Cinema
The Holy Robe of the Shaolin Temple
木棉袈裟
Tsui Siu-ming · 1984
Synopsis
The persecutors of the Shaolin monastery, the imperial guard of the late Ming according to a Chinese blog, the Manchus according to Far East Films, impose on it as abbot a henchman disguised as a monk. The temple is besieged; its old abbot, before dying, entrusts to a few disciples, among them the young Huineng, the monastery's relic, a kapok robe, to be carried to a distant temple. Pursued relentlessly, the monks come across a young woman, Lin Ying, on the steppe, who helps them.
Context
The film, co-produced by Hong Kong and the mainland, came in the wake of the success of The Shaolin Temple, according to Sina's blog. Tsui Siu-ming directed it, wrote the screenplay with Chang Hua and choreographed the fights, according to the British critic. Yu Rongguang plays the villain; it was his first film, and Lin Qiuping, who plays Lin Ying, had won six national taijiquan titles, according to Sina's blog. The director says that Taiwan demanded a letter of repentance from him; he refused and was, along with his films, banned on the island for six years.
Who it is for
A martial arts film of about a hundred minutes, with many fights; no French release is established.
Prizes and reception
According to a website devoted to martial arts cinema, it set a record in mainland China for the number of copies put into circulation.
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