Happy Birthday, King Hu! Born today in 1932 as Hu Jinquan (but better known as King Hu,) this Chinese set designer, actor, screenwriter and film director was based in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
He is best known for directing various wuxia films in the 1960s and 1970s, which brought Hong Kong and Taiwanese cinema to new technical and artistic heights.
Three of his most notable films had inaugurated a new generation of wuxia films in the late 1960s.
Wuxia,(which literally means "martial heroes"), is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China.
These three films include the 1966 Hong Kong wuxia action/martial arts film 'Dà zui xiá' ('Come Drink with Me'), the 1967 Taiwanese Eastmancolor wuxia action/adventure film 'Lóng Mén Kè Zhàn' ('Dragon Inn', also known as 'Dragon Gate Inn') and the 1971 Taiwanese/Hong Kong epic action/adventure film 'Xiá nǚ' ('A Touch of Zen', lit. 'Hero Woman').
Of these, Hu is best known for co-writing and directing 'Come Drink with Me' and co-editng, co-writing and directing 'A Touch of Zen'.
Shot in color, the first film is set in ancient China where a violent gang kidnaps a general's son to secure the release of their leader from prison.
Little do they know that the general's daughter Chang Hsuan-yen (or "Golden Swallow") (Cheng Pei-pei) is a feisty and skilled sword fighter. She is also a mistress of disguise, who has fighting skills to match.
Little do they know that the general's daughter Chang Hsuan-yen (or "Golden Swallow") (Cheng Pei-pei) is a feisty and skilled sword fighter. She is also a mistress of disguise, who has fighting skills to match.
'Come Drink with Me' is widely considered to be one of the best Hong Kong films ever made. Despite popular myth, Jackie Chan does not appear in the film.
Being Hu's grandest work, (and with a runtime of over three hours), the last films set in a remote mountain village in Ming China in 14th century A.D. and tells of our lead, Ku Shen Chai (Chun Shih).
Chai is an unambitious scholar and painter in his early thirties, who still lives with his mother. However, he is shaken from his comfortable rut by the arrival of beautiful and mysterious Yang Hui-ching (Feng Hsu), a princess on the run from Gen. Ou-Yang Nin (Tien Peng), who murdered her entire family.
Yang brings Chai into her circle of protectors, including Nin's rival, Gen. Shih Wen-Chiao (Ying Bai) as well as the nameless monk (Roy Chiao) whose spiritual guidance transforms Ku into a valiant fighter.
Four years later, 'A Touch of Zen' won the Technical Grand Prize award at the 28th Cannes Film Festival in May 1975.
“Visionary” barely begins to describe this masterpiece of Chinese cinema and martial arts moviemaking. At once a wuxia film, the tale of a spiritual quest, and a study in human nature.
'A Touch of Zen' is an unparalleled work in Hu’s formidable career and an epic of the highest order, characterized by breathtaking action choreography, stunning widescreen landscapes, and innovative editing.
In the film, Jackie Chan has an uncredited role as a stuntman extra.
Hu had been active from 1956–1993.
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