Tau ming chong

Last night I had the opportunity to view one of the best films i've seen in a very long time. One that stays with you far after the closing credits. One that requires time after viewing to untie all the knots in your stomach.

Peter Chan's "The Warlords" is a period epic in every sense of the word. Chan covers a lot of ground here depicting war and the consequences thereof consisting of his anti-war sentiments. It tells the story of three "brothers" played brilliantly by Jet Li (Fearless), Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs) and Takeshi Kaneshiro (House Of Flying Daggers) who make a pact of brotherhood to one another that consists of killing anyone who harms one of the brothers and killing any brother who harms another brother as they lead an army through war after war taking over city after city.

It's incredible to watch the thought process of making vital decisions during a battle or within their own army to defy humanity for the "greater good". It shows the internal and external struggle of these decisions by opposing points of view. The emotions felt by these men translate in any language and leave you emotionally drained after watching the film through to its tragic end.

The cinematography is outstanding, the budget is huge, the directing brilliant and the war scenes brutal as can be. We're talking decapitations, gushing blood, limbs sliced off and a man being blown up by a cannonball. Chan is delivering a truth in the brutality of war rather than dressing it up to keep (most of it) realistic.

War is hell.... and this film will take you there and back. Highest recommendation.

First of all, I think it's the first movie I've enjoyed in about half a year, so decided to comment. I read the good reviews on this one, and agree with most of them. Everything in this movie is superbly done.

There's little story in this movie and it's more of a background for the characters' portrayal and the battles, both of which amazingly done. The characters' portrayal is very successful due to the great acting. The battles and the fight choreography deserves a solid 9. Both artistic, like the martial arts beauty, and brutal, like real war is.

This movie doesn't have unnecessary emotion, or unnecessary gestures from main characters. That's where this movie succeeds. That's where 'Azumi' or 'Braveheart' succeeded. And that's where 'Troy' and 'Gladiator' failed to deliver. They all have great cinematography, brilliant fight choreography and superb acting staff - but that's only the technical side. 'Warlords' succeeded to deliver in all the aspects. Simple and little story with no over-dramatizing and no inconsistencies.

If one's wondering why I gave only 7, it's because, beside of Er-hu, I didn't find one likable character.

I can certainly respect this Chinese production. After all, the battle sequences are huge, the action very real and the look of the film is top-notch. Yet, despite all this I have a few reservations that keep this from being a truly great film.

The first problem is that most non-Chinese will have no idea what's happening much of the time unless they research into the Taiping Rebellion FIRST. While there is a prologue that gives a bit of information, it is very scant--and leaves many, many unanswered questions that you can only understand if you have read up on this era in Chinese history. Some good examples are the significance of the crucifix necklace---the viewer will have no idea where it came from or why it's there. And, who were the rebels and why were they rebelling against the Qing empire? Most importantly, who were the good guys and who weren't? Interestingly enough, who is the hero and villain overall in this rebellion seems to vary over time. During Mao's reign, he felt that the Taiping rebels were the good guys as they represented the forces of socialism (with their redistribution of the land and equality). Today, the prevailing attitude in the country seems to be that the rebels were bad because they brought disunity. ALL of this might have been interesting to learn about in the film, but alas I learned none of this in "Warlords".

Second, while the battle sequences were amazing and I was glad that they didn't make war seem bloodless (oooh, it's VERY bloody in this film!!), the film occasionally suffered from over-kill, per se. In other words, with so many battles and so much killing, the senses are overloaded and the film manages in spite of all the brutality and severed limbs to actually bore--at least it did do with me.

But, despite these serious complaints, I DO recommend you see the film--provided you read up on the facts first. It's a particularly great film to see on the big screen or on a huge plasma TV. And, the plot involving the three blood brothers is pretty interesting and the acting very good. One final important reason to see the film for weirdo purists like me is that you CAN turn off the English-dubbed version and just watch it in Chinese with English subtitles--and I appreciate that option.

..for a movie that's a bit difficult for Western audiences to enjoy. I mean, let's face it, we're not exactly suckers for blood oaths as the main plot device, which is the case here, and the story may feel hard to follow at times.

Two things made be enjoy this one. For one thing, the Chinese did a pretty good job as far as giving the movie the proper epic side it needed. There's only a fine line between epic cinematography and drollery and these guys managed not to cross it, unlike, say, Gladiator or '300'.

Then, there's the acting. Having only seen Jet Li in Hollywood movies before I thought he was something of a Jackie Chan without the funny face. I stand corrected, he gives a great performance in Tau Ming Chong, he is truly believable as his character, general Pang, gradually turns into a ruthless backstabbing freak for power. Finally, kudos to the actor playing Er Hu, Andy Lau. I hope I'll get to see more of him.

Having seen the abominable blockbuster that 'The Last Samurai' really is the other night, it definitely enhanced my appreciation for this title.

Looking at the list of writers involved in this project, it is a fraking miracle that this film is as good as it is. While it is no The Banquet, it is a solid historical epic which features the most layered and complex performance of Jet Li's career.

Loosely based on the Shaw Brothers' 1973 film The Blood Brothers as well as the life and death of General Ma Xinyi, this is a tragedy in the Greek or Shakespearean sense. Jet Li plays General Pang Qingyun, a general of the Ching army whose command is slaughtered by the Taiping rebels while Pang's allies the Ho Army watch and do nothing.

Injured, delirious and with no one left to command, Pang is nursed back to health by a beautiful woman who turns out to be the wife of Andy Lau's bandit leader Zhao Er-Hu. When the Ho Army raids Lau's village, steals their supplies and kills one of his men, Jet Li convinces Er-Hu and his lieutenant Zhang Wen-Xiang (played by Takeshi Kaneshiro) that if they join the Ching Army they will get the respect, money and guns necessary to protect themselves and their village. Pang, Er-Hu and Zhang swear a blood oath to stand together with death as the penalty for oath-breakers.

This starts Pang on his quest to save his country from itself, building an army from the unwanted, the poor, the brigands. In the process, Pang must fight Imperial politics as much as the enemy Taiping rebels. Each step along the way, Pang has to barter away a little piece of his soul to achieve victory, with Zhang reacting with hero-worshipping approval, while Er-Hu becomes increasingly disgusted.

The down side to working with a star of Jet Li's caliber is that in every role he is Jet Li, bringing with it his quiet heroism and idealism. This film turns that drawback into an advantage by casting Jet Li as a man who does increasingly villainous things for the purest of motives. Like a Chinese Robespierre, Pang is trying to build a free, united China on a pyramid of corpses.

The film that The Warlords reminds me of the most is John Ford's The Searchers.

Like The Searchers, The Warlords starts with a massacre. Both films feature characters who leave their homes on an obsessive quest that seems impossible and takes them years to complete.

John Ford uses John Wayne's iconic, heroic status and subverts it, as the obsessive quest slowly destroys Wayne from within. Jet Li's character in The Warlords follows the same arc, beginning his quest with idealistic purity and finishing just inches from total madness. Both men succeed in their quests, Jet Li's Pang in saving his country, Wayne's Ethan Edwards in rescuing his niece, but in both cases their quest is ultimately futile, because what they saved was the reality and what they wanted to save was an ideal. Both men end their films framed in a doorway that they can no longer cross, because their journeys have turned them into men of war who have no place in the world of peace on the other side of the doorway.