Name: Swordsman
Start: 2026-04-24T19:30:00-05:00
End: 2026-04-24T21:30:00-05:00
Location: Webster University Winifred Moore Auditorium

(King Hu, Ching Siu-tung, Tsui Hark, and Raymond Lee Wai-man, 1990, Hong Kong, 118 minutes)
Based on a novel by master wuxia writer Jin Yong, also the author of the source material for Ashes of Time, the original Swordsman film had a bit of a troubled production. Greatest-ever wuxia director King Hu (A Touch of Zen, Dragon Inn, The Fate of Lee Khan) was set to direct, and did at first, only to leave mid-production. He was replaced by a crop of different directors, with sources citing as few as one (producer Tsui Hark) or as many as five, stepping in when he was gone. It’s fine, though, as Hark inevitably steered the series in a hugely fun direction. Swordsman is the stateliest of the three films, concerning a valuable scroll that is stolen from the emperor and the army detachment sent to retrieve it. With Jacky Cheung (As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild), Cecilia Yip (Nomad, Center Stage), and many more.
In Cantonese with English subtitles.