Chia-Chih Li

Directed by some of most well known Chinese-language directors of the time, the portmanteau film Four Moods was an attempt to alleviate Li Han-hsiang’s financial troubles during the late 1960s. Arguably one of his best works, King Hu’s short Anger is an adaptation of the famous Peking opera San Cha Kou; set to opera instrumentation and stylishly shot, the film deftly captures the tense showdown between political schemers, avengers and vagabonds inside an inn. Li Han-hsiang’s Happiness, inspired by the Strange Tales of Liaozhai, tells a tale of reprieve for a kind-hearted ghost, while Pai Ching-Jui’s Joy and Lee Hsing’s Sadness both explore the fateful encounters between mortal men and ghostly women.

明朝の時代。暴政を繰り返す宦官・曹に仕える大臣・干は、政敵である曹の策略に引っ掛かってしまって非業の死を遂げ、その3人の遺児は流刑にされてしまうが、彼らは父親の復讐のために立ち上がろうと決心。遺児たちが荒野にある一軒宿“龍門客棧”に向かう一方、曹の手下たちも遺児たちを葬るための暗殺団を結成する。かくして“龍門客棧”で対峙することになった彼らは、そこで激しい死闘を繰り広げることになる。