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Written by: Feng Li & Bin Wang & Zhang Yimou
Directed by: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Chen Daoming, Donnie Yen
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
A defense officer, Nameless, is summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.
Verdict
This is excellent from start to finish. The visuals and fighting style are certainly unique and stylized, but feel completely appropriate in context as a warrior recounts a tale. Each fight captures the energy of the moment while the Wuxia style lends it a dreamlike quality. The is completely engaging, and it's a joy to watch a movie where all facets work in tandem to produce something truly great. While the visuals are great, the story provides a fantastic foundation for everything we see.
Watch It.
Review
This released in China in 2002, but was delayed multiples times until 2004 in America. While it was released as "Quentin Tarantino Presents," his only tie to the movie is pushing for it's release in America. I saw it soon after its release. The fights are wuxia style, completely on wire and known for gravity defying leaps. In the context of this movie, a retelling of a legendary tale, that style completely works. Context is everything.
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| Jet Li plays Nameless |
The swordsman, "Nameless" (Jet Li) has been summoned to the king's court. Nameless has defeated the king's enemies. The king is intrigued by this lowly warrior that killed three acclaimed assassins and asks for the story. This is a king so paranoid, no one may approach his throne within one hundred paces.
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| Jet Li, Donnie Yen play Nameless, Sky |
This movie is a visual delight. Even the first fight provides plenty of wide shots that provide a full view of the action.Many movies use a jump cut to the impact, robbing the sequence of the tension and timing. That doesn't happen here. This movie knows how to capture a fight, from framing to how it intersperses close and wide shots. This is a great fight sequence, and subsequent fights only get better. Maybe most impressive is how quickly this movie exerts its complete mastery of this genre.
The first fight is shades of gray from the sky to the stone, but uses water drops to great effect. We see fights with various primary colors, from reds to blues and greens. Each fight outdoes the previous one, and the fight on water is just too cool.
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| Maggie Cheung plays Flying Snow |
Knowing this is a story, you can't always trust what you're told. Nameless may be embellishing to empress the king. That aspect makes the physics defying leaps plausible in the context of a story. With each story Nameless approaches a few steps closer to the king as a reward. One neat aspect of the story is how the king questions Nameless's tale.
Nameless recants and tells the king a new story, providing another
sequence just as vibrant and stylish as the last. It's a cool way to
extend the story without adding characters. It also makes us wonder which story is closer to the truth. The king certainly seems doubtful of Nameless, and each time he's questioned, Nameless pivots.
It's such a joy to experience a movie that is expertly crafted. I remember liking this movie when I first saw it, but I forgot just how good it is. The story is certainly great, but the visuals take this to a new level. Each fight captures movement and energy, and it seems the wind is always blowing, adding to the energy. It's such a lurid use of color, but it completely works, creating absolutely amazing shots. This movie is completely engrossing and focused. I loved it from start to finish. This never falters.
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