The Bastard (1973) poster
1973 · kung-fu · shaw-brothers · revenge

The Bastard

Directed by Chor Yuen1h 42m1973
  • sombre
  • brisk
  • intense

Little Bastard searches for the parents who abandoned him as an infant, with the help of Little Beggar. He finds his father, who is a powerful and wealthy manl and is taken in by him and his family. Before long Little Bastard is seduced by his attractive cousin, making Little Beggar very jealous. However, the seduction and family welcome are all part of a nefarious plan.

Our read · The Bastard (1973) reads as a sombre, breathless, grounded kung-fu · shaw-brothers · revenge entry — extreme in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, cold in temperature, ambivalent in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

Cast
Tsung HuaLily LiChiao LinChing MiaoDanny Lau Dan
Where to watch

No streaming listing for Latvia right now — try the search links below.

More info & search links
Fingerprint

The shape of The Bastard

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
Nearest by DNA

Eight films that read most like this one.

Geometric closeness in the twelve-axis space — pure DNA distance, not “people also liked.” Distance numbers are listed under each title for sceners who like to know the maths.

Your take
Rate it
star-clip-1-0star-clip-2-0star-clip-3-0star-clip-4-0star-clip-5-0
React
Discussion

Discussion

⌘↵ to post

What does your Movie DNA look like?

Rate a few films you've seen. We map your taste across the same twelve axes and find the films you'll actually want to watch tonight.

Calibrate yourself