Exquisitely balancing the competing demands of the martial arts film and the careful depiction of human drama, Hu’s masterpiece is at once epic and intimate, fantastic and realist, action-packed and thought-provoking. With a Chinese title that translates to “Swordswoman,” it also provides one of the best examples of Hu’s many woman warriors, played by the celebrated Hsu Feng, now an important producer. Hsu plays a fugitive hunted for her family’s crusade against corruption at the emperor’s court. Around her the film arrays a host of characters who become involved in her struggle, building to a metaphysical conflict between worldliness and virtue. A Touch of Zen served as the model for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a debt Ang Lee acknowledges by including an homage to the film’s famous fight in a bamboo grove.