The Assassin (2015)
Genre : Action, Drama, History
Runtime : 1H 45M
Director : Hou Hsiao-hsien
Writer : Chu Tien-wen, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Hsieh Hai-Meng, Cheng Ah
Synopsis
A female assassin during the Tang Dynasty begins to question her loyalties when she falls in love with one of her targets.
When the children of an executed General are pursued in 1457 China, some heroic martial arts swordsmen intervene.
Lo Lieh stars as Sima Jun, a killer working for a corrupt lord whose orders are followed without question or hesitation. When the lord suffers from a life-threatening boil on his back, he is told by the Imperial doctor that an herb called "Longevity Rattan" offers the only cure and is grown in a remote village by an herbalist named Tan. Lo is sent on a mission to get the herb and bring it back before it's too late.
Director Ho Meng-hua is one of Shaw Studio's most versatile directors. He's helmed romances, mysteries, award-winning dramas, contemporary action films, historical costume dramas, fantasies, and, finally, popular swordplay movies. The title character in this one is a chivalrous thief who raises the jealous ire of the rival Red Shirt Gang. There's plenty of action in this adventure, which sweeps from the plains to the mountains ... to the sound of slashing swords.
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