A Touch of Zen
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Movie Reviews of A Touch of Zen
Movie Review: SIMPLE, ELEGANT MIX OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY, INCREDIBLE UNSPOILED SCENERY AND ACTION
Summary: 5 Stars
In the first ten minutes I thought it was just okay;
then it did nothing but get better for the next 177 minutes. Director King Hu was a visionary;no wonder so many contemporary movies have explicitly and liberally lifted his ideas.
Unlike so many martial arts' movies, character reigns;
the plot is intricate, evolving and and motivates the action.
And the natural locations make me want to take a very long walk around China. A feeling of reality and naturalness prevails in every scene.
If you buy this, and you should, read the bio of King Hu Jing-Chaun; amazing what he's done and the lasting impact of his work. His genius really shines in Touch of Zen.
Movie Review: This is a Fantastic chinese sword movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the real best sword movies in its history. Personally I like the director
and his works very much but it's pity that the quality of the picture is very poor as it seems not
to have transfered properly to Dvd. on top of that, some dvds of this tile do not have English Subtitle.
A touch of Zen / Come Drink With Me /One Armed sword man / King Boxer are the best of the best to keep
I do recommand personally strongly if you are intrested in this type of movies!!!
Movie Review: A Touch of True Art
Summary: 5 Stars
This King Hu's masterpiece of which there are several but this ones the best. The pacing, characterization and storytelling has never been better but be warned, it starts off slow (stay with it), then your pulled into a mystery building toward a crescendo that is all out explosive. This is one of the films that all the martial art directors were inspired by and a must see for any film enthusiast.Movie Review: One of the Time Magazine Top 100 Films
Summary: 4 Stars
Included in the Time Magazine Best 100 Films of all time list, A Touch of Zen does not disappoint. Though it starts slowly, the momentum gradually increases until the viewer is completely caught up in the story of a refugee woman who seeks the help of two generals, disguised as common townfolk (one a blind man, the other a doctor), and a group of monks led by an abbot whose spiritual strength is expressed in his ability to thwart violence and defeat evil based on deflecting the advances of his enemy and using that deflection to repel whoever attacks.
This mystical bent is strong in the film and lends it some real juice. Also on hand is a poor artist who lives with his mother, a spy who wishes the artist to draw his portrait, the evil eunuch Hsu, a whole bunch of guards/soldiers in service to both Hsu and his "boss" Wei (the equally evil ruler), Mun-Ta (another bad guy), the town magistrate, and, of course, the artist's mother who's on hand for comic relief and as well to provide a touch of humanism to A Touch of Zen. The bad guys had previously tortured and murdered the refugee woman's father and are now out to finish her off, as well as the two generals who have sided with her.
A clear inspiration for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon--as many others have noted--this film boasts quite a few martial arts fights (mainly with swords) and quite a few flying leaps. It's also nice to see that a good looking woman, the refugee, is so adept at martial arts herself--women's lib had apparently hit China before it got to the US!!
This is a three hour film, broken into two parts, so there is actually an opening credit sequence for the second part of the film exactly like the first part sequence and a short (two-minute) recap of the last scene from the first part at the beginning of the second part. In addition, the image is somewhat muddy at times. In spite of these drawbacks (hence the four stars instead of five), this deservedly is part of the Time Magazine Top 100 Film List; it's a gripping story with great visuals and nary a false note anywhere.
Highly recommended.
Movie Review: I wish I'd seen it 25 years ago
Summary: 3 Stars
I first heard of A Touch of Zen when it made the run of the art houses in London in the early 80s. I desperately wanted to see it, but by the time I had a free afternoon, it was already gone. Since then, I've been waiting anxiously for it to show up, first in repertory cinemas, then on VHS, and then on DVD.
Needless to say I was thrilled to see that the film was finally available on DVD. I got a copy as soon as I was able, popped it in the DVD changer, and settled back to watch. Two hours later, somewhat dejected, I found myself wondering whether I really wanted to continue watching this film, since its only remaining appeal to me was as a film history exercise.
All of this film's strong points are visual, and each visual technique has been done better in later films. It's interesting to see where some of these techniques originated (though some of my Chinese friends dispute whether the techniques were original even at the time), but unlike other films with pioneering visual styles (e.g. "The Seven Samurai" or "Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain"), the plot and characters just don't justify sitting through the whole thing.
Also, the film is often too self-consciously artistic, and definitely too long (or at least too slow-paced)... Though that could just be me, I suppose; I also thought "House of Flying Daggers" was too long and slow. (In my defense, I did like "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and "Hero", and I absolutely love all 208 minutes of "The Seven Samurai").
I don't think this film was overrated at the time it came out, but its value was entirely in its innovation, and not in the plot, characters, or even the action. As a result, it just doesn't hold up compared to all that followed.