Rang zi dan fei

"Pocky" Zhang is a notorious bandit who robs trains and any other soft target. When a train robbery turns up no loot, a different prize is sought as it does contain a con artist (Tang) who was on his way to Goose Town to pose as their Governor for a while then make off with the taxes. Zhang agrees to spare Tang in exchange for the role and together they head to Goose Town, however once there they discover that the role of Governor is secondary to that of Godfather – a role held by Master Huang.

I came to this film having heard that I wouldn't "get it" because it was a Chinese film which was not for the international market. Whether this is the case or not I do not know, but perhaps regardless of nationality, the film only partially worked for me. The plot and the characters weren't an issue for me and I enjoyed the back and forward of the various twists and turns of the story. The action was not quite as good and those coming here for the action suggested by the title will almost certainly be disappointed since it doesn't deliver on that front as much. The comedy aspect is a strange mix and maybe this is the thing that I wouldn't "get" by being from Northern Ireland.

At times it is quite playful and witty but then at the same time it is pretty violent . In and of itself, I don't have a problem with this because it can work but in this case I didn't feel like it did as the violence was almost too jarring and too heavy or serious to really be able to be darkly funny in the way needed. The direction is a little bit excessive in the same way – not making its different extremes really work together particularly well, but it does still have some things about it which I enjoyed and mostly the tone of the film is consistent. The winner for me was the performances from the lead actors because they sold their characters better than the material did. Chow overplays it perhaps but he is a good foil for the rather calmer playing from Wen Jiang (who I really liked here). Xiaogang Fen is fun too in support as Tang.

Although I am not Chinese, I did still quite enjoy this film even if I didn't think it totally worked. The comedy aspect is odd and the violence doesn't always work with it as it should, although the playful spirit of most of the film combines well with the delivery of Chow and Wen to make it better than it otherwise would have been.

I'm shock no one talked about the political satire and representation towards Mao, this was the whole point of this film, Jiang Wen grew up in Beijing, with a military family background and he is best at the discrete and obscure political representation in his films. The character Jiang Wen plays is a distortion of Mao, and his sidekicks are the political friends Mao had, just watch this film with this information in mind, you'll get what this is truly about. At the end, the protagonist is betrayed, he left alone, but still pursuing his dreams. A tragic ending just like Mao's. Btw, Jiang Wen is a big fan of Mao if that wasn't clear.

There are so many funny metaphors but you do need to be somewhat acquainted with Chinese to understand them. I think this will be a difficult film for non-Chinese to grasp, especially with a lot of deadpan satire and dark humor. It is extremely funny in a way, especially the scene between Jiang Wen and Carina Lau where she displayed a series of objects to him in bed. You won't "get it" if you don't understand Chinese proverbs and surreptitious meaning. So I'm not surprised if this movie will be rated exceptionally intelligent to its Chinese audience but will appear to many as silly, improbable and illogical.

Review: What a brilliant movie but I must admit, I missed a lot of the plot because the subtitles are going too fast. With that aside, the witty script and brilliant performances from Chow Yun- Fat, (Master Huang) and Wen Jiang, (Pocky Zhang), made this crazy, unique, and definitely unpredictable ride, a joy to watch. When I heard that this movie had a western backdrop, I thought that it was going to be, more like a Cowboys & Indians type of storyline but once the movie gets going, it's a funny political comedy about a ruthless bandit who steals from the rich to give to the poor. The script is top class but it does get a bit complicated after a while, mainly because you have to concentrate on the annoying subtitles. The cinematography and costumes are authentic and the real governor, who wouldn't stop going on about losing his wife, cracked me up. The clever mind and coolness of Pocky Zhang is truly something to watch and the few action scenes were also impressive. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, even though I lost the plot but it's definitely worth a watch, for its originality and crazy storyline. Enjoyable! 

Round-Up: When this movie was released in December 2010, it broke several box office records in China, and has received critical acclaim. It became the highest grossing domestic film until 2012, when it was beaten by Painted Skin: The Resurrection, which grossed $140million worldwide. The movie was directed by Wen Jiang, 53, who also played the leading character, so he really did give this movie his all. He also contributed his directing skills to New York, I Love You in 2008, which had a top cast, and he brought you Devil's on the Doorstep, The Sun Also Rises and Gone with the Bullets. This movie definitely has something for everybody but you have to be a fast reader to keep up with it.

Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $104million

I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/comedy/westerns starring Chow Yun-Fat, You Ge, Wen Jiang, Carina Lau and Jon Hu. 7/10

This movie is really funny and brutal at the same time. Which is a hard thing to balance. Violence is "real" (with consequences for the characters involved that is), but the humor still works. Two factors play into that in my estimation: The script and the really good actors playing in this.

Mixture works and the CGI effects are really good too. Then you also have some wonderful dialogue between the main characters that is so rich, the translation might not do it entire justice (watched it with subtitles on and was hard to follow from time to time). But it's apparent how much fun they had shooting this movie. If you like eastern movies, I do not need to convince you to watch this. But maybe this can be your entry into a whole new (fascinating) world for you ...