When Joan Chen was persuaded to shave her head to play an assassin in Hong Kong martial arts film Temptation of a Monk
- Filmmaker Clara Law convinced actress she would look good with no hair in her 1993 film about a Tang dynasty general who murders a prince and repents
- In an interview at film’s premiere, Law, asked about its monumental landscapes, said she wanted to convey the idea that the people and the landscape are one
Temptation of a Monk, a little seen 1993 film by Hong Kong “Second Wave” director Clara Law Cheuk-yiu is part martial arts movie, part historical drama, and part Buddhist film.
Set during the Tang dynasty, it draws on the samurai films of Japan’s Akira Kurosawa to tell a philosophical tale of a general who gradually finds spiritual redemption after seeking refuge from his enemies in a Buddhist temple.
The film features some rough-and-ready fight scenes which, although they sometimes showcase acrobatic displays, are generally rooted in a grungy and bloody reality.
The story is loosely based on a real-life assassination called the Xuanwu Gate Incident, which took place in AD626. It centres on the fictional General Shi (Taiwanese actor Wu Hsing-kuo), who is drawn into a plot to murder the crown prince he is assigned to guard.
After the assassination, a repentant Shi flees with a small cohort of men. Unable to come to terms with his betrayal, Shi becomes destructive and sick of the world until a gradual conversion to Buddhism takes place.
Wu, who stars as Shi, founded the Contemporary Legend Theatre, an experimental dance group which sometimes presented Western classics in the style of Peking opera. His dazzling Kingdom of Desire, a Peking opera version of Macbeth, was similar in tone to Temptation of a Monk.
Wu won the best new performer award at the 1994 Hong Kong Film Awards for his portrayal of General Shi.
Clara Law spoke to this writer at the premiere of Temptation of a Monk in 1993.
Hong Kong martial arts cinema: everything you need to know
The shots of the mountains are reminiscent of classical Chinese landscape painting. Did painting influence you?
Yes, it did. I’ve been studying Chinese landscape painting for a long while. The ideas behind it are very much in tune with Chinese philosophy.
The characters in Temptation of a Monk are often dwarfed by the monumental landscapes …
I want to convey the idea that the people and the landscape are one – they are part of the rock, the earth, they are part of everything. I want to show that human beings are not more important than the land that they live on.
Why does Joan Chen play two roles, Princess Scarlet and the assassin Violet?
It was important for the plot that the assassin and Princess Scarlet looked similar. The idea was that every woman would appear to General Shi in the image of the first woman he loved. Joan is voluptuous, which is what I think a Tang dynasty woman would have looked like.
Chen’s character Violet has to shave her head to enter the monastery to assassinate Shi. How did you convince Chen to shave her head?
Joan has the right facial features to look good with a shaved head. I convinced her that she would look good like that. I think she does look very beautiful with a shaved head.
You usually make films that look at contemporary issues. Why did you decide to make a costume drama set in the past?
The costumes are just a background. I’m really taking a contemporary point of view with this film. All the violence in the world over the past three years has disturbed me, and it’s sad that we seem to be going backwards.
The story of Temptation of a Monk may take place in the past in the Tang dynasty, but it’s a good way to show what is going on now. I want people to apply the ideas in the film to now.
What do you think we can learn from the past, from history?
We don’t seem to believe in anything any more. We have a confused set of values and we don’t seem to know what is right or what is wrong, what is good or what is bad. We’re ruled by economics. We need to have a good think about the origin of our ideas. We need to try and simplify things rather than make them more complicated.
Is Temptation of a Monk about Zen Buddhism, like King Hu’s A Touch of Zen ?
No, it’s more about liberating the way you see things in a more general way. All beliefs are involved – Taoism, Confucianism, they are all helpful. If you look at Confucianism and you simplify it, it says that human nature is essentially good. Taoism is about getting to a stage where you are intellectually free. It’s liberating, and you become at one with the cosmos. You need simplicity to reach that stage.
General Shi is always pulled back into violence. It seems impossible for him to escape from the troubles of the world. Do you think he finally reaches this stage of enlightenment?
He finally shelves his burdens. He loses all his desires. He achieves freedom, lightness and happiness.
In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong martial arts cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the careers of its greatest stars, and revisit some of the lesser-known aspects of the beloved genre.
