Tian xia wu zei

Professional thieves Bo (Andy Lau) and Li (Rene Liu) con a businessman out of his BMW, and head for the hills to lay low. They visit a temple, where Bo busies himself relieving pilgrims of their wallets and phones, while Li earnestly prays. Shortly thereafter, she announces to her lover that she wants them both to abandon their thieving lifestyle and settle down. When he refuses, they argue and split.

On foot and hopelessly lost, Li encounters Sha Gen (Wang), a simple man who wants to find a wife and settle down with the money he's earned. He helps her find her way to a train station, where she's reunited with Bo.

Touched by Sha Gen's open honesty and trust in his fellow travellers, Li adopts him as her little brother, and decides to protect him and his money on their journey as an act of redemption. However, while Bo wants to get back together with Li, he has his eye on Sha Gen's moneybag. To make matters worse, a whole gang of thieves is on board the train, and they all wouldn't mind helping themselves to the easy cash. It's thief vs thief as the train rolls through gorgeous landscapes, and Li has her work cut out defending Fu from all sides, not least her unscrupulous lover.

I've only seen one of director Feng Xiaogang's movies before, 'Big Shot's Funeral', and will admit to not being blown away by that. This, however, is a very engaging and beautifully shot romantic crime comedy, and I enjoyed it immensely. The product placement that seems to have offended many viewers slipped by me, and the pro-communist message simply fits the character of Sha Gen and did not seem out of place. I certainly didn't feel anything getting forced down my throat.

Andy Lau manages to be a likable rogue, while Rene Liu plays her role with a lot of heart. Their on-screen chemistry is perfect.

There are a number of 'fight' scenes between the thieves, that put me in mind of the 'God of Gamblers' series of films. Instead of fighting with Mah Jong sticks or flinging cards at each other though, the thieves duel with razor blades as they try to poach from one other. These scenes are inventive and done with flair and just the right amount of CG trickery.

I did have a problem with the ending, which - while being necessarily melodramatic - seemed overly manipulative. To compensate for this, Rene Liu's acting at the conclusion should leave all but the hardest of hearts unmoved. I have to admit with some shame that this is the first film I've seen starring this astonishing actress. It will definitely not be the last.

I don't know a lot about Chinese film but I've seen some of the recent Kung fu hits (House of flying daggers, Redcliff, all entertaining for their genre but fairly empty productions) and this one is a real gem--a tight well woven plot, touching and interesting characters and some classic Chinese hero traits (think superhuman abilities that often defy gravity) suavely transposed into the world of petty thieves with a light and gentle touch that makes you almost forget some of the gestures are probably physically impossible. The music score is pitch perfect, light, jazzy, with just a hint of something deeper and sadder.

The acting is superb and the script really keeps you guessing. Scenes hover somewhere between outright hilarity, touching irony, and fleeting hints of the genuinely tragic. There is rarely a false note and the actor who plays the intellectually limited villager pulls off a terrific balancing act: he manages to be naive and rustic without slipping into Forest Gumpy type nonsense....

Well worth the viewing...

Visually stunning, emotionally charged, and intellectually moving! The cinematography of "World Without Thieves" is unmatched to any Chinese movie I've seen to date. The characters hold your interest, and the plot moves across the screen with brilliant unpredictability. Western fans who only know Andy Lau from "House of Flying Daggers" get to witness his versatility as an actor. The two female leads, Renee Liu and Bingbing Li, balance each other out wonderfully: one dangerous, the other caring. I love "non-Hollywood" endings, which is what we get here. This is a rare gem of a film that breaks out of the "Chinese Film" genre and into the "International Film" genre. A good introduction for the movie fan who has never seen a Chinese film. A must-see for any serious film fanatic.

Feng Xiaogang has made himself the fame of making good holiday films in the past several years. Most of them achieved the purposes of making laugh and making people a happy new year.

This one is the best one in that both in the filming and produce, it has more meaning and more depth. Well, it is still not an 'art' movie. It is still just targeted for box income.

The performance of actors and actresses is OK, not too much to exceed what they are usually doing. By maintaining their perform, this movie achieve the adequate balance between a good movie (usually a heavy one) and a laughter making movie.

The story is a made one for sure. A world without thieves has disappeared from 10 years ago. Now it is a world full of thieves. It might remind people in their 30s the good old days of China ...

As another reviewer stated here, this feels like a light comedy. But there is so much more to it. And to have the ability to mix the lightness (especiall in the way many scenes are staged and shot) with the philosophical question it raises is just plain great. It might not be your cup of tea or you might think that some people are reading things into the movie that aren't there. But seeing a trailer for another movie done by this director, I am pretty sure, that those things are meant to be there.

Nevertheless, it doesn't make this movie flawless. And quite a few people will dislike it. But as with many movies, you should be able to tell, if you like the (visual) style and tone of the movie, when it reaches the ten minute mark. If it didn't convince you by then, you could stop watching, because it won't have any different effect by the end of it. On the other hand, if you are "captured" (no pun intended) into the world, you will have a truly great experience watching this movie.