USB Video Disc – The Bandit and The Rose (Way Down West) – (1927) – AKA Romance of the Western Chamber, Xi Xiang Ji – Early Kung Fu film

In a remote mountain monastery, a brilliant young scholar seeking quiet study meets the most beautiful woman in the realm, Cui Yingying, the Rose of Pu Chui. But their forbidden romance is shattered when a ruthless bandit chieftain storms the temple gates with his savage horde, demanding the Rose as his bride. Trapped behind the walls, the scholar must summon every ounce of courage and cunning to outwit the invaders, or lose the woman he loves forever.

A breathtaking silent-era epic from the dawn of Chinese cinema, The Bandit and the Rose (originally Romance of the Western Chamber, Way Down West, or Xi Xiang Ji) blends whirlwind romance, high-stakes adventure, and groundbreaking martial-arts spectacle. Shot with stunning hand-tinted nitrate beauty, elaborate costumes, and pioneering action sequences that helped birth the wuxia genre, this is one of the earliest surviving feature films from Shanghai’s golden age.

This edition features a new translation and score from New Ellijay Television and Doctor Deathray.