Seven years have passed since Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's acclaimed Flight of the Red Balloon, a film that ended up on a lot of "Best of the Year" lists. His comeback film, The Assassin, could be headed in the same direction as it has already earned him the Best Director award at Cannes, and given that it has been in the works for about a decade (with various budget issues) the wait appears to have been worth it.
Set in 9th-century China during the Tang Dynasty, the film stars Shu Qi as an assassin trained in exile who is tasked with killing a man she was to marry years earlier. It's a fairly familiar story for this genre, but one look at this brief teaser and the craft displayed shows this will be anything but a common film.
Also starring Chang Chen and Zhou Yun, The Assassin has yet to gain a U.S. date.
