John Woo’s first film since the hilariously shitty Paycheck finds him back in Asia for the first time since 1992’s Hard Boiled’s grim vision on handover end-times. But Red Cliff finds Woo not navigating the intricate urban milieu of his hometown of Hong Kong, but rather swooping over the broad landscapes of the Mainland. Expurgated from a two-part saga into a rather overstuffed overseas single-parter, the film seems on the surface like a disappointingly impersonal take on the bloated martial-arts blockbuster of which Zhang Yimou is the reining king.
But I’d argue there’s more going on here, particularly in the way Woo pitches dashing HK and Taiwanese superstars like Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro against a Mainland mustache-twirler like Zhang Fengyi. As the unscrupulous Cao Cao, Zhang unleashes a Hero-sized army of 800,000 totally expendable CGI troops against the peaceful Southern and Western Kingdoms, cornering them in Red Cliff, Tony Leung’s pleasant little getaway across the Yangtze.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it, though. Certainly, the film doesn’t demand much thought—just an appetite for massive-scale carnage, a taste for strategic meteorology, and a nagging curiosity about just how and where Woo is going to sneak a dove into the mix. Fans will be glad to know that the dove he uses here is commensurate with the film’s budget: it is the most epic goddamn dove sequence of all time.
My full review at Reverse Shot.
by Leo Goldsmith | Source: Magnet Pictures 35mm Print
24 Nov 2009 5:21 PM | Comments (5)
yes, you are reading WAY too much into the casting. It’s not the simplistic analogy of Taiwan+ HK vs China as you are implying.
It’s obviously more complex than a simple allegory, but Woo’s return to China with this film – with this kind of film in particular – is a pretty loaded act. Even if the meaning of it is largely unintentional, it seems an ironic to come back to Asia after a couple of decades in Hollywood. Do you disagree?
Woo had full backing and support of the Chinese government in the making of this film. The soldiers in the film were actual soldiers from the PLA. How’s that for irony?
Yes, indeed. “Financed by the state-owned China Film Group Corporation to the tune of $80 million,” as it says if you follow the link. That is some expensive irony.
But really my point is not that Woo is making a big, subversive “fuck you, China” statement. Actually, his willingness to return to China at this moment and to make a film under the government’s aegis would seem to represent a big shift in his way of thinking about the Hong Kong handover and the Chinese government generally. And conversely, the Chinese government’s interest in financing and championing the talents of a major Hong Kong/Hollywood filmmaker also represent a significant shift in the way films are made in China. These aspects are precisely what’s interesting to me about the film—and precious little else.
The Chinese filmmaking landscape has changed indeed. Droves of actors/actresses and other talent from Taiwan and HK have relocated to China to broaden or revive their careers. This has been going on for over a decade. John Woo said himself that he has more freedom as a director in HK and China than in Hollywood.
oj
11 December 2009
2:18 PM