Inimigos do Império

It has long bothered me that Feng Xiaogang's movies don't get U.S. releases...and so I have had to make a habit of getting them sent to me from overseas or other equally inconvenient means. Having discovered his movies while living in China several years ago, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Ye Yan and watching its progress through "pre-production" notes on IMDb. I was a little intrepid--one of the elements I love about Feng Xiaogang's movies is their ability to create inordinate beauty in contemporary settings that many would not see the beauty in...and I knew this was to be a film of another era. (In truth, I feared a little that Feng was going the way of Zhang YiMou--from the extraordinary into the traditional, beautiful, but traditional.) But I also love Feng's cultural, historical, and linguistic layering--and what better basis for that can their be but Hamlet? (Noting for fairness sake that I am an English Professor, and love Hamlet above all other Elizabethan dramas.) However, this film is, while traditional in setting, still extraordinary. The use of masks and movement play with Shakespearean notions of the play within the play/all the world's a stage. And, for me at least, this is the most impressive layer of the film. The story is well done; though one should not watch it as a "version" of Hamlet, but rather as "inspired by" Hamlet. Both Ye Yan and Hamlet address political, cultural and social issues through the story, but their issues are not identical. At this point, I would say this is my second favorite Feng Xiaogang film--only behind Tian Xia Wu Zei--but oh how I wish they would all be released in America. I read in the trivia of this web page that Ye Yan will be nominated for the Oscars and I hope this is true......mostly on the off chance that if it wins--despite the American public not seeing it--that it will lead to some of Feng Xiaogang's movies getting an American release.

Movies out of HK and China are increasingly rivaling or surpassing the best out of Hollywood in acting, cinematography, costuming and artistic vision. 'The Banquet' is a shining example.

This is a loosely based interpretation of Hamlet adapted for the Tang dynasty period. In my opinion there is too much energy spent on this site debating whether it is a good adaptation of Hamlet, comparing it to other Hamlet films, etc. It is not a straight "remake" of Hamlet - it obviously takes inspiration from the play, and uses many of its elements, and that's it. So just sit back, watch it and judge it on its own merits.

This is primarily a drama but it's sprinkled with great martial arts choreography a la Yuen Wo Ping. Many fight scenes follow the wu xia (fantasy kung fu) genre – just suspend your disbelief and enjoy the beautiful spectacle of it.

A riveting moment comes when a one of the Emperor's mandarins (scholars who rule over the provinces) introduces Wan as "Dowager Empress", language that means Wan is the mother of an Emperor (Prince Wu Luan) and is a slap in the face to Li. Wan and Generals alike must decide where their allegiances lie.

The acting is very good and I enjoyed Zhang Ziyi playing the lecherous Empress, You Ge playing a convincingly imperial Emperor and Xun Zhou as the naïve Qing in love with our 'Hamlet'.

One of The Banquet's strong points is it is absolutely stunning visually, right from the first scene in a verdant and swaying bamboo forest that makes you wonder if such a beautiful place really exists. The costumes throughout are incredibly rich and detailed.

It lags a little in the last half hour (maybe I was just tired) but to its credit does not run much longer than 2 hours.

Highly recommended.

this film is beautiful to look at. Scenery is great, the way the scenes are set up, the colours and the lighting are fantastic. Even the actors are beautiful to look at - Zhang Zhi Yi is at her sensual best.

The story did have some interesting twists but not too many which is why some on here are complaining it's not 'complex' or 'layered' enough. But compared to a regular Hollywood film and this one is much better.

The acting is uneven. Daniel Wu had a tough time adding any depth to his morose character. I guess he's the Chinese version of Hayden Christenson. Zhang Zhi Yi really shines as does Zhou Xun. Ge You also plays the usurping emperor with passion and adds a bit of humanity to him - he's not just an evil bad guy to be hated.

8/10

This is a very well made production of an epic story placed in 10th century China. Magnificent scenes of ritual, majestic scenery, beautiful landscapes, great stage design, artful choreography and above all a very good sense of the theatrical that echos ancient Greek Tragedy. One thing that seems to be wearing out in Chinese movies of this kind are the long violently cruel scenes that are attempted to be beautified and the ongoing fighters who fly allover. In a choreographic sense they are of great merit but a lot is unnecessary. Zhang Ziyi is one more good reason to see this movie. I found her convincing in her role although somewhat stiff. I would like to see more of her in the future, more such great productions with even less fighting and more content that Chinese culture can easily provide.

The women' death is because of the love.

The men' death is because of the women.

Desire is the measure, is the excuse.

Finally, desire is defeated to the love and the death.

In this war, the winner is … …

Beautiful clothes, lovely music and song, strange marks, tragedy character, moving story. It shows you that what Chinese' value is, what the love is, what the human' heart is. You will think deeply from your heart, you may understand the different among the cultures to express the familiar story. Think about Hamlet.

People don't understand each other, if they do, there is no one alone.