***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Touch of Zen<br /><br />This movie requires a patience that most Kung Fu fans lack. Today I finished watching it for second time through. Few would argue that this is not King Hu's masterpiece and indeed it is just that a masterpiece. While I certainly understand how sometimes classics get dwarfed by the films they inspire (how insulting is it that hidden fortress is often labeled simply as the film that inspired C-3PO and R2D2) I think it is too bad here. Yes Touch of Zen is Ang Lee's favorite martial arts film and was a huge inspiration for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Yes It's true, and perhaps the film will find more fans as a result and I think that is great.<br /><br />Touch of zen is cinema in it's finest form. It is three hours long, lacks the fancy wire work or CGI of modern Wuxia pan films but still stands the test of time. When you consider that this film was made in 1968/69 it makes it so much more impressive. The scenery is filled with beautiful imagines throughout the film of rural China. The camera balances light in most impressive ways. The main monk of the film is consistently beaming with natural sunlight which expresses in a beautifully cinematic way his connection to nature. Anyone who used a video camera in intense sunlight understands how hard those shots must have been.<br /><br />If you the kind of Kung Fu fan that was really bothered by the fact that Crouching tiger didn't have a fight scene for 15 minutes don't bother. TOZ doesn't get to the action until 55 minutes in. However the tone of the film requires that we understand a few things about the artist whose eyes the story is told through.<br /><br />***********Spoilers*********************<br /><br />TOZ is the second only to 36th chamber when it comes to making a Buddhist monks look badass. When the henchman HZU brings his violence onto the sacred ground to capture our renegade heroes he learns he can't defeat the Buddhist monks. There power is too great. He resorts to lying. Begging on his knees to be accepted by the monks, Indeed it is there only weakness, by the grace of Buddha he wants to help. Yet still the Buddhist monk doesn't resort to violence. He calls on Buddha and the powers of the universe and the henchmen destroys his sons and then him self. At least that is my take.<br /><br />***********End spoilers********************<br /><br />Touch of Zen is an excellent martial arts film for fans of films like MUSA, Hero or Crouching tiger. It must however be viewed as a film of it's period.