Rang zi dan fei

Jiang Wen is a good actor and great director. He reminds me of Clint Eastwood, who is also a good actor and great director. Wen Jiang only have 4 films as director, he is not productive but every film he made is masterpiece to me. I love the Devils on the Doorstep most, it tell some truth no one fear to say.

Let The Bullets Fly is newest work of Jiang Wen. I watched the Chuan idiom edition today, very love it. Chuan idiom is one of Chinese hundreds idiom, the people live in Sichuan Province and Chongqing use it in their daily life. The reason why the movie have a idiom edition because the script is adapted from a novel of a old Sichuan writer. That's too much fun to watch the movie with the familiar idiom. However I love it not because the idiom, the reason is it's a good movie.

This movie is mixture of Quentin Tarantino and Sergio Leone, full of bizarre funny idea and masculinity. The last film The Sun Also Rises is criticized too vague, so this one is totally a commercial film. But as the one said in this film, he can made money without knee to others, Jiang Wen not knee to business, there's no disgusting ads and low-grade lines only passion for a good work, that's not easy for present Chinese film. This is why I respect him.

Some sensitive people like me aware some political metaphor in this film, this feeling is similar to the one I felt in Devils on the Doorstep. Jiang Wen knows Chinese deeply, or maybe he just so brave and smart can tell the public what he knows. Someones know the truth but they keep it and exchange it with fortune. Someones speak it loudly and directly, they only scared the public and get suffering. Of course in Jiang Wen's way, only small amount of people know what he want to say, but that's enough. Truth always rests with the minority.

Although this is a good movie, the non Chinese native speakers may found a little difficult to understand it, it like more a Cult than a commercial film to them.

In early 1920s, China was in civil war and it was an era when disorder became part of life. Bangde Ma ( GE, You) who just became the mayor of a remote town through bribery was robbed by a group of bandits led by Pock Zhang ( JIANG, Wen). However Ma could not afford any ransom because he had used up all his money for bribery and the only way to collect money was to use the ruling power of the mayor title. Zhang decided to take Ma's position as the new mayor while Ma posed as his private adviser under the name of Tang.

Their destination, the Goose Town, was actually controlled by notorious mafia clan of the Huang family and the only way to collect money was to fully cooperate with the family and handed out most of their gains. However Zhang was only interested in rich families black money and believed in fair justice for each person, which made Huang the IV ( CHOW, Yun-Fat), the boss of the clan, very very unhappy. Almost immediately Zhang and Huang became enemies and the Goose Town would soon turn to be a battle field as well as a stage of hypocrisy, cheating, apathy and snobbery.

The first impression of the movie is that it is no doubt of a typical Hollywood style action comedy composed by every piece of commercial element you can find in other Hollywood action movies such as gun firing, explosions, beauties, muscles, fast moving, slangs, and etc. The movie itself is of great fun and you will laugh from the beginning to the end. Also the story is told in a straightforward way and there would be no problem of understanding it even if you have no idea where China is located. The problem, however, is how to interpret Jiang Wen. Let the Bullets Fly is becoming one of the hottest and the most appraised movies in recent years in China neither because it is more dazzling than the Avatar nor because it is more surprising than the Inception. It is welcomed because many Chinese viewers regard the story as a mirror of present China and a movie with strong critical acclaim should have not been approved for public show by the authority such as Jiang Wen's previous movie the Devils on the Doorstep. Interestingly, different people can interpret the movie in a way they like and this may be the power of a comedy. Frankly speaking, if you are not a Chinese, chances are you will enjoy the movie for funny stuff while not the metaphor of the movie.

At the time of this writing, this is listed as China's highest-grossing domestic film. I went into it expecting some kind of action-packed blockbuster (especially with the title "Let the Bullets Fly," got me expecting stylish John Woo style gunfights or something). I should have known that this film couldn't be identified by blockbuster terms; it's actually a pretty weird and goofy film, with far less emphasis on action and much more on setting up intricate dialogues and intricate plot points. On its own merits, the film is very fast-paced and dense; it has some gunfighting and action, and a few rather violent scenes, but most of it is focused on the storytelling.

The storytelling is satisfying. Even though the comedy can be a huge hit-or-a-miss, and there are a few unbelievable scenes, the characters shine through and dominate the spotlight. It's hard not to enjoy the antics of the bandits and the thugs, and their complex interactions. It's especially hard not to appreciate the complexity of the plotting and counter-plotting that both gangs go through; with the rapid-fire pacing, it may be convoluted for some viewers, but I was never fully lost. Each scene is set up to advance the plot in strange new directions, leading up to a rather fun climax. In the end, I enjoyed watching the chemistry between the characters and their intricate mind games, more than the action.

This film has quality photography, and some really fast editing. Acting can be very over-the-top, but Chow Yun-Fat and Jiang Wen both put on iconic performances. Writing is quite witty and sharp. This production has fine-looking period sets, props, and costumes. Certain special effects look awful, but they are few and very far between. Music for this picture is okay (it includes a pretty odd use of drums and chanting toward the end).

Chances are that some folks will find the comedy, fast pacing, and complex plot a little hard to follow, so I'd recommend it as a rental. Connoisseurs of Asian cinema will probably enjoy this a little more easily than average western audiences.

4/5 (entertainment: 4/5, story: 4.5/5, film: 4/5)

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.

"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.