Though many martial arts films were (often unjustly) treated as programmers in the majority of international territories, this one managed to rise well above its peers after its rocky start and even nabbed the Technical Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1975, proving to be a feather in the cap of director King Hu. The process of writing the script took six months alone after he had completed his masterpiece Dragon Inn (1967) and being inspired by the writings of Pu Song-ling, a writer at the turn of the 18th century whose supernatural compendium, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, set the filmmaker's imagination afire. One of the stories, "The Heroic Maid," laced with a heavy dose of Buddhist philosophy, the titular touch Zen, proved to be the jumping-off point he needed.
"I discovered that translating the concept of Zen into cinematic terms posed a great many difficulties," Hu noted in his director's statement at Cannes. "I made the acquaintance of an old man who was a devout Buddhist. He told me that Zen is something that can't be explained but only experienced through wu (awakening to the truth)... Wu is not subject to logical analysis. It would be difficult, for example, to explain the concept of sweetness to someone who had never tasted sugar, but giving him a cube of it would be enough to enlighten him once and for all." Though not a practicing Buddhist himself, the Beijing-born director found the idea of Zen pivotal in choosing the locations, costumes, actors, and camera angles, which culminate in a tantalizing spiritual ending that still catches many audience members off guard.
No stranger to martial arts films, Hu made his mark at the landmark Shaw Brothers studio with one of the most visually striking film in its entire canon, Come Drink with Me (1966), which also solidified his affinity for unorthodox, multi-layered female leading roles. Here, the honors are done by Yang (Hsu Feng), a warrior on the run who stashes her mother in an abandoned fort after her father is murdered. Into the ghostly and remote building comes an artist named Gu (Shih Chun), whose fascination with military history inspires both of them to take action against the forces about to surround them.
Interestingly, it is Feng who has been a major player in keeping this film alive over the years. She was originally cast in Dragon Inn but her once-prominent role was whittled down to virtually nothing so she would be available to prepare for this film instead, and she certainly cuts a memorable figure here. She became a major force in the film's restoration under the auspices of the Taiwan Film Institute, which has salvaged a work that hadn't been seen in a remotely presentable version for many years.
Still active and energetic today, she regards the film as a major high point in her career and speaks fondly of working with legendary fight choreographer Han Ying-Chieh, who also appears as Hsu in the film. Previously the martial arts instructor on Dragon Inn, he would go on to his biggest international success as the martial arts instructor for the first two Bruce Lee hits, Fists of Fury (1971) and The Chinese Connection (1972). However, one could argue that his work here has proven to be just as influential today; one need only look at that stunning bamboo forest sequence to see how much it has influenced modern martial arts films from Hong Kong and China, including multiple films by Zhang Yimou such as House of Flying Daggers (2004). With its sense of both physical and spiritual grace, A Touch of Zen is a film ahead of its time and strikingly modern in its look and atmosphere today.
By Nathaniel Thompson
