"When it comes to the wuxia film, all roads lead back to the great King Hu: supreme fantasist, Ming dynasty scholar, and incomparable artist. For years, Hu labored on his own, creating one exquisitely crafted film after another (with astonishing pre-CGI visual effects), elevating the martial-arts genre to unparalleled heights…
Hu’s three-years-in-the-making masterpiece, A Touch of Zen, was released in truncated form in Hong Kong in 1971… A close-to-complete version was constructed by Hu and shown at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, where he won a grand prize for technical achievement (and earned an apology from his studio heads)." — New York Film Festival
A Touch of Zen
Xia nu
Taiwan 1971
180 mins
CinemaScope/DCP
In Mandarin with English subtitles
Director/Screenplay: King Hu
Producers: Sha Yung-feng, Hsia-wu Liang Fong
Photography: Hua Huiying
Editors: King Hu, Wang Chin-chen
Music: Wu Dajiang
With: Hsu Feng (Yang Huizhen), Shih Chun (Gu Shengzhai), Bai Ying (General Shi Wen-chiao), Tien Peng (Ouyang Nian), Roy Chiao Hung (Abbot Hui-yuan)
For tickets and details about films at other venues, please visit the New Zealand International Film Festival website.