The Assassin (2015 film)

For the British film directed by J. K. Amalou, see Assassin (2015 film).

The Assassin
Theatrical release poster
Traditional Chinese刺客聶隱娘
Simplified Chinese刺客聂隐娘
Literal meaningThe Assassin Nie Yinniang
Hanyu Pinyincìkè Niè Yǐnniáng
Directed byHou Hsiao-hsien
Written by
Based on"Nie Yinniang"
by Pei Xing
Produced by
  • Wen-Ying Huang
  • Liao Ching-Sung
Starring
CinematographyMark Lee Ping Bin
Edited byHuang Chih-Chia
Music byLim Giong
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 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[3]
Countries
LanguageMandarin
BudgetCN¥90 million (US$14.9 million)[4]
Box office
  • CN¥61.4 million (China)[5]
  • US$12 million (worldwide)[6]

The Assassin (Chinese: 刺客聶隱娘) is a 2015 wuxia film co-written and directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. A Taiwan/China/Hong Kong co-production, the film is loosely based on the late eighth-century martial arts story "Nie Yinniang" by Pei Xing. It stars Shu Qi and Chang Chen.

The Assassin premiered on 21 May 2015 at the Cannes Film Festival, where Hou won Best Director. It was released in China and Hong Kong on 27 August 2015, and a day later in Taiwan. It was Taiwan's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards, but was not nominated. Critically acclaimed, The Assassin was named the best film of 2015 by Sight & Sound magazine. It was Hou's final film before his retirement in 2023 after it was announced that he was battling with dementia.

  1. ^ a b c Hunter, Allan (20 May 2015). "'The Assassin': Review". Screen International.
  2. ^ "The Assassin". Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  3. ^ "THE ASSASSIN (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference wraps was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference cbooo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference BoxOfficeMojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).