I must confess say this that this particular film, was for the most part, beautifully shot. There were a lot of visually pleasing sets and landscapes. Zhang Yumou is a very good Chinese director and cinematographer, and has a good eye for stimulating color (his other works include Raise the Red Lantern, The Story of Qiu Ju, Hero, Curse of the Golden Flower - as well as being involved in the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony).
However, it was a disappointment because the acting was so mediocre that it distracted the audience from the film. I suspect that it was better received in non-Mandarin Chinese speaking markets because the audience couldn't understand what the actors and actresses were saying anyway - so bad acting was not as noticeable. But the film was universally criticized in Chinese-speaking markets.
So uh... basically the film is set in the end of the Tang Dynasty. There are a bunch of anti-government rebel groups, one of which is called the "Flying Daggers" - whose members naturally throw daggers.
Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro are two law enforcement officials for the government. They seem to get along. Together they arrest Zhang Ziyi, who is a member of the "Flying Daggers" despite being blind. Andy then tells Takeshi to "escape" the prison with Ziyi, to gain her trust so the law enforcement officials can infiltrate the secret organization.
Andy Lau is Cantonese. Takeshi Kaneshiro is a Japanese/Taiwanese mutt. Naturally they have horrible accents when speaking Mandarin - and sound like idiots when they read their lines. For those who don't speak Mandarin, imagine casting Tom Cruise to pretend to be a German in Valkyrie, only the entire film was in German.
Oddly enough, Zhang Ziyi, who is from Beijing, can't read her lines worth a damn. She accents and tones are all in the wrong places and sounds like a nervous schoolgirl reading a textbook out loud in class.
Maybe the director is trying to explain why the Tang Dynasty fell apart? In the same way that the attempted assassins in Valkyrie selected a one armed, three-fingered, half-blind man to set the fuses for an explosive device to kill Hitler. FAIL.
Back to the film... Takeshi "rescues" Ziyi from the prison, and they go off running to the secret "Flying Daggers" location. During which they are pursued by Tang Dynasty soldiers. Some are in on the plot - so they pretend fight and pretend to be killed by Takeshi. Others are not - and he is forced to kill them.
They fight in some beautiful bamboo forests (I'll imagine they were stung by a lot of mosquitoes) - then fight on some Ukrainian steppes. Both Takeshi and Ziyi, due to the tension and stress, have increased cortisol and adrenaline levels and misinterpret it as love and decide to make out.
The duo eventually arrive at the "secret location" - but Takeshi, instead of being greetedas a rescuer, is detained. They knew he was an undercover cop, and *GASP* Ziyi is not really blind and was in on the con the whole time. Apparently Andy is a undercover "Flying Dagger," and sent Takeshi on this suicide mission to weaken the government.
The story then nosedives into the empty swimming pool.
Andy and Ziyi were previously lovers. But now due to the elevated cortisol and adrenaline levels, Ziyi thinks she is in love with Takeshi. So instead of killing Takeshi, Ziyi releases him. But Andy was spying on them - and jealous that Ziyi is now infatuated with Takeshi, he fatally injures Ziyi and starts a day long fight with Takeshi.
The duo fight in what appears to be central Europe (birch forests can be seen in the background), and fight so long that snow falls and before you know it they're bleeding in a foot of snow. It was actually a pretty scene, but it makes me terrified of the Chinese director - who is big on symbolism. Maybe he is hinting that the Tang Dynasty extended to Ukraine and therefore Ukraine is a part of China.
At the end of the film, both of them sorta fight over Ziyi, she dies anyway - Andy walks off and Takeshi weeps.
The End.
3 comments:
I'm really digging this series: excellent work. This part was especially fantastic in that you called the characters by the actors' names.
DPLK: remember when we saw this on campus, and then Crazy Jen turned to us and said, "This movie is just like my life," and we made the wtf faces?
I must confess I was too demotivated by the disappointment of this film to dig up the English translations of their names :P
In re Crazy Jen. Wow. I've heard stories - but wow.
Sadly I must have blocked that memory out of my mind...that whole time period was quite traumatic in many ways....there were many wtf faces...
I do remember watching that movie though, and I remember thinking it was quite fanciful but not substantive, and the last scene where they're fighting through the seasons confused me greatly. Was it supposed to be literal or not? She should have been dead either way, dagger to the heart?? And I don't like movies where the end result is everyone loses, that just sucks. Can't people just work things out?
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