The Crimson Palm

Film genres tend to follow a cyclical life-cycle: first, a film or two introduces a new genre; then, if the introductory films are successful, more films follow in the trailblazers’ wake. These first-wave films can be simple recreations of the original films — success begets imitation, after all —  or they might tweak the formula slightly, looking for an even more profitable result.

Eventually, the genre settles into a predictable rhythm. Producers find out what works and stick to the safe bets. As the genre begins to age and wear out its welcome, filmmakers begin to experiment, mutating the tried-and-true formula hoping to evolve it into something new. If this works, a new genre appears and the life-cycle begins anew. If not, the genre fades away.

Introduced in 1958, by 1964 the haungmei opera genre had settled into its quiet middle age; while some exceptional opera films were being made — Lady General Hua Mu Lan, for example — many more were simply following the successful huangmei formula.

The Crimson Palm falls into the latter camp, unfortunately. Despite the presence of hauangmei superstar Ivy Ling Po, little in the film elevates it above the mass of haungmei films released in the mid-60s. It’s never bad, it’s just lifeless.

Part of the problem may be the unavoidable familiarity of the plot. Most of the “star-crossed-lovers betrayed by the justice system” story-line mirrors 1963’s The Adultress. Even that film’s climactic ending reappears here — and it would be used again in 1965’s Inside The Forbidden City.

1964 would be the end of haungmei’s complacent middle age. In 1965, slightly more adventurous haungmei films began to appear: The Mermaid pushed special effects; The Grand Substitution reflected the growing trend of manly violence in Shaw films;Inside the Forbidden City kept the haungmei structure, but explored darker themes of revenge. None of this experimentation worked, however. Haungmei never managed to evolve into a new genre, and largely disappeared from Shaw Brothers by the late 1960s.

The Crimson Palm
Dir: Chen Yu-hsin
Released: October 28, 1964