Kung fu films make inroad into mainland with touring show

Director Tsui Hark hosts the opening of a showcase of Hong Kong martial arts movies in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Men and women flying with swords in hand amid bamboo trees swaying in the wind are images from kung fu films that Chinese born in the 1970s and '80s still cherish.

But for the later generations, which missed them on the big screen, an ongoing show titled Flashing Swords, Flickering Shadows－a Revisit of Hong Kong Wuxia Cinema, may just be the answer.

Under this program, some 15 martial arts blockbusters are available to moviegoers in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu in Sichuan province, Jinan in Shandong province and Shenyang in Liaoning province.

"China's wuxia movies originated from Shanghai, gained a breakthrough rise in Hong Kong and got global attention thanks to kung fu star Bruce Li. But the genre has struggled in recent years," says event organizer Yang Yang.

The touring exhibit that runs through November is aimed at tracing the genre's history and promoting the cinematic culture of Hong Kong.

It has been jointly organized by Broadway Cinematheque and the Beijing Office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Opening with King Hu's Cannes-winning A Touch of Zen, the display screens such milestone titles as Tsui Hark's Green Snake, Chang Cheh's One-Armed Swordsman and Bruce Li's The Way of the Dragon.