Le guerrier de jade

There is an old Soviet joke where the punch line is that all is quiet on the Finnish-Chinese border. That is where, psychologically at least, this film is set. It is a pioneering Finnish- Estonian-Chinese co-production, which takes the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, as its starting point.

It was clearly made on a limited budget, without much provision for travel. The result is that, in effect, we have two films with parallel plots and casts, one set in ancient China and one in a sort of modern Finland, where most of the action is divided between a junk shop, a museum and a subterranean forge. Only Tommi Eronen, who plays both protagonists, Kai and Sintai, appears in both parts. The dialogue is split roughly 50:50 between Finnish and Chinese. In style it is much more Asian than Finno-Ugric - swords-and-sorcery with mysterious sacred items, along with the aerial acrobatics and severed heads that have long characterised Asian martial arts flicks.

I found it intriguing rather than gripping or exciting, and had to work quite hard at times to follow it. Some of the symbolism was mystifying. Why was a yellow plastic duck floating in a barrel in the forge? What is the significance of the fly on the face of a dumb, or at least silent middle-aged woman? Still, trying to work out what is happening brings pleasures of its own. And much about the film deserves praise – the acting is generally good, the special effects work, and the costumes and settings looked good, though without a real wow factor. The musical score fitted the film until the very end, when an English-language rock theme tune rapidly dispelled illusions which had taken nearly two hours to build.

Six out of ten.

Jade Warrior is a new and excellent achievement for Finnish films. Not only is it a martial arts film that was made with a budget of a few million euros (which is still exceptionally high for a Finnish film), but it's also produced and directed as if it was made with a much higher budget by an experienced director. This is no embarrassing first attempt or prototype, but a genre film that's easily on par with modern standards, and also has an interesting, original and intelligent storyline. If you replaced Tommi Eronen with a Chinese actor and removed the parts taking place in Finland, people might conceivably think that Yimou Zhang has released a new movie. Since Jade Warrior is a martial arts film, a lot of attention will naturally be paid to the fight scenes, which are well choreographed and fluidly shot, without excessive closeups and quick cuts. I particularly like the use of flying leaves in fight scenes. While there are some impossible physics, they are used sparsely, and aren't too exaggerated.

The sets, costumes, effects and soundtrack are all outstanding, as are the actors. I think Markku Peltola's portrayal of the demon was especially interesting. Also, I don't mean to sound superficial, but Jingchu Zhang is stunningly and exceptionally beautiful. She's apparently a rising star in China, and is about to do a Hollywood film. I look forward to seeing her again.

Finnish cinema has almost entirely consisted of drama and comedy, with a few war films, so Jade Warrior is clearly a breath of fresh air. Certainly there are many good Finnish films, but they're either drama or comedy. I don't know why we're so reluctant to try something new. It's not just a budget issue, you don't necessarily need millions to do an action film, for instance. The fact that we've restricted ourselves to the aforementioned genres became apparent when I watched the film, because some of the dialogue made me cringe, since films like Jade Warrior are never done here, and the dialogue seems out of place. This isn't the film's fault, of course.

The limited international reaction seems to be very positive so far, and Finnish reviews have also been largely positive. Hopefully Jade Warrior will succeed to the point where we start doing more than low budget drama and comedy. Of course, this was a cooperative project with China, so credit must go to them as well.

First of all, not every story can be that ultimate epic saga that makes your heart go hundred and fifty RPM for the three-and-a-half hours of amazing storytelling. Although someone could have brought together Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, and Chinese wuxia mystique in a more theatrical way, I'm actually glad that this time they didn't.

Jade Warrior is a low-budget film in the European or Asian, not to mention American, scale. Exactly because of that, with all the love and passion they've managed to load this story with, Jade Warrior is a delightfully naive yet very one of a kind film. Its unique spirit is in the low-tone acting, in the settings, in the costumes, in the dialoque, in the mixture of these two exotic world-views and beautiful languages - it's everywhere. After it will have been recognized next year with international awards, Jade Warrior will become one of the few Finnish films every film freak will have to see - and hopefully it won't be the only Finnish-Chinese co-production we'll see in this decade or so.

I can't understand why so many movie fans from Finland loved this film,in my opinion,"Jade Warrior" is the worst so-called blockbuster I've seen this year!Not only me,but also most people of China who have seen it.

It is said that the story of "Jade Warrior" came from the myth "Kalevala" of Finland.As to the story which is adapted from the myth,I have to say,it's attracting,here is the general storyline :2000BC,Sintai,son of a blacksmith,has the power to destroy the 10th son of the Monster and eradicate the evil,which survived from Sintai's selfish desire,for he falls in love with a beautiful Chinese girl named PinYu before killing Monster's 10th son.But PinYu has already been engaged to another man,Sintai expects to see PinYu in his next life,which he wants to repeat again and again until she loves him.Unfortunately,love always comes at a cost,which is to let the 10th son of Monster slip away so that he has the chance to meet PinYu.Sintai did it over and over in his every new life,and so does the evil doing harm to the human being.Eventually,Sintai realizes that he couldn't satisfy his own desire while disregarding the entire human beings' safety.Once,in Sintai's new life of modern time,who is named Kai,made up his mind to kill the 10th son of evil finally,after which he has to leave his lover.

The storyline is beautiful,however,As to the film,"beautiful" deteriorates to "awful",and I doubt how many people understand it under the the director's awful direction.So many direct flashbacks between the past and the present,which easily make the audience confused,and the dialogues,which sounds almost retarded,Especially Sintai/Kai in his Chinese talking,it's not people's usual talk at all!!!I am not pointing his strange accent,I mean his words meaning.

About the love between Sintai and PinYu,at the beginning,PinYu refused Sintai,then without a day,PinYu changed her mind and decided to marry him!!!What happened??Not enough pavement for her behavior,and there are so many sudden turnings like this.I guess that may be the main reason we are not touched by the love story.

Let's focus on the most acclaimed parts,the kung fu scenes and cinematography,oh,god,if that were kung fu,"Hero" and "Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon" must be the best film in the world ever!!!!!!!when they fight,it's like two people dancing slowly with the music!!How ridiculous is that!!!And the cinematography,I would say it's just OK,without a engrossing,lively screenplay attracting the audience,best cinematography counts nothing.

During watching "Jade Warrior",the audience just sit there,trying really hard to understand actors' every abnormal behavior,how tired the audience are!!

Last year,we talked about "Mo Gik",and considered it as the worst legendary movie about myth of 2005.Today,I would say,"Jade Warrior" has already won the title of 2006,sorry.

A good story is not properly laid out,what a pity for "JW",the director's fault?maybe.

I am a big fan of kung fu movies. This is not so much of a kung fu movie, although the action scenes are very fluent and clear. You often see much worse scenes in actual Asian kung fu action films. Sometimes the action is too fast, too sloppy and edited like crap. Not here. The fights are used sparsely and with good taste. The comment posted by wujie is off considering the choreography in comparison. And I'm finding it hard to believe the comments about this film, because the name suggests he/she is Asian origin. If you've seen 10 Asian kung fu flicks, you've most likely seen 5 films with worse action than here. The plot is good. Acting is good. Occasionally you might be a little confused about the progression though. But overall it binds you to your seat for the duration. I guess you can call this an epic drama spiced with occasional action scenes. In Finnish standards this film rocks. And even if you're not a Finn you will most probably be happy with the experience after watching this. Of course the differencies with cultures may be an issue. But to European and American taste this is definitely worth watching. And compared to Asian cinema I find this more "normal", if you'll allow me to say this without being offended. Asian cinema often has weird characters that are strangely eccentric and odd. Here I found the characters to be human, normal, not perfect (wujie comments on this being a bad thing). So along the good fight scenes, which are meant at times to be like dancing to represent other issues than mere fighting (again wujie commented on this subject), there is content to keep you interested in the plot all the way until the end. If you read this comment, read also the comment from Asian perspective (wujie) and then make up your mind.