The Assassin
- -A female assassin during the Tang Dynasty who begins to question her loyalties when she falls in love with one of her targets.
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The Assassin (刺客聶隱娘; Cìkè Niè Yǐnniáng) is a 2015 wuxia film directed by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien.
A Taiwan/China/Hong Kong co-production, it was an official selection in the main competition section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, Hou won the award for Best Director. It was released in China and Hong Kong on 27 August, and a day later in Taiwan on 28 August 2015. It was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.
The Assassin by Hou Hsiao-hsien movie trailer
Plot
The Assassin is loosely based on the late 9th century martial arts story “Nie Yinniang” by Pei Xing, a core text in Chinese swordsmanship and wuxia fiction.
The film is set in 9th century China during last years of the Tang Dynasty. The film centers on Nie Yinniang (played by Shu Qi), an assassin who is directed to slay corrupt government officials by her master, Jiaxin, a nun who raised her from the age of ten. When Yinniang displays mercy by failing to kill during her duties, Jiaxin punishes her with a ruthless assignment designed to test Yinniang’s resolve: she is sent to the distant province/circuit of Weibo in northern China to kill its military governor Tian Ji’an — her cousin to whom she had once been betrothed. [wikipedia]