A Woman A Gun and a Noodle Shop

'A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Chinese remake of the Coen brothers first film 'BLOOD SIMPLE', this one is set in 19th century China as opposed to 1980's Texas. The film is directed by Yimou Zhang (who directed such popular and critical acclaimed films as 'HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS', 'HERO' and 'CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER') and it's quite a departure from his older work. Zhang says 'BLOOD SIMPLE' is one of his favorite films and claims the Coens wrote to him after seeing his version and expressed how much they loved it. It's written by Jianquan Shi and Jing Shang and stars Ni Yan, Honglei Sun, Xiao Shen-Yang and Dahong Ni.

The original Chinese title of the film is 'A SIMPLE NOODLE STORY', it was changed to 'A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP' for it's international release. It's set in a small desert town where a man named Wang (Ni) runs a successful noodle shop. He purchased his young beautiful wife (Yan) several years earlier and beats her every night. His wife is having an affair with a servant at the noodle shop named Li (Shen-Yang) and when Wang finds out about the affair things get ugly. Wang enlists the help of a local police detective (Sun) to help him carry out a plan of revenge. Things of course become complicated and bloody.

The film is an odd mix of dark action thriller and screwball comedy. The slapstick jokes aren't exactly my taste in humor but the action scenes are cool and the suspense is intense. It does drag on a little here and there but for the most part the action / crime drama aspect of the film is effective. It's also often visually stunning with plenty of beautiful scenery and elaborate effects. It's not nearly as epic and breathtaking as Zhang's other films but I think it's a nice surprise change for him. By no means is it great or as classic as the original, of course, but it's still a remake worth checking out.

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Did you know that Yimou Zhang remade the Coen Brothers' "Blood Simple" in China? In some quarters it's known as "Yimou Zhang's Blood Simple" while elsewhere it has been rechristened "A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop". Yimou, of course, was at one time a director to be reckoned with, perhaps more famous internationally than even the Coens are now, (his "Raise the Red Lantern" is one of the masterpieces of world cinema), so we had every right to have had high hopes of this remake of what was a brilliant, if minor, Coen Brothers classic. Unfortunately, this is much closer to a black farce with none of the terror of the first "Blood Simple".

Visually it's a terrific looking film, which is as we might expect from its director. Few directors in the history of cinema have used colour as expressively as Yimou but there's no substance here. This is just a piece of pulp fiction Chinese-style with the comedy falling flat and the suspense singularly lacking. Today the Coen Brothers' film is now considered one of the great debuts in American film and it will be remembered as such long after this is forgotten.

It starts just as a spaghetti western, but then comes a parody of spaghettis and samurai films with minimal use of dialogue and excessive extravaganza of imagery. While the scope of the film seems unbelievable, a little, simple story revolving some stupid stereotypes is going on. Starting with buying an imported gun, the premise recalls the emergence of modernism in traditional, moralist society as it happens in too many samurai ventures, but the concept is contrarily based on the consequences of reliance on such bad habits as greed and jealousy. Not as promising as his RAISE THE RED LANTERN and JU DUO, not inspiring as his LA VIE and HERO, Zhang Yimou's A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP is an eccentric experience by a cineaste assumed as a master: crazy, wild and frantic, but not trying to tell a story in the size of epic

Who would have thought that Zhang Yimou, once art house darling and for trying too hard at the martial arts genre, could be capable of pulling off an all-out, slapstick black comedy with A Woman, A Gun and A Noodle Shop? It certainly took my by surprise, and showed that he's more than willing and capable of stepping outside his comfort zone, to remake what's essentially The Coen Brother's Blood Simple, albeit set in a period Chinese era and in context as well, with the bar in an unnamed Texas town becoming a noodle shop out in a desert.

And paying homage to The Coens isn't just the only one here. Curiously, the finale sequence was very similar to how Danny Boyle decided to end Slumdog Millionaire, with an out of place song and dance sequence that became more absurd as the clip ticked by. Serving little purpose other than to get everyone lip sync, dance, spin some dough, break the 4th fall and essentially telling us that everyone had a swell time making the film, I thought this could be done without since the end was quite pitch perfect.

Beginning with an introduction to the important plot element of introducing a gun into the story, a group of Persian merchants come into Wang's (Ni Dahong) noodle shop to sell some wares, and ultimately Wang's Wife (Yan Ni) decides to buy a three-barrelled gun. Nobody knows what for, and a cannon demonstration brings forth the local police, whose chief investigator Zhang (Sun Honglei) gets engaged in an expensive scheme by Wang to finish off his adulterous wife and her lover, employee Li (Xiao Shen-Yang). But of course things never go according to plan, especially when everyone has their own agenda, and it becomes one heck of a comedic blood bath with motivations questioned, and you the audience left wondering just how everyone will get out of this mess.

Zhang Yimou once again goes for very saturated colour schemes for his films, from the rich blues of the skies to the orange-brown sands of the desert land, and this time too keeping his characters in single-toned striking colours. If anyone doubts the director in being able to helm a comedy, the opening scene itself will allay those fears, and indeed much of the physical comedy come thanks to the wonderful casting, especially that of the two bumbling shop assistants caught up in the complicated events only because they're looking toward settling their back pay.

It highlights how men become easily tempted by money, the root of all evil, when faced with bucket-loads of them, and how coincidences play a huge part in getting the characters where they end up, with each unfortunate moment ending in becoming a corpse (yes, there will be blood, and death) in a seemingly convoluted narrative that has to be seen to be believed the kind of rich writing which can pull it off. But what I enjoyed more, is how modern day devices are given the old fashioned treatment, such as the police "siren" - horse mounted and wind-generated - and a combination lock, designed with an abacus, no less!

A Woman, A Gun and A Noodle Shop may seem like a less than epic film from Zhang Yimou, but it sure is a lot of fun delivered by its outstanding casting who seem all too comfortable in dishing out black and physical humour. Recommended, just so you know that the director has the bandwidth to do a lot more than what his filmography thus far has pigeon-holed him into.

Yimou Zhang (Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower, and the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games Opening Ceremony) does things in a big way. I was interesting to see how he adapts a simple story of love and revenge, the Coen Brothers first film, Blood Simple.

It may be a simple story, but when you add Chinese costumes and brilliant cinematography in the Gobi desert, the simplest film becomes spectacular.

But, that won't save it as a story. Zhang just quite get the hang of the Coen Brothers. Characters come off looking like the Three Stooges.

It is recommended simply to get the great master in action. Watch the original if you want to see an interesting movie.