a brisk 3 hour feature that both is heavy in its influence, politics and religious text. i've seen legend of the mountain and both this and that are dripping in religious text but whats most interesting about both is that its both portrayed as a gift and a curse. uplifting souls and cursing the ones ultimately seeking power or in the latters case, demons and ghosts.
it allows king hu's film to remain timeless due to the fact religion as a modern concept is so twisted, the allows evil to be in power but it still remains a gift to the good. that and how religion is so intangled into politics which both have major influence on a person and i think the characters are able to channel that really well.
but its most impeccable quality is its cinematography and fight choreography because you can see the birth and groundwork of both hong kong and chinese action cinema which i do qualify as two different beasts. jackie chan, john woo, everything from the golden era you could almost always point to this and it still is one of the best examples despite many taking inspiration from it.
(watch my films
the grievance of the day: https://boxd.it/eD8Suj
summer walk: https://boxd.it/ewenRP )
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