Criterion Collection: Dragon Inn (1967) | Blu-ray Review

If martial arts could be spliced into opera, it would look something like King Hu’s 1967 cult classic Dragon Inn, the second of his celebrated wuxia films and first stint in Hong Kong cinema, made after leaving behind the famed Shaw Brothers Studio in search of more artistic freedom. Of course, despite the massive box office success of this title, on the international front every Hu title before and after hides in the shadows of the more prominently remembered A Touch of Zen (1971), which would go on to be his next feature. But it was his Ming-dynasty set tale of intrigue, in which eunuchs and assassins would battle it out betwixt continuously complicated alliances which would provide the impetus for everything from Ang Lee’s heavily stylized Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) to the narrative pastiche of Quentin Tarantino with 2015’s The Hateful Eight (and it’s also been twice remade in Chinese cinema, most recently in a 2011 adaptation starring Jet Li and directed by Tsui Hark).

There’s a daunting amount of backstory which requires some committed orienting on the part of the viewer as the opening of Dragon Inn. In short, the year is 1457 and a surly group of eunuchs are in control. The execution of a minister who was convicted of insurrection manifests in a plot to kill his entire bloodline, but two of his children were instead banished. To wipe them out as well, the head eunuch in charge orders assassins to lie in wait for them at the Dragon Gate Inn. But it just so happens innkeeper Wu Ning (Cao Jian) was an ally of the slain minister, as was wandering swordsman Xiao (Shi Jun), who is also staying at the inn. Add to this siblings Hu Zhu (Shangkuan Ling-fung) and Ji Zhu (Xue Han), who also end up in allegiance protecting the minister’s children.

Hu packs a significant amount of stellar martial arts sequences into a film which spends most of its time in one setting, with juxtaposed parties battling over food and riffing on the potential poisoning of their drinks. While its narrative is ultimately simple, it unfolds with a dizzying number of players, who assist in making Hu’s pacing more frenetic than one would imagine, considering the story’s scope. But editing and choreography are formidable and impressive as they unspool successively, even allowing for some impressive moments from its equally adept female played by Shangkuan Ling-fung. In many respects, Tarantino lifts a lot of the dynamics unfolding in Dragon Inn and retools them for his revisionist The Hateful Eight, which sees similar set of dueling power plays (not to mention strange siblings).

Disc Review:

Criterion presents Hu’s Dragon Inn as a new 4K digital restoration in 2.35:1 with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Picture and sound quality are superb in this new restoration/transfer. The availability of Hu’s filmography is experiencing a mini-renaissance as Criterion recently resurrected Hu’s 1971 masterpiece A Touch of Zen while Kino Lorber also released Legend of the Mountain (1979). A handful of pertinent interviews and creative tidbits are included as extra features on the release.

The Phoenix Rises:
Actor Shangkuan Ling-fung recalls her work on Dragon Inn in this ten-minute interview conducted by Criterion in 2018.

Making History:
Actor Shih Chun filmed this ten-minute segment in 2016 relating his experiences making Dragon Inn.

Art in Action:
Grady Hendrix, author and cofounder of the New York Asian Film Festival, discusses King Hu’s aesthetic sensibility via analysis of one scene in this twenty-five-minute program made for the Criterion Collection in 2018.

Premiere Newsreel:
Nearly two minutes of newsreel footage from 1967 Taipei details the box office success and cultural impact of Dragon Inn upon its release

Final Thoughts:

A cornerstone of not only martial arts but Hong Kong cinema, Dragon Inn is a meticulously edited, action-packed wuxia classic.

Film Review: ★★★½/☆☆☆☆☆
Disc Review: ★★★★/☆☆☆☆☆