The Assassin

The Assassin is a Taiwanese martial arts drama written and directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, who won the Best Director prize when the film premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It stars Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Zhou Yun, and Satoshi Tsumabuki.

9th century China. 10-year-old general’s daughter Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who initiates her into the martial arts, transforming her into an exceptional assassin charged with eliminating cruel and corrupt local governors. One day, having failed in a task, she is sent back by her mistress to the land of her birth, with orders to kill the man to whom she was promised – a cousin who now leads the largest military region in North China. After 13 years of exile, the young woman must confront her parents, her memories and her long-repressed feelings. A slave to the orders of her mistress, Nie Yinniang must choose: sacrifice the man she loves or break forever with the sacred way of the righteous assassins.

On the subject of the many female characters in his film, Hou Hsiao-Hsien says “I’m always on the side of women. Their world, their psyches, always seem much more interesting to me than those of men. Women have their own sensibility and a more complex way of thinking, a way of relating to reality that intrigues me. You might say that women’s feelings are sophisticated and rather exciting, whereas men tend to think rationally and are rather boring.”

The Assassin is rated PG.