lot of power over the Yangs’ lives. Also exerting a lot of power over the Yangs’ lives? Lord Yang, whose devotion to his Emperor outweighs his concern for his sons. When Liao invites the Emperor to a parlay, Lord Yang, fearing a trap, volunteers his sons to go in the Emperor’s place.

There might be a tendency to paint Lord Yang’s actions – in both this episode and the previous one – as “cultural differences,” a societal thrust that demands greater allegiance to sovereign than family. I could see some who might suggest that Lord Yang’s seeming callousness toward his sons’ safety is “a Chinese thing,” but I think that would mischaracterize the situation. For starters, I’m sure plenty of characters on Game of Thrones pulled similar moves, and from a national perspective rather than a familial one, it’s the same sort of mentality behind leaders sending the youth of their nations off to die in wars, especially ones of questionable necessity. And within the narrative itself, it’s clear that Lord Yang has no moral high ground. When he offers up his sons to send them into the belly of the beast, they may ultimately do as he says, but not without protest, and not without shock at his words. Likewise, their mother back home may be loyal to the Emperor, but she cares a lot more about the safety of her boys than the outcome of any war.

I won’t say much about the details of the ongoing war or what occurs at the parlay, for the sake of spoilers, but I will say that there’s some pretty great action in this episode. Cool battle scenes and fights with a lot of character. Some of the characters, by the way, fight using the long spears that I recognize best from Red Cliff, which I think are really neat weapons and lead to some excellent fights. Additionally, we get a couple more tiny glimmers of connection between the humans and the stuff with the deities from the first episode – I wouldn’t necessarily say they all make an abundance of sense, but I appreciate getting something on that front.

Seventh Boy is in the thick of things on the battlefield, very brave/bold and always putting others before himself, although at times he puts sense aside in order to do so. His older brothers repeatedly call on him not to get ahead of himself – he usually obeys, but barely, and only if doing so wouldn’t allow any of his brothers to remain in immediate danger.

This performance didn’t make a huge impression on me early on, and I found it enjoyable but further proof of how far Tony Leung Chiu-wai’s skills have developed since the early days of his career. However, I really am liking it more and more, and even if Seventh Boy is slightly less prominent here than he was in the last two episodes, I was really struck by a key scene here. In particular, I love the scenes that show Seventh Boy’s gradual realization about some of the things the Pans have done. Even though the Yangs and the Pans have been at odds the whole series and Seventh Boy knows they’re not exactly bastions of integrity, there’s a moment here where he stands in the throne room listening to Elder Statesman Pan, and he just looks so dismayed. Seventh Boy is entirely open and artless, and even when he fully expects them to be underhanded and/or treacherous, he’s still bowled over when he witnesses it. It’s a terrific moment of acting, demonstrating how Leung could command the camera even in the days when he was young and green.

A Little TLC(w): The Yang’s Saga: Episode 3 (1986)

I’m getting into the swing of this miniseries more – the further I get into it, the better I can keep track of who’s who and follow the tangled web of what’s going on between the different clans. (I was the same the first time I read The Coast of Utopia; for like half of the first play, I was constantly flipping back to the character list going, “Wait, who’s that again?”) I think I’m also liking it more and more. Having a better handle on all the characters helps, of course, but beyond that, I’m just having a good time.

 

When Seventh Boy takes a rash course of action in an impulsive moment, he puts the entire Yang family in peril. The Pan family is out for blood in retaliation, with the Elder Statesman Pan trying to influence the Emperor against Seventh Boy and the rest of the Yangs. At the same time, Lord Yang is between a rock and a hard place – he doesn’t want to see an example made of his youngest son, but it’s also his duty to uphold the law and he won’t allow for any hypocrisy.

 

Today’s update for “things I have straight now”: the Pan family is the clan that includes Pan Hong, Princess Chai’s suitor/Sixth Boy’s rival from the first episode. Now, I’ve always known that Pan Hong and his ilk are bad news, but keeping track of their names is a newer development for me, making it easier to talk about the story. All the Pans are pieces of work, as evidenced here by 1) some shady deeds during the martial arts tournament from the Pan brothers, 2) Elder Statesman’s Pan attempts to tar the whole Yang family with the same brush as Seventh Boy, and 3) the Pan daughter (a royal consort) using her influence with the Emperor to try and sway things in her family’s favor.

 

I like seeing (nearly) all the Yangs rally around Seventh Boy, even as they all agree that he allowed his hotheadedness to make him do something really ill-advised – it’s a very loving anger, and even as they bemoan his mistakes, they try to shield him from the worst of the Pans’ wrath. And even Lord Yang, for all his strictness and gruffness, cares for Seventh Boy too.

 

That’s two episodes in a row now where Seventh Boy is the most prominent Yang, which I am of course entirely down for. Leung’s performance of the character, while still green and unpolished, continues to endear me to Seventh Boy. He often acts without thinking, but his heart is usually in the right place, and for all the immaturity that his rashness suggests, he also recognizes his mistakes and doesn’t back down from the consequences. Those scenes of his siblings and his mother rallying around him, trying to protect him? They’re followed by scenes of Seventh Boy not running away from his problems because he’s worried that the fallout would land on them instead. The picture we see here is of someone who’s very young, very earnest, not too prudent, not too patient, and very devoted.