- Played by emerging Chinese superstar Zhang Ziyi as a young Chinese woman in love with Itami (Toru Nakamura), a Japanese man about to be sent home for military service. Devastated, she moves back to Shanghai only to witness the death of her elder brother during an attack by the Japanese extreme right then, changes her name to Ding Hui and joins a secret resistance group code-named Purple Butterfly.
(Action) A cross between Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Tarantino’s Kill Bill, scheming royals and other officials attempt to consolidate power in a empire in chaos. Packed with deadly plots, sweeping camerawork, and elaborate fight choreography.Tackling William Shakespeare's
Hamlet, director Xiaogang Feng presents a unique take on the bard's famous play with the action drama
Legend of the Black Scorpion, which is beautifully filmed and well acted. Ziyi Zhang stars as Empress Wan, a co! nniving woman whose beauty is equaled by her taste for power. She lustfully longs for her stepson Wu Lan (Daniel Wu). But when the Emperor dies, it is Wu Lan's younger brother who ascends to the throne, setting off a chain of events that are tragic. Though the story is familiar, the presentation is anything but; just as
Hamlet captivated readers with its tale of lust, greed, and betrayal,
Legend of the Black Scorpion draws viewers in with a story that is both fascinating and repulsive, but shot so beautifully that the eyes are drawn to the screen. Legendary fight choreographer Woo-ping Yuen (
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the
Matrix trilogy) orchestrates some beautifully fierce aerial battles that while no longer novel are still thrilling to watch. We are used to seeing Zhang in the wide-eyed ingénue roles. As the cold-hearted matriarch, she more than proves her abilities as an actress who is ready to move onto meatier roles that aren't driven ! by her beauty.
--Jae-Ha KimSet in feudal India, Lafcadi! a, a war rior and warlord's executioner, seeks to live a peaceful and quiet life after he meets a mystical young girl; soon he is chased through Rajasthan and the Himalayas by his boss' henchmen who has ordered his death.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: UN
Release Date: 1-MAY-2007
Media Type: DVD
The Warrior combines gorgeous cinematography, complex historical politics, and joltingly bloody action sequences to create a sweeping historical spectacular. A squadron of Korean soldiers, sent to protect a diplomatic envoy to China, find themselves unmoored when the envoys are killed in clashes with Chinese and Mongol soldiers. Struggling to return home, they rescue a high-handed Chinese princess (Ziyi Zhang,
House of Flying Daggers,
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and decide that protecting her is their best chance to survive, and possibly improve Korean-Chinese relations as well. Unfortunately, the Mongols want her b! ack, and the squadron find their numbers slowly diminishing as they fight their way to an isolated military outpost. Though there's a more realistic context for the action--
The Warrior is based on a historical event and the characters are well-developed--the battle scenes deliver some visceral thrills; the violence is graphic (beheadings, arrows plunging into necks, limbs sliced off) but grippingly choreographed. An above-average action movie; however, it is highly recommended that viewers watch it with subtitles, as the dubbing is typically wretched.
--Bret FetzerThe story of a man's parents' courtship unfolds when he comes home to bury his father.
Genre: Foreign Film - Chinese
Rating: G
Release Date: 27-NOV-2001
Media Type: DVDAt the start of the most recent film from Chinese director Zhang Yimou (
Raise the Red Lantern,
Ju Dou,
Shanghai Triad), a young man returns to his native village after the de! ath of his father, the village's schoolteacher, who died while! trying to raise money for a new schoolhouse. His body is in a neighboring town; the young man's mother insists that it be brought back on foot, lest his spirit not find his way home. From this starting point, the young man recounts the tale of his parents' courtship, which involved a red banner, mushroom dumplings, a colorful barrette, and a broken bowl.
The Road Home is beautifully filmed, particularly the luminous face of Zhang Ziyi (from
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), whose performance is a heartrending portrait of hope and yearning. A simple but deeply emotional film.
--Bret FetzerA pair of police deputies at the end of China's Tang Dynasty attempt to save a beautiful dancer, with revolutionary ties, from capture.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 1-JAN-2007
Media Type: DVDNo one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like
Raise the Red Lantern or
Hero, thoug! h different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green.
House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen. Government officers Leo and Jin (Asian superstars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying Daggers (named for their weapon of choice, a curved blade that swoops through the air like a boomerang). Their only chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Ziyi Zhang,
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) who has some lethal kung fu moves of her own. In the guise of an aspiring rebel, Jin escorts Mei through gorgeous forests and fields that become bloody battlegrounds as soldiers try to kill them both. While arrows and spears of bamboo fly through the air, Mei, Jin, and Leo turn ! against each other in surprising ways, driven by passion and h! onor. Zh ang's previous action/art film,
Hero, sometimes sacrificed momentum for sheer visual beauty;
House of Flying Daggers finds a more muscular balance of aesthetic splendor and dazzling swordplay.
--Bret FetzerTo lovers of romance, there is nothing unusual in the story of how Amechiyo, an exiled prince, meets the exotic and mysterious girl, Tanuki, in the forest and becomes smitten with her beauty. However, when he discovers she is actually the Princess Raccoon, "usual" takes a holiday, as the unlikely pair fall in love, despite everyone's warnings. When tragedy strikes after the celebration of the Princess's un-birthday, only true love can save her!
Legendary director Seijun Suzuki?s 50-year career reaches a milestone with this surreal musical comedy about love, deception and soda-water rain. Stirring up a broth of Kabuki, opera, animation, and adding dashes of pop culture, theater staging and rap music, Princess Raccoon is an eclectic masterpiece. Starr! ing Zhang Ziyi ("Memoirs of a Geisha", "House of Flying Daggers") in the title role, this enchanting movie celebrates the sheer joy of love and film.Cynthia is a young Chinese woman in love with Itami, a Japanese man about to be sent home for military service. A devastated Cynthia moves back to Shanghai only to witness the death of her elder brother during an attack by the Japanese extreme right. She changes her name and joins a secret resistance group code named Purple Butterfly the same group that years later will plot to assassinate ItamiZhang Ziyi looks as beautiful as ever in
Purple Butterfly, a film that takes her out of the martial-arts world of
Hero and
House of Flying Daggers. She plays a member of Purple Butterfly, an underground resistance group fighting against the Japanese aggression in early-1930s China. The movie's central dilemma comes when her ex-lover, a Japanese agent (Toru Nakamura), returns to Shanghai and is earmarked for assassi! nation by Purple Butterfly. This compelling-sounding set-up is! frustra tingly unfulfilled, as director Ye Lou (
Shuzou River) opts for an opaque brand of storytelling, in which chronology is jumbled and drama short-circuited. The film looks gorgeous, but it is close to impossible to understand what is going on at any given moment. If handsome images and dreamlike editing are enough, the movie might work for a very select group of patient viewers and Zhang Ziyi fanatics.
--Robert Horton
