As "Shadow" (2018 release from China; 116 min.) opens, we are thrown in what seems like the middle of a story line. A kingdom's King and his Commander are arguing about the Commander's unauthorized challenge to a rival kingdom. The King is not pleased as this may undo the truce and alliance between the two kingdoms. But the real challenge is how to take back Jing City, held by yet another rival kingdom for the last 20 years. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil you viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest opus from Chinese writer-director Zhang Yimou, best known in the US for his masterful "House of Flying Daggers". Here he brings us a Chinese period piece with a Byzantine plot that I was able to follow only in the big picture. I am certain to have missed lots of nuances. But it really doesn't matter, because what we, or certainly I, came to this movie for are the carefully orchestrated, almost ballet-like, fight scenes, and on that level I was not disappointed. Both the one-on-one fights and the massive battle scenes are a thing of beauty. None is better than the invasion of Jing City in the movie's second half, as the battle takes place in the pouring rain. I don't really understand why the movie uses hardly any colors (it's not quite B&W but it's not far from it either), I imagine there is some artistic explanation for it.
"Shadow" premiered at last year's Venice film festival to good acclaim. Yes, almost a year ago. It is now playing a limited run (only 4 days) at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Saturday matinee screening where I saw this at was not attended well (exactly 6 people). That is a shame. If you are in the mood for another epic and Shakespeare-reminding film from China, I'd readily suggest you check out "Shadow", be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is the latest opus from Chinese writer-director Zhang Yimou, best known in the US for his masterful "House of Flying Daggers". Here he brings us a Chinese period piece with a Byzantine plot that I was able to follow only in the big picture. I am certain to have missed lots of nuances. But it really doesn't matter, because what we, or certainly I, came to this movie for are the carefully orchestrated, almost ballet-like, fight scenes, and on that level I was not disappointed. Both the one-on-one fights and the massive battle scenes are a thing of beauty. None is better than the invasion of Jing City in the movie's second half, as the battle takes place in the pouring rain. I don't really understand why the movie uses hardly any colors (it's not quite B&W but it's not far from it either), I imagine there is some artistic explanation for it.
"Shadow" premiered at last year's Venice film festival to good acclaim. Yes, almost a year ago. It is now playing a limited run (only 4 days) at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Saturday matinee screening where I saw this at was not attended well (exactly 6 people). That is a shame. If you are in the mood for another epic and Shakespeare-reminding film from China, I'd readily suggest you check out "Shadow", be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.