Budapest Classic Film Marathon 2024: The Legend of the Mountain

Director: King Hu

Written by King Hu
Screenplay by Ling Chung
Director of photography: Henry Chan
Music by Ta Chiang Wu
Cast: Chun Shih, Feng Hsu, Sylvia Chang

Programme Section "Open Archives" / Women with Swords – Action Heroines in Taiwanese Cinema / Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute

Introduction: Teréz Vince, film critic, curator

The film can be interpreted as an offshoot of the wuxia genre, complete with ghosts and supernatural forces. Its female characters are negative, harmful spirits. The protagonist, a wandering scholar, it tasked with translating a holy scripture but all sorts of chilling occurrences lie in wait for him when he arrives. The frequently surprisingly chaotic work is a perfect example of the importance King Hu invested in nature. In comparison with other action-packed wuxia films, it is really remarkable how the opening sequence of the film shows the brave scholar just walking in the forest for half an hour – as European film experts might put it, more modernist than Modernism.

Supporting film: Wizards (6)
Hungarian animation, colour, 1985, dir: Dóra Keresztes, István Orosz, No dialogue, 5’

More information on the Budapest Classic Film Marathon's program at Uránia >>