Legend of the Mountain

Plot

Ho, a young scholar, is tasked with translating Buddhist sutras believed to hold power over afterlife creatures. He travels to a monastery for peace but encounters a lama, Secretary Tsui, his friend Cheng, Cloud, Melody, and Ms. Chang, who arranges a marriage between Melody and Ho. As he works, Ho becomes entangled in a plot involving witchcraft, demons, and a struggle to save his soul from the supernatural underworld.

Production

In February 1977, King Hu married Chinese literature professor Chung Ling shortly after establishing the King Hu Film Production Company. By May 1977, Hu announced two projects written by Chung Ling: Raining in the Mountain and Legend of the Mountain. Both were shot in South Korea due to a program offering financial support for two-film productions. The film was a co-production with Prosperity Film Company, with Wong Cheuk-hon as producer; his First Film Organisation had distribution networks across North America.

The story was based on the Song dynasty tale 'A Cave of Ghosts on the Western Mountain' from the collection Jingben Popular Stories, but Chung Ling emphasized that major alterations made it a reimagining, not an adaptation. Sylvia Chang's character Cloud was added to create a love triangle and deepen conflict. Filming began in August 1977 in South Korea and continued into 1978, going over-budget with extended shooting. Sylvia Chang noted that remote mountain locations required daily forty-minute hikes, allowing only one or two shots per day.

Several cast members doubled as crew, including Ng Ming-choi as action choreographer and the Lama, and Shih Chun as props master.

Release

Legend of the Mountain was released in April 1979. After winning awards at the Golden Horse Film Festival, the extended version was re-released fourteen months later in Taiwan and screened at film festivals abroad, including the 1979 Festival of Festivals in Toronto.

Reception

Hong Kong critic Sek Kei described the film as exposing King Hu's tendency toward loose structures, calling the version he viewed chaotic and without order. Liu Senyao wrote in 1984 that the plot structure was weak and loose, simply intolerable. Richard Labonte of the Ottawa Citizen called it an intellectual challenge, three hours that never drags, structured with rigid formalism allowing no spontaneity, a unique treat for those adapting to a slow Eastern style. Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively gave a 100% approval rating based on 7 reviews, with an average 8.3/10. A Hollywood Reporter reviewer praised beautiful settings and eccentric effects work, noting that special effects like characters disappearing in smoke may seem hokey but offer a change from CGI-driven battle scenes.