The science of martial arts1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteVeteran Hong Kong director Peter Chan’s latest film aims to demystify martial arts, while also tackling moral dilemmas. Liu Wei reports. It requires courage to name a film after its genre, as audiences will expect it to be all encompassing.
But that does not seem to worry veteran Hong Kong director Peter Chan whose latest film is titled Wu Xia, or literally “martial arts chivalry”.
“Wu Xia will redefine martial arts,” he says.
Set in a small village in South China, the film has a storyline that has echoes of CSI or Discovery Channel’s Crime Scene.
A paper-maker kills two robbers and becomes the hero of his village. But a detective, a Chinese version of the fastidious doctor House of the eponymous TV medical drama, discovers from the bodies that only a kungfu master could have rendered the killing blows.
As his investigation unfolds, the paper-maker’s real identity is revealed and poses a catastrophe for the village.
