Pai Ying

Pai Ying's eunuch Cao Shaoqin in Dragon Inn (1967) walks slowly, with his feet splayed. King Hu worked on that walk with him, first asking him to imitate a general and then adjusting the stance. The effect is formal and peculiar, giving the antagonist something more specific than a fierce expression. Pai Ying was frequently cast as generals, chiefs and other figures accustomed to obedience. His agility makes the sternness credible: there is a reason to take these men seriously.

A Touch of Zen (1970), with Pai Ying as General Shi Wen-qiao, is our strongest recommendation. It is absorbing, though its expansiveness sometimes costs it urgency, and Hu gives its swordplay the attention usually reserved for landscapes. Cinematographer Hua Hui-Ying makes the bamboo forest so present that watching only the fighters would mean missing much of the scene. We were thrilled by the bamboo battle because its choreography made us attend to the setting as closely as the combatants. Nobody needs to dominate every image when there is this much worth looking at.

Hu's storyboard-driven, opera-influenced staging helps explain why Pai Ying's formal bearing is such a good fit. His sternness works for righteous figures as well as ruthless ones, so playing a man of authority need not mean playing a villain. The danger is mannerism, particularly in the villain roles, where severity can leave little else to discover. We prefer him when the director gives that physical discipline something precise to do.

The Hu partnership continued with The Fate of Lee Khan (1973) and The Valiant Ones (1975). Hapkido (1972) took him beyond that collaboration, and later work included contemporary characters and the action film Royal Warriors (1986). Start with A Touch of Zen, and allow it the three hours it asks for.