A Touch of Zen
A Touch of Zen
俠女
Overview
"Gu, an unambitious scholar and painter, lives quietly near a ruined fort until he becomes entangled with Yang, a fugitive noblewoman fleeing the corrupt Eunuch Wei and his Eastern Depot secret police. Guided by a profound, enigmatic Buddhist monk, Gu uses his intellect to set traps for the imperial guard, culminating in a transcendent, spiritual confrontation."
Iconic Tracked Scenes
- ▶
A spectacular, multi-tiered battle where swordsmen leap between massive bamboo stalks, cutting down the plants to drop them on their enemies below.
"bamboo forest fight""leaping through the bamboo" - ▶
Gu the scholar employs complex traps, tripwires, and psychological warfare to convince the superstitious Eastern Depot guards that the ruined fort is haunted.
"scholar setting traps""haunting the fort" - ▶
The Abbot confronts the evil commander and, upon being struck, achieves enlightenment; his blood turns to gold in the sunlight, creating a blinding, spiritual aura.
"bleeding gold blood""transcendent finale"
Why It's Remembered
- ★The astonishingly beautiful, physics-defying sword fight among the towering bamboo stalks.
- ★The scholar using complex mechanics and misdirection to simulate ghosts to frighten the imperial guards in the ruined fort.
- ★The surreal, spiritual finale where the Abbot bleeds gold and transcends the physical plane.
Cultural Context
- ◈A towering masterpiece of world cinema that elevated the wuxia genre to high art.
- ◈Won the Technical Grand Prize at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival.
- ◈The legendary bamboo forest fight profoundly influenced Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers.
About the Action Elements
A Touch of Zen is widely celebrated among martial arts cinema fans for sequences involving bamboo forest, leaping, sword fight, falling bamboo, artistic. One of the most memorable sequences features Hsu Feng naturally executing bamboo forest fight, where the choreography and unique set pieces become the unexpected highlight of the film.