Interview: MFAH Film Curator Marian Luntz Talks Martial Arts and WUXIA WONDERS Film Series

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BWW: Marian, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Marian Luntz: Thanks again for your interest and for being open to my detouring a bit in my responses. [Laughs]

BWW: My, pleasure! I will be at the screenings this weekend!

Marian Luntz: I know you didn't ask this, I'd like to start by mentioning that film series is occasioned by an exhibition at the museum: Emperors' Treasures: Chinese Art from the National Palace Museum, Taipei on view from October 23 - January 29. We plan films to respond to the exhibition schedule, and in this case we are spotlighting a significant and popular genre in the history of Chinese cinema.

Other recent examples of the film series that complemented the museum's exhibitions are WHEELS ON REELS, a series of classic car movies shown last spring during the exhibition SCULPTED IN STEEL: Art Deco Automobiles and Motorcycles 1929-1940 and DRAMA IN THE HOUSE, a selection of films set in great English country houses during the exhibition HOUGHTON HALL: Portrait of an English Country House in the summer of 2014. We're at work researching films from Cuba that will be shown during the museum's spring 2017 exhibition, ADIÓS UTOPIA: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art Since 1950.

Besides the 3 Wuxia films scheduled this fall, we'll screen Bernardo Bertolucci's award-winning epic, THE LAST EMPEROR, on January 1 and 6, 2017. It is set in the Forbidden Palace, where many of the objects in the exhibition were originally housed.

BWW: Can you talk a little bit about the cultural significance of Martial Arts Films in the U.S.? I know them as something I used to watch on TV at 2 a.m. with my step-father. How do you account for the fervor with which we i.e. Americans consume these sorts of action films?

Marian Luntz: These are artistic, entertaining and historically informed. They will surprise and delight our visitors. People are more familiar with kung fu movies starring Bruce Lee, Jet Li or Jackie Chan. The two films by King Hu we're playing, as well as Ang Lee's CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, are set in specific Chinese dynasties, as reflected in the costumes, production design, and of course the storylines. They are epic, visual, thrilling, and best seen on the big screen.

BWW: How did you make your selection among the many martial arts films available to you?

Marian Luntz: I wish we could have selected more films, but we have limited nights available. We were pleased A TOUCH OF ZEN and DRAGON INN were available in new digital restorations. Both films have been playing at art-houses around the country in recent months, and for us, it made sense to coincide with EMPEROR'S TREASURES. Over Thanksgiving weekend, we're hoping people will gather up friends and family to visit the museum, see our exhibitions, and enjoy Ang Lee's CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON on 35mm.

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Some people who have frequented the museum's films for many years may recall a film series we were fortunate to bring to town c. 2003. Organized by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, it was called HEROIC GRACE: The Chinese Martial Arts Film, and featured a larger selection that in fact included DRAGON INN which we're presenting again this year. The catalog for that film series is available to peruse in the museum's Hirsch Library, along with an e-book Traditions in World Cinema : Chinese Martial Arts Cinema : The Wuxia Tradition and others on the history of Chinese cinema. I always encourage visiting the Hirsch Library, an oasis located on the first floor of our Caroline Wiess Law building. It's a wonderful oasis and has a terrific selection of film books and periodicals.

BWW: I noticed immediately that DRAGON INN has a Strong Female Lead. (In fact, that's what drew my interest! Those previews before the screening are working, by the way!) How much did you consider social factors in your selection process?

Marian Luntz: A year ago we screened Hou Hsiao-Hsien's THE ASSASSIN, which has a strong female lead, and it was a great success. Of course Michelle Yeoh memorably plays one of the protagonists in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. The museum's film selections have always included women directors. Also screening this fall are 4 new documentaries directed by women: the final one in that arc is Laura Israel's DON'T BLINK: ROBERT FRANK which screens on November 5 and 6.

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BWW: Social politics aside: what makes these films kick-ass? They are action films after all!

Marian Luntz: Points well taken. I'm going to quote from the essay "How To Watch a Martial Arts Movie" by film scholar David Bordwell -- it's in the UCLA catalog I mention above. "The viewer must first accept, or at least tolerate, some of the most shameless assaults on taste yet contrived by any film industry. We must take for granted overacting ... and music cues taken stolen from other movies. We must accept that any movement of arms or swords through the air creates a fearsome whoosh...We are in a world echoing childhood: playground morality meets our fascination with frailties of the flesh". With this in mind, I encourage everyone to join us and experience the very cinematic adventures these films provide.

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Reporting by Katricia Lang; Editing by Bryan-Keyth Wilson and Natalie de la Garza

DRAGON INN shows tonight, Oct 21, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct 22. The 1967 film is presented in Mandarin with English subtitles. A TOUCH OF ZEN shows Oct 23, 2016 at 5 p.m. The 1971 film is presented in Mandarin with English subtitles. Films are screened in the MFAH's Brown Auditorium Theater, 1001 Bissonnet. 713-639-7300. $9.

WUXIA WONDERS: MARTIAL ARTS ON SCREEN continues through November 27. See mfah.org/calendar/series/emperors-treasures for more information. For more information on the films, please visit mfah.org/calendar/dragon-inn and mfah.org/calendar/a-touch-of-zen.

TOUCH OF ZEN Image courtesy of Janus Films

TOUCH OF ZEN Image courtesy of Janus Films

TOUCH OF ZEN Image courtesy of Janus Films

TOUCH OF ZEN Image courtesy of Janus Films

DRAGON INN Image courtesy of Janus Films

DRAGON INN Image courtesy of Janus Films

DRAGON INN Image courtesy of Janus Films

DRAGON INN Image courtesy of Janus Films

DRAGON INN Image courtesy of Janus Films

DRAGON INN Image courtesy of Janus Films