Urban Cinefile
It's been described by its makers as 'Colombo meets CSI' but this doesn't fully capture the epic tone and the brilliant images that fuel one of the most interesting of recent Chinese films with martial arts traditions
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Wu Xia
Chinese martial arts noir epic, set in the late Qing Dynasty (early 1900s). Liu (Donnie Yen) is a papermaker leading a simple life with his wife Ayu (Tang Wei) and their two sons. Into their remote village comes Detective Xu (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who is investigating the deaths of two bandits who died during a robbery. Xu realises that the incident was no ordinary botched robbery, and his dogged inquiry dredges up sinful, dark secrets of Liu's buried past. The detective becomes convinced that Liu's real identity is Tang Long - a runaway member or a murderous gang.
Adapted from the classic 1967 film One-Armed Swordsman.
2011Rating: M, contains violence116 minsHong Kong, ChinaMandarin and Cantonese with English subtitles
ActionDramaThrillerMartial ArtsWorld Cinema
- Director:
- Peter Chan ('The Warlords', 'Pehaps Love')
- Writer:
- Oi Wah Lam
- Cast:
- Takeshi KaneshiroXiao Ran LiWei TangDonnie Yen
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