About

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

Partway through the production of this martial arts epic from the legendary Shaw Brothers studio, lead actor Alexander Fu Sheng was killed in a car accident. Filming was halted and the script re-written by its pioneering director-choreographer Lau Kar-leung, who shaped the film into an enthralling treatise on rage, vengeance and mourning – culminating in arguably the most extraordinary action climax ever captured on celluloid. One of the highest peaks of Hong Kong cinema, The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter is a stunningly choreographed, potently realised showcase of the depths of the soul and the upper limits of what the human body can achieve.