Gu Sheng-zhai, an artist in his early 30s, still lives with his mother, but he is suddenly shaken by the arrival of Yang Hui-zhen, a mysterious princess on the run. Yang brings Gu into her circle of protectors, including a nameless monk whose spiritual guidance transforms him into a valiant fighter.
[King Hu] has not ignored traditional mayhem here, but he has demonstrated that pictorial artistry, Zen mysticism and the stylized martial arts, can make a fascinating mix.
– A.H. Weiler,
New York Times,
9 May 2005
fresh:
A widely acclaimed martial arts film (1971) by Hong Kong's King Hu, one of the handful of directors to have worked in the genre with artistic ambitions.