Watch Raining in the Mountain

Raining in the Mountain is a 1979 martial arts film directed by King Hu. The film is based on A monk lit a lamp by Shi Naian. Starring Feng Hsu, Yueh Sun, and Lin Tung, the film takes place in a secluded Buddhist monastery where intrigue and deception abound. The movie begins as a group of three men make their way up the mountain path to the monastery, each with their own hidden agenda. Inside the monastery, the aging abbot is preparing to retire and select his successor. The two most likely candidates are the ambitious Deputy Abbot Wu and the respected lay student Chiu Ming, played by Yueh Sun and Lin Tung, respectively.

As tensions rise among the monks, an intricate plot to steal a priceless sutra from the monastery develops. The three men who had made their way up the mountain path each have their own ties to the sutra and hope to obtain it for their own purposes. Meanwhile, the abbot becomes increasingly troubled as he tries to decide who to appoint as his successor.

The three men are Chiu Hung, played by Ku Feng, who seeks to find the sutra for his own gain, a General Wang, played by Wei Lieh Lan, who wishes to use it for political purposes, and Elder Liu, played by Pai Ying, who desires it for his own personal reasons. As the three men become more and more involved in their own schemes, the tension within the monastery rises.

Amidst this chaos, a runaway convict arrives at the monastery seeking refuge. Feng Hsu plays the character Miss Yang, a woman who has disguised herself as a man to flee her pursuers. She is taken in by the monks and entrusted with the task of guarding the sutra, where she has to prove her loyalty to the monks and protect the valuable scripture.

As the rain continues to pour down outside the monastery, the tension inside reaches a boiling point. The manipulative Deputy Abbot Wu uses his power and influence to turn the monastery against Chiu Ming, seeking to discredit and remove him from the running to become the next abbot. However, as the plots and schemes of the various characters begin to unravel, it becomes clear that deception and greed threaten to destroy the harmony of the monastery and jeopardize the safety of the priceless sutra.

Raining in the Mountain is a beautiful, visually-striking martial arts film that explores themes of greed, deception, and loyalty. Director King Hu creates a stunning visual landscape with the lush, verdant setting of the monastery nestled in the misty green mountainside. The fight scenes, while not as extensive as the films of the genre that came before it, are well choreographed and engaging. However, it is the intricate and complex characterizations of each of the characters that set this film apart. Every character is infused with their own distinct personality and motivations, and their interactions with one another are layered with subtext and intrigue.

In conclusion, Raining in the Mountain is a slow-burning, thought-provoking film that explores complex themes within the framework of a martial arts movie. The lush visuals and engaging characters make it a film that is not to be missed for fans of the genre.

Raining in the Mountain is a 1979 action movie. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.3.