Tong que tai (2012)

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Siskoid
Someone had warned me away from The Assassins on the basis that it was a lot of talking and very little fighting. How little they know me. The martial arts sequences are actually quite fun, but it's true that's not what the film is about. It's really about Court intrigue, really well done Court intrigue. After the events shown in John Woo's Red Cliff, a powerful general (Chow Yun-Fat) returns home and finds himself under threat of assassination from his enemies, the weak emperor, even possibly his own son. In his inner circle is a young wife, in reality an assassin raised for the sole purpose of killing him. But will she come to respect him, even love him, too much? So the film becomes this intense chess game between the various characters, and only in the end will we understand the depth of some of the games being played. There's also a strong, and just as manipulative, father/son story here, and the movie is shot with style and with an eye for metaphor. Even so, I wouldn't blame some audience members for getting confused at some Chinese traditions we Westerners know nothing about. 8 years 10 months ago