Tsui Hark initiated the re-make of several classic wuxia films in the 1990s that included the New Dragon Gate Inn and The Magic Crane. In The Blade, Ding On is adopted by the master, growing up as an orphan in a sword foundry. Ignoring the pleas from the master, Ding On becomes obsessed with avenging the death of his father upon becoming an adult. Despite losing his right arm in the process, Ding On develops a lethal spinning movement that compensates for his handicap by accident. The film was technically adapted from The One-Armed Swordsman by Chang Che, yet it actually inherited the cinematic sword fighting sequence from the films of King Hu (the frenetic camera use during the sword fighting sequence was comparable to The Valiant Ones by King Hu).
Following the screening of The Blade will be a discussion between Davide Cazzaro and Eric Choi, editors of NANG, an English-language 10-issue magazine which covers cinema and cinema cultures in the Asian world. Issue 5 is dedicated to “Inspiration” and guest edited by Goran Topalovic and Eric Choi, featuring candid interviews with twelve filmmakers shedding light on the under-explored nexus between cinematic practice and experience. Both Story of a Discharged Prisoner and The Blade were chosen with NANG.
Davide Cazzaro is the publisher and editor-in-chief of NANG Magazine. Past collaborations include work with the Busan International Film Festival as researcher and publishing editor and the Pesaro International Film Festival as curator and program consultant.
Eric Choi is co-guest editor of NANG Issue 5. He is a film archivist at the Korean Film Archive. He studied filmmaking at Northwestern University, USA, and has written and directed several award-winning short films. He is currently working on finding lost Korean films scattered around the world and creating video essays on Korean genre cinema.
Registration opens on 30 October.
“Art After Hours” is an evening event series presented by Tai Kwun Contemporary that will talk with you, sing with you, show and tackle something new every time. Usually held on Fridays at 7pm, “Art After Hours” aims to sharpen art awareness through talks, performances and screenings by artists, writers, intellectuals and curators alike.
