Quan min mu ji

This is one of the few films that has kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Excellent plot and acting. Very smooth development and full of surprises. Superb story telling skills. One of the few talented scripts in modern Chinese cinema.

Without disclosing much of the plot, we can only say it is mainly a courtroom drama involving a widowed tycoon whose 19-year-old daughter is accused of murdering his bride-to-be, a beautiful artist who is found to be having an affair with another young man.

As the court proceeding evolved, we seem to discover more evidence and hence new relations among all the stakeholders, including the lawyers for both sides. A very good suspense story with strong focus.

The vast amount of internal struggles and complex yet repressed emotions are brilliantly delivered by the excellent cast. Sun Honglei (the tycoon Lin Tai), Aaron Kwok (the fierce prosecutor Tong Tao), Nan Yu (the defense lawyer Zhou Li who vows to save the seemingly innocent defendant) and Jiajia Deng (Lin Mengmeng the daughter) are all great in showing the wide range of sentiments: anger, doubt, resentment, arrogance, guilt, awareness etc as the drama unfolds.

The art direction is also great. Although it is a fictitious trial in a fictional Chinese city, we are led to believe that such modern city with skyscrapers, highways and colonial architecture really exists and information can flow freely in China.

Very tactfully, the film projects an ideal China while stating that things are often not what they seem to be, especially in this new world power. Because precisely in China, anything can happen.

One criticism I have is that the first few scenes in the media control room to introduce the main characters are sort of superfluous and can be edited out to make the whole film classier. The presence of cameras in the courtroom is also not necessary and, generally, not allowed.

All in all, if you are into suspense, surprise, courtroom drama and modern China development, this is a must see. If you are interested in exploring the theme of justice, truth, loyalty, love, manipulation and the legal system, this is also quite worth watching. Highly recommended.

The biggest highlight of the movie is the rhythm is very fast. Relying on different characters' perspectives, it manages to connect them into a seamless case with the best plot twists.

It starts with a court room scene of a 20 year old girl having murdered her fathers girlfriend and the arguments in favour and against it. The father is a multi billionaire who goes to do anything to save his child and Prosecutor is a enemy of the father having tried various times in the past to lock him up but fails

It's one of the most matured court drama thriller of recent times with fantastic performances from the lead cast. It's narrated from each characters perspective revealing the truth slowly and more gracefully. The plot is intense with a logical and gripping screenplay enacted by lead actors so beautifully that it turns out to be an excellent masterpiece. The suspense gets revealed at each twists but still holds the audience at the edge of the seat with some twists which are unpredictable. The final revelation is master stroke and brilliant and also brings out the emotional quotient. Kudos

It's a must watch for extra ordinary screenplay and performances

This film's setting is neither Chinese nor Western, nor Hong Kong or Taiwan. The dialogue is like a literal translation. The court, regardless it's not Hong Kong or China but more like a Hollywood product. The courtroom scenes are extremely ridiculous and hilarious.

However, the tension of the whole drama is still quite strong. If the original is an US or European film, and then was adapted and reproduced into a Hong Kong film, it will be quite like "Infernal Affairs".

Anyway, no matter how you think it's a great thriller or not, you must not apply it to the current CCP legal system. Why? There would be no legal system like what we've seen in this farcical courtroom drama that could only exist in fantasy, a big joke!

I'm not going to repeat all the plot details like the other 5 or 6 reviewers have done. By reading them, you likely already have a pretty good, basic idea of the story : )

But, I will say that I thought the film was very well done, extremely clever and involving. Well acted throughout by all involved (DAMN... is it somehow racist to say that I swear these Chinese actors are almost always amazing!) What really makes the movie is the clever plotting and what also really impressed me was the added dimension towards the end where perhaps one's impression of certain people may not turn out to be quite what you expected (is that vague enough :D) This really gives what already is a great film, a further layer of depth and character.

Seriously though... I really liked the characters. The powerful businessman was quite smooth, the prosecutor very focused and determined, and what is interesting is the bearing and manner of the defense counsel. Right from the beginning her manner strikes you as rather odd, but that is just another well thought out development of this excellent and entertaining story.

If you like clever Crime Thrillers, especially ones with a lot of turns of subtlety, and you hopefully don't mind reading subtitles (assuming of course that you do not already speak Chinese) you should really enjoy this slightly complex, yet very riveting film...