By the time 1994 came around, Hong Kong cinema had mastered the art of Wire Fu. Ching Siu Tung changed how this genre of wuxia had been portrayed on film with the classic A Chinese Ghost Story (ably assisted by producer Tsui Hark), Jet Li with his stints as both […]
Wuxia
Brotherhood of Blades (2014) An all-too-rare outing for that classic Shaw Brothers-style yarn (Review)
It’s not the language barrier, nor the theatrics and flamboyance, no, the biggest cross for martial arts cinema to bear is context. As a Westerner, many of the nuances of Eastern history allude me, unfortunately, its those very nuances that the historical martial arts film (Wuxia) concerns itself with. Even […]
The Assassin (2016) The martial arts film as a beautiful arts saga (Review)
The Assassin (Hsiao-Hsien Hou) is loosely based on a seventh-century folk tale about a female assassin assigned with re-establishing equilibrium to the corrupt Tang Dynasty court. Shu Qi plays Nie Yinniang, the formidable female protagonist, who has been trained since the age of Ten to be a silent slayer for […]