617

Everything in this film is gorgeous, from the cyclical plot to the masterful, emotional cinematography.

Everything in this exists to be unremarkable.

It took 45 minutes for the movie to get to the movie part. Then, said movie part was just as anime as the beginning, with less interesting shit going on. They mostly just talked about the beginning part. The amount of people who just burst into tears or start slapping themselves really does remind me of anime. That's a terrible thing.

reviews, story, Gong Li!

#618

Seems to be a lot of parts in this movie where the plot takes a giant leap without explaining anything.

Okay, so it's too long, but hell; pieces of picture poetry like some modern chinese films, are exactly the kind of films you can accept an extra half hour of. It tells the story of modern China, from the warlord era in the 20's, via the japanese invasion and the civil war to the different communist eras. Interesting, for sure. The acting is sublime, especially the beautiful Li Gong and also Fengyi Zhang impressed. Sometimes, though, it becomes weird and "undertold" which prevents understanding.

Very nice but ultimately it's too unwieldy in what it tries to do.

Epic but depressing.

# 565

Cool music.

Entirely too much about Chinese opera

Takes on a sweeping epic scale, and its attempt to cover such thematic breadth gives it a slightly unfocused feel. It's the film's only noteworthy flaw, though: it's extremely well-crafted with great performances all around, an unusual love triangle, and stunning photography. Chen makes excellent use of numerous callbacks and meaningful objects. The tragic moments of the story are all very heartbreaking.

powerful chinese film

551

Elaborate aria, no favorite at home but cowinner of Cannes's top prize. A long but consistently absorbing drama. At its best in the first half.