Shan zhong zhuan qi (1979)'s comments

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nymets138

Watch it with English subtitles here: https://fsharetv.co/watch/shan-zhong-zhuan-qi-episode-1-tt0079886

1 year 8 months ago

King Hu's Legend of the Mountain is first and foremost about magic percussions. I'm kidding, but there's an awful lot of it. There's an awful lot of everything that's IN the film, but the slow pace still gets us places. What it IS about is a young and naive scholar going up a mountain to transcribe a sutra, but instead of the peace and quiet he's expecting, his work is interrupted by several zany characters, including the literally bewitching Melody (played by King Hu regular Hsu Feng). We're quick to realize something sinister is going on, but whether mundane, demonic or ghostly, the audience is kept guessing (not that the clues are hard to pick up... unless you're the scholar). As with the rest of the director's work, the nature photography is beautiful, with wonderful locations and the natural world somehow responding to the action. And there IS action. Not martial arts, but explosive magical battles, fairly low-tech, but they do the job. Or was I just under the drum beat's spell?

2 years 1 month ago