Bandages and medicine: how Shu Qi survived the gruelling Assassin shoot that culminated in Asian Film Awards domination

A movie about a highly-trained female assassin swept the Asian Film Awards in Macau Thursday, bagging prizes for best film, best actress and best director at the glittering ceremony.

The Assassin took home more than half of the night’s prizes – eight out of 15 trophies – at one of Asia’s leading film awards held in the glamorous casino town in southern China.

Set in the Tang Dynasty era in China, The Assassin is a slow-burning minimalist movie with Taiwanese megastar Shu Qi playing a skilled female assassin sent back to her home province to kill its governor, who is also the man she loves.

“I couldn’t have made it through the two years of production for The Assassin without (the help of) bandages and medicine,” quipped 39-year-old Shu, referring to the gruelling physical demands required for the action sequences.

Chinese actress Zhou Yun grabbed best supporting actress for her performance in the film, which she said was a “surprise”.

“I won the award because the movie is so good, I contributed just a small part of all the impressive aspects (of the movie),” Zhou said.