Wang de Shengyan

First of, since 'The City of Life and Death' and 'Kekexili' I have become a fan of mainland China director Lu Chuan. I did not know about this film but somehow, through indirect references, I found out about it and decided to purchase a DVD to see it.

And a good thing I have a DVD, for I needed to watch it more than once to truly grasp the gist of the film. The story line is based on a piece of history in the period of around 200 BC, toward the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is a story of allies turned mortal enemies, trust, mistrust, and the deadly outcome when a woman, here a queen, got involved in the King's decisions.

There are no epic battles and brutal action here, although there are a couple of scenes of torture and execution. The plot and pace are both slow. So I can see why many people will not like it. But if you have the patience, this is a visually impressive film that told a complex story. DVD is the best medium as you can pause, backtrack or watch it for a 2nd or 3rd time to fully understand the plot.

Obvious, it is a beautiful film. For admirable cinematography, for the great political lessons, for atmosphere, for the wise way to remind old, fundamental truths. So, just delightful, for a sort of grace of storytelling, for profound moral, for the portrait of conquest of power and its not real reasonable price, for the manner to write history . And for the truths behind apparences.

In fact, the atmosphere and the beauty of scene may be the best among films about this topic. The first emperor of Han Dynasty Liu Bang and his wife told us a golden rule in politic: kill your politic ennemy as soon as possible if you could. Another from Xiang Yu: Never overestimate morality.

To make commercial movies with the idea of making literary and artistic films is to elaborate the black screen of history, but the entry point is not accurate enough. The whole film has a slow rhythm and no fluctuation. The story line, especially the old Liu Bang, seems particularly confused.

Great Movie, but you need to understand the history of china and the background first. Without the knowledge of historical events in this movie, It's almost impossible to catch up the story and to understand the characters. If you don't know the background history, please google 'Chu-Han contention' before you watch this movie.