Another stunning period piece from Hou Hsiao-hsien, THE ASSASSIN is a wondrous take on the traditional wuxia film. In 9th-century China, a young woman (Qi) who has been trained as an assassin since childhood is ordered to return to her homeland and kill her beloved. She must confront her parents, her memories, and her long-repressed feelings in a choice to sacrifice the man she loves or break forever with the sacred way of the righteous assassins. Rich with shimmering, breathing texture and punctuated by brief but unforgettable bursts of action, THE ASSASSIN is a martial arts film like none made before it.

In Mandarin with English subtitles