STORY STUDY - CRITERION WEEK “825. A Touch of Zen”

Imagine living a pretty idyllic life when a few people you’ve never seen before comes into town, and it’s revealed a manhunt is being conducted.

Directed and written by King Hu (胡金铨), A Touch of Zen (俠女) is about a scholar/painter whose town is visited by guards represented by a corrupt Eunuch to bring back a fugitive for execution.

When the fugitive and her friends arrive in town, the scholar befriends and eventually sleeps with her. He decides to assist her in fighting back her killers.

The film is absolutely gorgeous and set a standard for martial arts filmmaking, inspiring filmmakers from then on. Admittedly, the choreography of the swordfighting is very quick and simplistic, a lot of slashing and blocking, and chasing. No clever and complex choreography. I am a sucker of the sound effects of these kinds of films: the whoosh you hear when a sword is swung, and the clanging that occurs when swords clash. However it’s the cinematography that’s the highlight of the film.

Light shining behind the characters, how a bamboo forest is… it all has a hypnotizing feel to it.

The film is very long, just hitting three hours. Normally, this would be no big deal; risky, but not unheard of. However, it was a unique viewing experience when it was released in Taiwan, the film being released in two parts, much like how Kill Bill was split and released somewhat close to each other. It’s not a King Hu film that I would recommend to just anyone, though another one of his films that Criterion acquired is a film I would recommend, and will be discussed another time.

The majority of the story is told through the point of view of the scholar, the only non-martial artist in the entire story. He does go through a character arc, basically starting as a man-child to becoming a mature man. I say majority because once the group fights off the guards in town, and escapes, the film continues with the fugitive’s journey in escaping her captives. The scholar sometimes comes into play, but the fugitive has her own storyline that gets focused as well.

There are some film techniques that are used to show how unique and ethereal other characters are, but that would go into spoiler territory.

I found out about the film when the Criterion Collection chose it to be a future release. There are not a lot of martial arts films that they acquire, and the fact that it’s one from a very influential, Asian filmmaker made me curious to check out his work.

A Touch of Zen has the visual aesthetic of an art film, but with a widely accessible story. It’s definitely not for the casual viewer, but it’s a certainly a film that has been and will continue to inspire martial arts filmmakers.