this might be off topic but since we talked bou this film a little on another thread i figured i mine as well give it a review.
first here’s the plot:
Shanghai, 1942. The World War II Japanese occupation of this Chinese city continues in force. Mrs. Mak, a woman of sophistication and means, walks into a café, places a call, and then sits and waits. She remembers how her story began several years earlier, in 1938 China. She is not in fact Mrs. Mak, but shy Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei). With WWII underway, Wong has been left behind by her father, who has escaped to England. As a freshman at university, she meets fellow student Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom) Kuang has started a drama society to shore up patriotism. As the theater troupes new leading lady, Wong realizes that she has found her calling, able to move and inspire audiences and Kuang. He convenes a core group of students to carry out a radical and ambitious plan to assassinate a top Japanese collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung). Each student has a part to play; Wong will be Mrs. Mak, who will gain Yees trust by befriending his wife (Joan Chen) and then draw the man into an affair. Wong transforms herself utterly inside and out, and the scenario proceeds as scripted until an unexpectedly fatal twist spurs her to flee. Shanghai, 1941. With no end in sight for the occupation, Wong having emigrated from Hong Kong goes through the motions of her existence. Much to her surprise, Kuang re-enters her life. Now part of the organized resistance, he enlists her to again become Mrs. Mak in a revival of the plot to kill Yee, who as head of the collaborationist secret service has become even more a key part of the puppet government. As Wong reprises her earlier role, and is drawn ever closer to her dangerous prey, she finds her very identity being pushed to the limit… Written by Focus Features
now the review:
as expected from a student ofthe great marty scoresesse this flm is fantastic in its artistry and techincal aspect. While the film does have a dash of wong kar wai “stone soup”(wich has so mny ingredient u don’t know what your tasting) thi movie is slow cooked ang lee “beef stew”(sorry for the food analogies haven;t eaten dinner yet) te film takes a long time to build but hen it does you enjoy but just when ur enjoying it it stops and then slows downand then speeds up again and hen slows down and speeds up again(you get my drift) tony leung is in great form in this film his acting is first rate and i think i can say his washis best perfomance ever. tang wei who i honestly have not heard of but want to see mor of her now was also fantastic as an actress playing an actress playing a role. the film ofcourse has built some notoriety for its explicit sex scene’s garnering it an nc 17 rating(which is actually an X rating) my girlfried and i kept looking at each other wondering if tony and tang wei were really having intercourse. now let me digress to say although the sex was wild and crazy i didn;t find it to atractive mainly because the actress had under arm hai and i just can;t get down with that but this was during world war two era so i’ll let it go. the only thing that had me screaming in this film is the extremely slow pacing, but watching tang become a spy how she had to go about doing(spoiler) she had to lose her virginity to one of her friends who is a *****monger so he could know how to have sex to lure tony’s character in, among other things. if you go see this film i recommend that u go well rested and u have lots of snacks to keep you occupied. cause while you’ll enjoy the movie u won;t enjoy the ride.
