Once Upon a Time in China
![Once Upon a Time in China](https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/d79bc7d2b65cdc2885116fdc074e87d8/c6OOcQ5v21wzr7MPrwLBBlQdgo09EM_large.jpg)
Writer-producer-director Tsui Hark’s sprawling vision of a changing nineteenth-century China begins with this riotously entertaining epic, a blockbuster hit that cemented Jet Li’s status as the greatest martial-arts superstar of his generation. Li displays his stunning, fast-and-fluid fighting style as the legendary martial-arts teacher and doctor Wong Fei-hung, who, with a band of disciples, battles a host of nefarious forces—foreign and local—who are threatening Chinese sovereignty as British and American imperialists encroach upon the Mainland. Once Upon a Time in China’s breathtaking blend of kung fu, comedy, romance, and melodrama climaxes in a whirlwind guns-vs.-fists finale that is also a thrilling affirmation of Chinese cultural identity.
Available In
![Once Upon a Time in China](https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/d79bc7d2b65cdc2885116fdc074e87d8/c6OOcQ5v21wzr7MPrwLBBlQdgo09EM_large.jpg)
Cast
- Jet Li
- Wong Fei-hung
- Yuen Biao
- Leung Foon
- Jacky Cheung Hok Yau
- Bucktooth So
- Rosamund Kwan
- Thirteenth Aunt Siu-kwan
- Kent Cheng
- Wing
- Yen Shi-kwan
- Iron Vest Yim
Credits
- Director
- Tsui Hark
- Produced by
- Tsui Hark
- Screenplay by
- Tsui Hark
- Yuen Kai-chi
- Edward Leung Yiu-ming
- Elsa Tang Bik-yin
- Cinematography by
- David Chung Chi-man
- Bill Wong Chung-piu
- Arthur Wong Ngok-tai
- Ardy Lam Kwok-wah
- Wingo Chan Tung-chuen
- Wilson Chan Pui-ka
- Edited by
- Marco Mak Chi-sin
- Art director
- Kenneth Yee Chung-man
- Costume designer
- Bruce Yu Ka-on
- Martial-arts direction by
- Yuen Cheung-yan
- Yuen Shun-yi
- Lau Kar-wing
- Yuen Wo-ping
- Original music by
- James Wong Jim
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