About

This screening will be introduced by Rob Hughes, Australian Cinémathèque.

One of the key masterworks of Taiwanese martial arts cinema, Joseph Kuo's film follows wandering swordsman Tsai Ying-jie on his obsessive quest for vengeance against the five men who left him orphaned as a boy. As he hunts down the killers behind the deaths of his parents, he is forced to reckon with the cycle of violence that he now continues with his vicious crusade. The recent restoration of The Swordsman of All Swordsmen highlights its strength as both an exhilarating wuxia extravaganza and a poignant exploration of the empty core at the heart of revenge.