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Mystery, Comedy, Thriller, History 157 min NR
Rotten Tomatoes95%Metacritic75IMDb
During China's Song Dynasty, a mysterious murder occurs at Chancellor Quin Hui's palace after meeting delegates from the neighboring Jin Dynasty. The members become embroiled not just in a murder mystery, but a larger conspiracy concerning the fate of the empire.
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Plot-driven, relentless, meticulous and classical in form.
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Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Taste Buds's numbers.
You know, while the mixed reviews had me a little worried this wouldn't live up to my hype, my faith never wavered. It seems my conviction was justified, because my goodness is this a masterpiece! So good in fact, that I missed the last direct bus back home because I was so engrossed in discussing it afterwards - if my misfortune is not an endorsement, then I don't know what is! If you've seen Hero and House of Flying Daggers, then you can know what to expect from the plot here: a semi-historical account of a band of usurpers, plotting with wild abandon against tyrannical authority, inside a twisty plot as loyalties shift in constant flux, amounting to a grand political stance as reality reveals itself to be far too complicated for any one person to fully grasp. Yet Zhang no longer seems to care as much for spectacle as he used to, because while there's for sure still action here - and my god is it brutal, displaying the sheer ruthlessness of Chinese history in all its glory - it's no longer nearly as stylish as what he once revelled in. Which works to the film's favour, as it means it can purely focus on the central enigma it strives to unravel, with the character's far more likea
Read the whole review on TMDBWhen an ambassador is found stabbed to death, the Prime Minister "Qin Hui" (Jiayin Lei) orders an immediate investigation to be headed by his director "He Li" (Yi Zhang) and his deputy "Wu Yichun" (the quite charismatic Yunpeng Yue). Pretty quickly, this investigation has seen the killing of the Captain of the guard and his replacement by the young "Sun Jun" (Jackson Lee) who has alighted on a potential culprit in "Zhang Da" (Teng Shen). The Prime Minister has given the young man and his prisoner just two hours to get to the bottom of the killing and to retrieve a letter thought to have been contained in an ornate leather purse. For much of the first ninety minutes, this is quite a cleverly interwoven and characterful whodunit. Who to trust, who is behind the plot - what is contained in the letter? Who has read the letter? What might the beautiful courtesans know of the mystery? It's quickly paced and quite entertaining. Sadly, though, the last forty-five minutes rather falls away. The characters all start to trip over themselves and the intrigue stops being that and starts to become a bit of a farce leading to an ending that was really weak and disappointing. It looks great though
Read the whole review on TMDBUtter junk, don't watch. Not funny, not dramatic, boring, freak. I had to stop watching it after 20 min because it caused me a headache. The other day I tried continuing but didn't reach hald of the movie and gave up. It's just terrible.
Read the whole review on TMDBChecking availability…
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