![]() ![]() The surprise factor perhaps plays a role, as the director is so well known for his use of color, from Raise the Red Lantern to Hero and Curse of the Golden Flower. ![]() For Western tastes, Deng’s performance as the power-hungry commander might also feel slightly too mannered and over the top, especially compared to his beautifully subdued work as Jing, which is all calm facades hiding inner strength.īut these are minor quibbles given the fact that this is probably the most stunningly beautiful film Zhang has made. Jing’s visit to his mother’s house and a subsequent attack there, for example, lack the Zhang pizzazz and ditto several swordfights back at the palace as the story draws to a close. Not coincidentally, then, it becomes a mantra for the men to fight “with a feminine touch,” representing the drop of (female) black in the (male) white part of the yin and yang symbol.Īfter this succession of spectacular images, with the nearly black-and-white visuals occasionally streaked red with blood, which is then immediately diluted by the continuous precipitation, the third act feels visually somewhat disappointing. Water as an element is identified with femininity as well and is represented in the yin-and-yang symbol by the part that is as black as the rocks against which this first fight unfolds. Chiefly, the weapon of choice is a variation on a traditional oil-paper umbrella, which can protect from the rain but is more often associated with women and with being decorative than with weapons or with men. But it is also significant in other ways. ![]() This makes the dancelike choreography - courtesy of action director Dee Dee (Tarantino’s Kill Bill) - look more spectacular as hair and flowing garments are weighed down and drops of water bounce off people and their armaments. With formidable black rock formations and with the tai chi diagram on the floor in black and white stones as a backdrop, the clash unfolds with the agility and grace familiar from Zhang’s wuxia films.Īdding another element, literally, is the fact that it never seems to stop raining. It takes over 30 minutes before we get a brief first fight in the commander’s hiding place, only reachable through a secret passageway from the palace. Zhang takes his time to sketch the background and political context and to introduce the characters, which makes the early going a surprisingly talky affair. That said, their wishes and desires, such as the fact Madam seems more enamored of Jing - a passionate kiss is as elaborately choreographed as any fight scene - than her real husband, do add texture and narrative tension. Unlike in a lot of the films of Zhang, who has discovered actresses such as Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi, the women here are not the leads and do not seem to control their own destiny. Like the fate of Yu’s wife, the tragedy of the princess is one that is expressed mostly in looks and gestures. Hoping to establish a truce and regain some influence, the sovereign offers the hand of his beautiful sister (Guan Xiaotong) to Ping, though this is against her will. Politically, the Pei Kingdom finds itself in a very difficult position, as foreign forces have occupied the city of Jing and the kingdom’s frosty relations with General Yang (Hu Jun) and his son Ping (Leo Wu), who control the stronghold, could tip over into war. 'The Summer House' ('Les estivants'): Film Review | Venice 2018 In a tense early scene that only makes sense a little later on, the ruler risks finding out when he commands “Yu” to play the zither, which is impossible because Jing might look like Yu, but unlike the latter, he can’t play the ancient instrument. By employing a body double, the Pei Kingdom won’t show any outward signs of weakness, though apart from Jing and from Yu’s own wife, referred to only as Madam (Sun Li), no one knows about the switch, not even Pei’s young king (Zheng Kai). After having been so badly hurt in battle that he has to retreat into the shadows so as not to show his physical failings, Commander Yu entrusts his job to Jing (also played by Deng), a lookalike in perfect health who is indebted to him and who is named after a city lost to a foreign army. The script, based on a previous screenplay by Zhu Sujin and credited to Li Wei and the director, reimagines a small part of the Three Kingdoms epic as the story of the cunning military commander Yu (Deng Chao) of the Pei Kingdom.
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