Assassin
A great movie. Reaffirmed one's belief in movies.
-- Amy Taubin, Film Comment
The Assassin
THE ASSASSIN is legendary filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien’s (THREE TIMES, THE PUPPETMASTER, A CITY OF SADNESS) latest masterwork, a highly anticipated follow-up to 2007’s THE FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON. A visually arresting take on traditional wuxia films lensed by frequent collaborator Mark Lee Ping Bing (FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, RENOIR) and in Hou’s meticulously composed signature style, the film premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where Hou was awarded the Best Director prize.
In ninth century China, Nie Yinniang (Shu Qi) is a young woman who, as a child, was abducted from a decorated general and then raised by a nun who trained her in the martial arts. After 13 years of exile, she is now a formidable assassin returning to her home province of Weibo with orders to kill Tian Ji'an (Chang Cheen), Weibo’s governor, to whom she was once betrothed. She must confront her parents, her memories and her long-repressed feelings: will she chose to sacrifice the man she loved or will she break forever with the sacred way of the righteous assassins? Rich with shimmering, breathing texture and punctuated by brief but unforgettable bursts of action, THE ASSASSIN is a martial arts film like none made before it.
THE ASSASSIN will also screen at the 2015 Toronto and New York film festivals.
"The best film of the Cannes Film Festival. A masterful film. The level of artistry was so much higher than anything else in the festival that everyone was, in one way or another, ravished." –John Powers, Fresh Air, National Public Radio
"A staggeringly lovely period film...Filled with palace intrigue, expressive silences, flowing curtains, whispering trees and some of the most ravishingly beautiful images to have graced this festival [Cannes].” –Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
OFFICIAL OSCAR® ENTRY FROM TAIWAN –
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM ** 2015 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL – WINNER – BEST DIRECTOR**
**2015 TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL – Official Selection**
**2015 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL – Official Selection**
In ninth century China, Nie Yinniang (Shu Qi) is a young woman who, as a child, was abducted from a decorated general and then raised by a nun who trained her in the martial arts. After 13 years of exile, she is now a formidable assassin returning to her home province of Weibo with orders to kill Tian Ji'an (Chang Cheen), Weibo’s governor, to whom she was once betrothed. She must confront her parents, her memories and her long-repressed feelings: will she chose to sacrifice the man she loved or will she break forever with the sacred way of the righteous assassins? Rich with shimmering, breathing texture and punctuated by brief but unforgettable bursts of action, THE ASSASSIN is a martial arts film like none made before it.
THE ASSASSIN will also screen at the 2015 Toronto and New York film festivals.
"The best film of the Cannes Film Festival. A masterful film. The level of artistry was so much higher than anything else in the festival that everyone was, in one way or another, ravished." –John Powers, Fresh Air, National Public Radio
"A staggeringly lovely period film...Filled with palace intrigue, expressive silences, flowing curtains, whispering trees and some of the most ravishingly beautiful images to have graced this festival [Cannes].” –Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
OFFICIAL OSCAR® ENTRY FROM TAIWAN –
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM ** 2015 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL – WINNER – BEST DIRECTOR**
**2015 TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL – Official Selection**
**2015 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL – Official Selection**
Genre
Action,
Drama
Runtime
104
Language
Mandarin
Director
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Cast
Qi Shu,
Chen Chang,
Satoshi Tsumabuki
Awards:
Winner, Best Director, Cannes Film Festival
FEATURED REVIEW
Justin Chang, Variety
In the seven years since Hou Hsiao-hsien began working on a ninth-century wuxia epic, his admirers have been madly curious about how the Taiwanese auteur known for such refined historical panoramas as “Flowers of Shanghai” and minor-key urban portraits like “Cafe Lumiere” would handle his rite of ...
Played at
Playhouse 7 10.16.15 - 11.19.15
Fine Arts Theatre 10.16.15 - 10.29.15
Royal 10.30.15 - 11.19.15
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