Cinema
A Touch of Zen
俠女
King Hu · 1971
Synopsis
Under the Ming, in a mountain village, Gu, a scholar without ambition, lives with his mother, who would like to see him married, and earns his living as a painter and public letter-writer. A stranger commissions his portrait. A young woman, Yang, moves with her mother into the ruined fort nearby, and Gu falls in love with her. He learns that she is on the run: her father, who had warned the emperor against the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, has been killed, and the secret police are hunting her; the man with the portrait is on her trail.
Context
Based on a tale by Pu Songling, the film was produced in Taiwan by the Union Film company. Shooting lasted a little over three years (more than two according to TCM and the University of Wisconsin); building the fort alone took nine months. Judged too long, it was released in Taiwan in two parts, in 1970 and 1971, without success, then in a single version in Hong Kong. The fights, choreographed by Han Ying-chieh, were composed in the editing, with jumps on a trampoline. Restored, it was shown at Cannes Classics in 2015 and rereleased in France on 29 July of the same year.
Who it is for
A three-hour film, in Mandarin, in which the swordplay film meets Chan Buddhism; re-released in France in 2015.
Prizes and reception
Grand Prix for technical achievement at Cannes in 1975; Ang Lee says that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon bears the mark of its director.
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