This new 4K restoration premiered at this year’s Cannes Classics.
“Looking as fresh as if it was made yesterday… A Touch of Zen is Eastern cinema at its most dynamic and grown-up” – Total Film
One of the primary inspirations for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, A Touch of Zen revolutionised the wuxia (martial arts) genre upon its release in Taiwan in 1971, winning the Technical Grand Prize at Cannes in 1975. Less an action movie than a hauntingly beautiful meditation on politics, loss, love and nature (with some truly dazzling fight scenes thrown in), it remains perhaps King Hu’s greatest and most influential film. Needless to say, the touch fom Zen Buddhism is also very much at the core.
A mild-mannered scholar, Ku, is drawn into palace intrigue when he falls for Yang, a fugitive femme fatale being pursued by the malevolent eunuch Wei, for daring to expose his corruption. A battle is brewing – and Ku has placed himself at the eye of the coming storm.
