Art and Action in the Films of King Hu
Join us for an afternoon celebrating martial arts as seen in the films of legendary director King Hu. Through epic martial arts skills and the magic of editing, Hu brought great subtlety and expressivity to his films and ultimately, the genre.
1:30 p.m. | Interactive: Pushing Hands Demonstration
Detroit Tai Chi Group, led by Master Ching-Yu Meng, demonstrates the basic steps of pushing hands, a form of Tai Chi practice that emphasizes the principle of “softness overcoming hardness.” Audience members will be invited onstage to try the movements themselves.
2:20 p.m. | Talk: Raining in the Mountain – Art Aesthetics and Opposition
Tony Williams, professor of film studies from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale provides critical analysis of King Hu’s Raining in the Mountain as an art film on its own and in context with Hu’s other works.
3 p.m. | Film Screening: Raining in the Mountain
Taiwan/Hong Kong/1979—directed by King Hu | 120 minutes
During the Ming Dynasty, a Buddhist abbot, charged with protecting the sacred scroll of Tripitaka, prepares to name his successor. An aristocrat and a general arrive at his secluded mountaintop monastery promising to help in his search but are in fact scheming to secure the scroll for themselves. As they set about recommending corrupt successors, rival bands of martial artists lie in wait to steal the precious artifact; they soon transform the monastery into an epic battleground for the scroll, with each player caught in a web of betrayal.
Newly restored, this visually spectacular, grand-scale caper heist overflows with witty, jaw-dropping collisions of minds, fists and karma; Raining in the Mountain may be the peak of legendary director King Hu's (Touch of Zen, Dragon Inn) infusion of Buddhist spiritual principles into the legacy of pan-Asian action filmmaking. In Mandarin with English subtitles.
This program is made possible through partnerships with the DIA’s auxiliary Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures and Michigan Chinese Women Association, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, and is supported through a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation.
Join us for an afternoon celebrating martial arts as seen in the films of legendary director King Hu. Through epic martial arts skills and the magic of editing, Hu brought great subtlety and expressivity to his films and ultimately, the genre.
1:30 p.m. | Interactive: Pushing Hands Demonstration
Detroit Tai Chi Group, led by Master Ching-Yu Meng, demonstrates the basic steps of pushing hands, a form of Tai Chi practice that emphasizes the principle of “softness overcoming hardness.” Audience members will be invited onstage to try the movements themselves.
2:20 p.m. | Talk: Raining in the Mountain – Art Aesthetics and Opposition
Tony Williams, professor of film studies from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale provides critical analysis of King Hu’s Raining in the Mountain as an art film on its own and in context with Hu’s other works.
3 p.m. | Film Screening: Raining in the Mountain
Taiwan/Hong Kong/1979—directed by King Hu | 120 minutes
During the Ming Dynasty, a Buddhist abbot, charged with protecting the sacred scroll of Tripitaka, prepares to name his successor. An aristocrat and a general arrive at his secluded mountaintop monastery promising to help in his search but are in fact scheming to secure the scroll for themselves. As they set about recommending corrupt successors, rival bands of martial artists lie in wait to steal the precious artifact; they soon transform the monastery into an epic battleground for the scroll, with each player caught in a web of betrayal.
Newly restored, this visually spectacular, grand-scale caper heist overflows with witty, jaw-dropping collisions of minds, fists and karma; Raining in the Mountain may be the peak of legendary director King Hu's (Touch of Zen, Dragon Inn) infusion of Buddhist spiritual principles into the legacy of pan-Asian action filmmaking. In Mandarin with English subtitles.
This program is made possible through partnerships with the DIA’s auxiliary Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures and Michigan Chinese Women Association, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, and is supported through a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation.