Legend of the Mountain saw director King Hu do away with the traditional trappings of a wuxia film: gone is the typical knight errant character; gone, even, are the musical action sequences featured in the film's immediate predecessor, Raining in the Mountain. The film does, however, retain some of the flavour of A Touch of Zen. A solitary traveller, wandering in the mountains; a beautiful woman, backlit in flowing white robes; a deserted fortress - there is a static, tranquil beauty to Legend of the Mountain. On one level, it is the mysterious tale of a scholar colliding with a ghostly realm. On another, the film seems almost like a revelation of Hu's innermost feelings: the scholar copying out scrolls is just like a filmmaker who, although assisted in his work by countless others, in the end sees these fall away, leaving him to rely on himself and his own talents.
- Director
- King Hu
- Country of production
- Taiwan
- Year
- 1979
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2011
- Length
- 184'
- Medium
- Betacam Digi
- Original title
- Shan zhong chuanqi
- Language
- Mandarin
- Producers
- King Hu, Cheuk-Hon Wong
- Production Company
- Feng Nian
- Sales
- First Distributors (H.K.) Ltd.
- Screenplay
- King Hu
- Cinematography
- Henry Chan
- Editor
- King Hu
- Music
- King Ng-tai, Wu Ta-chiang
- Cast
- Sylvia Chang