Drama about the emotional problems left behind by a young explorer murdered in the Matto Grosso jungle in South America. (Shotlist)Work historyTV play. Second part of writer Kenneth Jupp's "Chelsea Trilogy"; see also The PHOTOGRAPHER (tx 29/1/1968) and The TYCOON (tx 30/12/1968).
Forced behind British lines by engine problems, the Red Baron camouflages his plane, swaps uniforms with a dead soldier, and, posing as a Belgian, makes his way to a hospital.
Centring on the legend of the four ancient Chinese heroines, the film was a novelty for audiences at the time, as the singing performance was in Cantonese and used huangmei operatic rhythms—a popular trend in the 1960s, yet it retained traditional flavours by using operatic luogu percussion in the battle scenes.
A portrait of alienation is sketched out, focusing on a young art student who passively, but consciously, rejects responsibility for the political storms swirling about her.