MFAH Film Emperors Treasures: A Touch of Zen (Sundays)

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents the Emperors’ Treasures series. Complementing the exhibition Emperors’ Treasures: Chinese Art from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, this film series brings to the big screen sparkling digital restorations of two classics of the wuxia (martial arts) genre by legendary filmmaker King Hu, as well as Ang Lee’s extraordinary Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

A Touch of Zen

Director King Hu
Released 1971
Language in Mandarin with English subtitles
Country Taiwan
Running Time 180 minutes
Format DCP, Color
Website http://www.janusfilms.com/

King Hu’s 1971 magnum opus—presented in the original, uncut version—is at once a sprawling epic of religious proportions and an anthology of profoundly entertaining action sequences.

Fugitive noblewoman Yang (Hsu Feng), at risk of being captured and executed, hides in a small village and then escapes into the wilderness with a shy scholar and two aides. The quartet faces a massive group of fighters and is joined by a band of Buddhist monks surprisingly skilled in the art of battle.

The drama weds glorious action sequences with insightful philosophy and a cinematic grace unmatched to this day.

Read film historian David Bordwell’s assessment of A Touch of Zen.
Watch filmmaker Ang Lee discuss A Touch of Zen.

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