The King (Hu)

PostED ON OCTOBER 16, 2018

Tarantino, Wong Kar-Wai and many other filmmakers proclaim well-deserved admiration for King Hu, the Chinese director with a penchant for heroes who delight in hiding their talents. 

Calligraphy
 
King Hu’s films are as supple as calligraphy, an art form studied at a very young age by the director at the Beijing School of Fine Arts. Who can forget the sharp undulations of the rushing ocean, whose tips are like a threat, somewhere between the torch and the spear, foreshadowing the danger in “A Touch of Zen?”

Film A touch of zen

Invincible bird
 
A feminist filmmaker, King Hu reinvented the very virile “wu xia pian,” a martial arts saber genre. The heroines of his films are morally resolute and physically light. The golden swallow, disguised as a man, moves so fast among the male fighters that she defeats them all before they can begin to comprehend what occurred.
 
Lethal weapon
 
In King Hu’s cinema, his lethal weapon comes in the form of Cheng Pei-Pei, a Chinese actress who never backs down, who thinks, motionless, with lightning speed. Breaking the original fluidity, King Hu’s direction then becomes jerky, to mimic the thoughts of Dragon Inn’s trapped heroine, who must act in the face of danger.

Film Dragon Inn

 
A touch of sovereign genius

Heroes according to King Hu take stands. They fall back directly on their own two feet, perfectly poised, awaiting the next event. King Hu’s cinema is one of grace, whose ultimate act is found in “A Touch of Zen” when a standing character starts bleeding gold.

 
Virginie Apiou

> The full King Hu program and the presence of Cheng Pei-Pei at the Lumière festiva to discover here.