The greatest of martial arts movies returns, looking and sounding better than ever, to the giant Civic screen.

"Widely and rightly regarded as not only one of the finest martial arts films ever made, but one of the greatest works in all Chinese cinema, King Hu’s A Touch of Zen is most often lauded for its extraordinary fight sequences. Why the film is so exceptional, however, is that as great as these fight scenes are (and they are spectacular), they may not even be the best part of the movie." — Jeremy Carr, Mubi

"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.