The Assassin (2015)

Martial arts tale, and winner of Best Director at Cannes Film Festival 2015. Hou Hsiao-Hsien's The Assassin follows a young woman from her training in deadly arts as a child, through her employment as a killer, and into a dilemma that forces her to contemplate turning her back on her profession and superiors.

"9th Century China. 10-year-old general's daughter Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who initiates her into the martial arts, transforming her into an exceptional assassin charged with eliminating cruel and corrupt local governors. One day, having failed in a task, she is sent back by her mistress to the land of her birth, with orders to kill the man to whom she was promised - a cousin who now leads the largest military region in North China. After 13 years of exile, the young woman must confront her parents, her memories and her long-repressed feelings. A slave to the orders of her mistress, Nie Yinniang must choose: sacrifice the man she loves or break forever with the sacred way of the righteous assassins." (Cannes Film Festival)

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