The Assassin (2015 film)

The Assassin
Theatrical Poster
Chinese	刺客聶隱娘
Mandarin	Cìkè Niè Yǐnniáng
Directed by	Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Written by	Hou Hsiao-Hsien Chu Tien-wen Hsieh Hai-Meng Zhong Acheng
Starring	Shu Qi Chang Chen Zhou Yun Satoshi Tsumabuki
Music by	Lim Giong
Cinematography	Mark Lee Ping Bin
Edited by	Huang Chih-Chia
Production companies	Central Motion Pictures China Dream Film Culture Industry Media Asia Films Sil-Metropole Organisation SpotFilms Zhejiang Huace Film & TV
Distributed by	North America: Well Go USA United Kingdom: StudioCanal
Release date	21 May 2015 (2015-05-21) (Cannes) 27 August 2015 (2015-08-27) (China & Hong Kong) 28 August 2015 (2015-08-28) (Taiwan)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	Taiwan China Hong Kong
Language	Mandarin
Budget	CN¥90 million (US$14.9 million)
Box office	CN¥61.4 million (China)

The Assassin (Chinese: 刺客聶隱娘; pinyin: Cìkè Niè Yǐnniáng; or: The Assassin Niè Yǐnniáng) is a 2015 martial arts film directed by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien. A Taiwan/ROC-China/PRC-Hong Kong co-production, it was an official selection in the main competition section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, Hou won the award for Best Director. It was released in China and Hong Kong on 27 August, and a day later in Taiwan on 28 August 2015. It was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.

The Assassin is loosely based on the late 9th century martial arts story "Nie Yinniang" by Pei Xing, a core text in Chinese swordsmanship and wuxia fiction.

The film is set in 8th century China during last years of the Tang Dynasty. The film centers on Nie Yinniang (played by Shu Qi), an assassin who is directed to slay corrupt government officials by her master, Jiaxin, a nun who raised her from the age of ten. When Yinniang displays mercy by failing to kill during her duties, Jiaxin punishes her with a ruthless assignment designed to test Yinniang’s resolve: she is sent to the distant province/circuit of Weibo in northern China to kill its military governor Tian Ji'an — her cousin to whom she had once been betrothed.

"I haven't shot a movie in six or seven years. It's really a whole new world for me because the market is now so big, because of China. So the scale is much bigger, and that makes every detail different, so now even I have to adjust my scale."