Gong woo

First of all, I have to say, the acting in this film is aces! Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung are terrific as two best friends who are powerful gangsters. Edison Cheng and Shawn Yue are also very engaging to watch as two young men involved in the gangster underworld. The scenes, the camera work, the peculiarly cheery music playing in the background all add to the pure visual pleasure. This is a great stylish looking film. One of the most watchable scenes in this movie was simply Andy Lau's character and Jacky Cheung's character having a meal in an empty, elegant Italian restaurant. These two actors play off each other very well. It was riviting to watch them talk to each other.

But the story? I had trouble figuring out the story. I rented this movie without English subtitles and my understanding of cantonese is very general.

I watched it twice to figure out everything. The twist in the end is surprising but not very satisfying.

What I got from this movie was this: this is not really a typical Hong Kong gangster film. This film is really about the deep friendship and love (I mean the platonic kind) between two good friends.

Is this film worth watching? Absolutely. Is the story good? So so. Even though I was not particularly satisfied with the ending, I still think it's a film worth watching and enjoying.

In my opinion, this movie is to Chinese cinema what the likes of Scarface and Taxi Driver and The Godfather are to American cinema. They're genre pieces, and many people who don't like that genre won't like the movie. And many who do like the genre will find some problem with it, too. But they are important classics that will leave footprints on whatever comes after. Therefore everyone needs to watch them and decide for themselves. I am in no way making a direct comparison between Jiang Hu and the American movies I listed. I know of nothing from Hollywood that directly compares. However I feel its following and its importance have yet to be discovered, and therefore have not been realized. It is shot beautifully, scripted masterfully and cast perfectly. And, if you have the chance, buy the special edition. The packaging and presentation are so absolutely top-shelf that I truly have not seen anything nearly this grand from any American distributor for ANY American movie. My friends will have to come to my house if they want to watch it. I refuse to loan it out.

There was much hype about the latest crime underworld movie called Jiang Hu. Sad to say it didn't do so well in the Hong Kong Box office and it was repeatedly slammed by Critics. Ironic though is that I find most non-official Critics such as fellow IMDb users, Internet users, and myself giving this film anywhere from thumbs in the middle to thumbs up. I'm probably not going to go much into the film since most reviewers have already elaborated on it. I am going to say though that it was sort of a waste to pit most of the "Infernal affairs" cast into this movie and yet you walk out not necessary caring for one of the characters. Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung are the highlights of the film though. Their dinner conversations on playing "Triad-chess" ignites the fuse on this film. Edison Chen and Shawn Yue surprisingly have improved on their acting on a margin of 80%. The last thing(s) that captivated me on this movie was the Musical Score, the wonderful lady- sung ballad in the opening and closing credits, and Chapman To's rendered Jiang Hu theme. For those who are looking for an abundance of Triad fight(s), look elsewhere. Sure this movie still has some violence, greed, lust, and full-on betrayals, but it is rather jelly-filled dialogue instead. Jiang Hu isn't a terrible movie but it isn't a best I've seen either. I give it a 7/10.

Style, class, intensity, mystery - loyalty?/betrayal? love for the art of film ...Jiang Hu is without a doubt a Simply TERRIFIC and ORIGINAL film! For those who have not seen this I will just say.. be Not critical of the film until you have reached the MAGNIFICENT ending!! At first the acting might seem poor from a few characters but it is the correct method to enhance the plot! You Will understand after - Promise!! Second of all this has to be one of the few rare movies to create such Depth in a single film, that will make you enjoy re-watching the film ..Straight after!! Even the credits show more depth to the film! Thirdly this shows the revival of consistency in great Hong Kong films! Like Infernal Affairs, there has not been a movie like Gong Wu (Cantonese title!) There is a SUPERB Twist at the end of this film, Andy Lau is Class! (The triads mole in Infernal Affairs!) In fact the whole cast is BRILLIANT! From the new talent to the veterans. I almost did not see this film because of the poor reviews given to it.. This is why i feel the need to have registered on this site (yes i'm a IMDb virgin) and tell the world how JIANG HU is simply another Amazing, Original/Anti Hollywood Triad film! I can Easily turn this review into a thesaurus of Compliments .... WATCH IT!

I find this movie to be very cleverly written and directed. IMDb has the wrong names however. Jacky Cheung's character is called Mr. Left not Left Hand and Shawn Yue's characters name is Yik. All that aside, I really liked this movie. It's not your typical triad movie with lots of fighting and no character development. Don't get me wrong there is some action in this movie but unlike most triad movies you actually care what happens to the characters. I loved the dinner scene where Hung and Lefty are talking and the room behind them seems to be moving in an odd fashion, maybe it was a play off their emotions but I thought it looked really cool.

I was a bit surprised by what this movie really was about. Because as you are watching it you think you know exactly what the movie is about and where its going, but the last 15-20 minutes gets you. You realize that you don't really know anything, everything you thought you knew is wrong.