A Touch of Zen

Director: King Hu, King Hu, King Hu, King Hu

1971 / 180min / DCP

The first wuxia movie to attract international prestige—belatedly awarded a Technical Grand Prize at Cannes in 1975, and the key influence on Ang Lee’s 2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon—Hu’s ripping yarn of chivalry and intrigue, set in Ming dynasty China, follows an effete scholar (Shih Chun) as he gets caught up with an indomitable female fugitive and fighter (Hsu Feng), sweeping him (and us) into a fever dream of mystical proportions, both romantic and suspenseful.