Director Lin Jing-Jie’s The King of Wuxia tells the story of one of the most talented — if unheralded in the Western world — filmmakers, King Hu. Bringing together actors, choreographers, critics, scholars, producers, fellow directors and others who knew and loved Hu to pay tribute to him, it’s a must-watch for fans of not just martial arts and wuxia cinema, but films as a whole.

From explorations of his best-known films Dragon Inn and A Touch of Zen— look for directors John Woo, Tsui Hark and Ann Hui to lend their adoration and scholarship — to the story of Hu’s life and his final unmade movie, this is everything I hoped that it would be and more.

You’ll also hear from Sammo Hung, Pei-Pei Cheng, Peggy Chiao and more, this is a three and a half hour deep dive into the life and films of a creator I’m glad that I now know more about.

There are some amazing scenes in the first part with Peking Opera performers where they show off their sword fighting and jumping ability, as another set of talented performers create music and sound effects live. I’ve never seen anything like this and it added to the sheer joy of this film, even if the proposed movie that John Woo was going to produce never got made. I mean, Chow Yun Fat leading Chinese railroad workers in America during the Gold Rush to protect their adopted home? I’m all emotional even wondering what that would have been like.

Want to see it for yourself?

The U.S. Premiere of The King of Wuxia is next Friday, April 21 at 7 PM in Theater 1 at Metrograph and Subway Cinema in New York City. It’s part of the 10th Old School Kung Fu Fest: Sword Fighting Heroes Edition from April 21-30, 2023!

Tickets are on sale right here!