THE BLADE

Hong Kong | 1995 | 35mm | 105 min. | Cantonese with English subtitles
Director: Tsui Hark
Cast: Vincent Zhao, Xiong Xin-xin, Moses Chan
Out to avenge the death of his father, Sword-maker Ding On (Zhao) loses his arm and is nearly killed. After convalescing, he develops a speeding, whirling swordfighting technique that he plans to use on those who crippled and maimed him. Director Tsui Hark’s kinetically-charged spin on the Shaw Bros./Jimmy Wang Yu “one-armed swordsman” vehicles of the late 1960s is now considered one of the best HK action movies of its own era. 35mm print courtesy Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.