Sweeping epic or hopelessly interminable? You might say King Hu's A TOUCH OF ZEN starts as the former and ends as the latter. The inspiration for CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (click to see reviews by), and regarded as a classic by many, this is a film that requires a lot of patience—patience I don't have. Funny that a three-hour movie can be summed up so well by two sentences on the case: “Ming dynasty noblewoman Yang must escape from the evil eunuch Hsu. She seeks refuge at a decrepit town where she gets assistance from a naive scholar and a group of mysterious monks.”

First off, there are some really great things in this film, but it's too bad you have to wade through so much to find them. Shih Jun is wonderful as the unwitting scholar who must ward off not only evil eunuchs but his nagging, meddlesome mother as well. This adds a refreshing and desperately needed comedic element to the story. 

And all my favorite King Hu touches (ouch) are here. Hsu Feng is the typical King Hu poker-faced heroine. And while there's a lot more flying around in this film than I'd care to see, there is one fight scene that has all my favorite King Hu trademarks—interlocking swords, impeccable pacing, tension, dynamics, and that Japanese cinematic influence of frozen swords and falling bodies. Of course, in a King Hu film, we can count on some beautiful cinematography. The famous forest scene that would inspire Ang Lee decades later really is something to see and is eerie as all get out. Would love to see it on the big screen.

Plot-wise, there's a similar pattern to the director's earlier film, COME DRINK WITH ME (click to see Teri's review), in which the second half gives way to Buddhist monks and mystical powers. In both movies, it's a bit jarring to experience such a sudden shifting of gears. Especially in this film where we're a little more invested in the characters.  Yang's backstory and her relationship with the scholar are barely addressed, and because of this, the big payoff intended for the ending falls flat.       

Perhaps this wouldn't have been the case if things had been trimmed down a bit…okay, a lot.  For the amount of character investment and plot you get for three hours, A TOUCH OF ZEN is a bloated film. What exactly is going on for those three hours? I'm not sure!  If it's a fight scene, it goes on too long. If it's dialogue, there's too much of it. If it's a beautiful shot of a mountain, fine, but we can only stare at it for so long! As I said, there's a lot of good stuff here, but it's all presented so slowly, it's absolutely maddening.  The last hour is so slow, I wanted to kill myself, but I figured I'd die of old age first! My recommendation? Try watching while pressing the fast forward button