King Hu's A Touch of ZenA Touch of Zen is one of the first Chinese-language films to gain recognition in an international film festival (the Grand Prix at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival), creating the generic mould for the "crossover" success of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in 2000. The film has achieved a cult status over the years but little has been written about it. This first book-length study of the classic martial arts film therefore redresses its critical neglect, and explores its multi-leveled dimensions and mysteries. One of the central features of the film is the enigmatic knight-lady (xia nü) whose quest for revenge leads her to cross paths with a poor scholar whose interest in military strategy seals their alliance. Teo discusses the psychological manifestations and implications of this relationship and concludes that the film's continuing relevance lies in its portrait of sexuality and the feminist desires of the heroine. Teo also analyzes the film's form as an action piece and the director's preoccupation with Zen as a creative inspiration and as a subject in its own right. As such, he argues that the film is a highly unconventional and idiosyncratic work which attempts to transcend its own genre and reach the heights of universal transcendence. Teo grounds his study in both Western and Chinese literary sources, providing a broad and comprehensive treatise based on the film's narrative concepts and symbols. |
Contents
1 | |
Pu Songling and the Spider | 17 |
Ghosts and the Desire to See 29 | 29 |
Seduction and Politics Fight and Flight | 51 |
The Battle of the Haunted Mansion | 77 |
The Zen Finale | 91 |
Conclusion | 107 |
Appendix 1 | 121 |
Credits | 159 |
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Common terms and phrases
achieved action appears audience Bordwell Buddhist Cannes Film Festival chapter character Chinese Confucian cosmic spider Crouching Tiger Da's destiny director dongchang Dragon Inn eunuch fantastic Fate of Lee female femininity feminism feminist film's flashback general's mansion ghost story girl Gu Shengzhai Gu's mother Haunted Mansion heroes homosexuality Hong Kong cinema Hu Jinquan Huang Ren Hui Yuan Huizhen ibid International Film Jung Karl Abraham karmic kill King Hu Kristeva kung fu Lee Khan Lian Liaozhai zhiyi loyalists male martial arts masculinity monks motif mystery narrative original story Ouyang Nian predestiny psychological Pu Songling repressed role scholar sexual Sha Yung-fong Shaw Brothers shot spectral mother spider symbol strategy studio supernatural sword Taiwan Touch of King Touch of Zen transcendence Union Valiant violence Wei Zhongxian wuxia films wuxia genre xia nü Xu Xianchun Yang Lian Yang's Yingjie Yinse shijie Cinemart Yu Qian Yuan's Zen patriarch Zhang Zhuge Liang