Regarding criticism of this film

The criticism of this film seems to be a Western perspective of a product of Eastern culture.

I teach English at a teachers college in the heart of Manchuria, and saw parts of this film at least 3 times on a local station. With no English TV Guide for the local stations, I came across it by chance, and only saw it once from the beginning. It caught my attention as Owen's lines were in English with Chinese subtitles.

It followed what I understood to be a standard Chinese movie plot, with a hero who may do seemingly supernatural things to survive. The other day, I pulled up this page on IMDB and discussed the film with some students. They confirmed that the director and actors were well known in China, and that the star and co-star were married in real life. [One said they were now divorced, contrary to the IMDB entry.] One student told me what a beautiful story it was...