A Touch of Zen

Original title: Xia nü

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

7.6K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer1:51

1 Video

44 Photos

Wuxia Action Adventure Drama Thriller

A lady fugitive on the run from corrupt government officials is joined in her endeavors by an unambitious painter and skilled Buddhist monks.A lady fugitive on the run from corrupt government officials is joined in her endeavors by an unambitious painter and skilled Buddhist monks.A lady fugitive on the run from corrupt government officials is joined in her endeavors by an unambitious painter and skilled Buddhist monks.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

7.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total

Videos1

Trailer 1:51

A Touch of Zen

Photos44

+ 38

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Director King Hu had a full village constructed for the opening half of the movie, and then left it alone for nine months to give it a weathered look.

Goofs
The film is set in the 14th century AD. However, the Gu family have maize (corn) drying outside their house - this crop is American in origin and did not reach China until the 16th century.

Quotes
Ku Shen Chai: Have you seen Miss Yang, the lady who lives here?
General Shih Wen-chiao: No, I'm blind.
Ku Shen Chai: Forgive me.
General Shih Wen-chiao: Miss Yang and her mother are gone.
Ku Shen Chai: Mr. Shih! She said you should run for your life too. Do you know where she went?
General Shih Wen-chiao: No.
Ku Shen Chai: I have to find her!
[Shih pulls out a sword as two soldiers fly down from the sky and attack, but are quickly killed in a few brief strokes of the sword]
Ku Shen Chai: Mr. Shih! Mr. Shih, who are you really?
General Shih Wen-chiao: I'm not blind, that's for sure.

Alternate versions
A Touch Of Zen was originally released in Taiwan in two parts with a total running time of 3 hours 20 minutes. However, the bamboo forest sequence which ended part one was reprised at the beginning of part two, adding over 20 minutes to the total running time. When the two parts were combined by King Hu without any repeated scenes in 1975, the resulting total time was 3 hours. The 2015 4K restoration from the original negative runs 2 hours 59 minutes.

Connections
Featured in La Menace (1977)

User reviews41

Review

Featured review

9/10

The ultimate martial arts movie?

I first saw 'A Touch of Zen' in the late 70s; it had such an effect on me that I looked for it on video for years and years, but to no avail - then to my relief it was shown on TV during a martial arts night twenty years later. In fact it was shown as the finale of that night - so perhaps I am not the only person who thinks this is the ultimate martial arts film.

It is over three hours long; the first hour is mainly scene-setting and not much happens, but this just adds to the impact. All you could want in a film is here - tension, action, arty filmwork, a kind of love interest, action, beautifully choreographed fights, intrigue, action, comedy, philosophy.... and a monk who is so pure that when he is wounded he bleeds.... well, you'd better see for yourself what he bleeds.

A must-see (if you have three hours to spare).