Wong Fei-hung (Once Upon a Time in China)

China in the late 19th century. The legendary martial arts master Wong Fei-hung trains a local militia against the looming threat of foreign forces while also working as a physician. The return of a beautiful, though not biologically related, "Aunt" (Rosamund Kwan) after years abroad throws him into romantic confusion, not least because of her foreign modernization ideas. When Wong's unruly rival falls in love with the Aunt, the conflicts escalate – but the true enemy in the background is the Western human traffickers. A box-office smash hit, this film saw Tsui Hark single-handedly revitalize the historical martial arts genre and turned Jet Li into a star. Alongside kinetic martial arts highlights – unforgettable: the balance fight on ladders – this is also a key film in Tsui Hark's grand cinematic historical project: a portrait of China as a land of lost opportunities. (Christoph Huber)

Introduction by Christoph Huber on March 9, 2025

Photo: Austrian Film Museum