Once in a while, a movie comes along that simply takes your breath away. This, without a doubt, happens to be one of those. When assassins falling to ambush riders from the mountainside looks like a work of art, then the director and cinematographer have got to be geniuses.
Throughout the film, the use of lighting to draw out a cacophony of colors - in a manner of speaking, that is - simply blows the mind away. Whether inside the imperial palace or in the courtyard, the colors just simply exploded! The fact that the film was in Chinese with subtitles did not detract from the enjoyment of the film. If anything, had it been done in English, it would have detracted from the film's authenticity.
While there was the occasional indulgence in some fight scenes, this was untypical of Chinese films that the fantasy aspect - like flying swordsmen - was kept to a minimum.
Wonderful, wonderful film... and to those who have yet to see it, hurry!
Throughout the film, the use of lighting to draw out a cacophony of colors - in a manner of speaking, that is - simply blows the mind away. Whether inside the imperial palace or in the courtyard, the colors just simply exploded! The fact that the film was in Chinese with subtitles did not detract from the enjoyment of the film. If anything, had it been done in English, it would have detracted from the film's authenticity.
While there was the occasional indulgence in some fight scenes, this was untypical of Chinese films that the fantasy aspect - like flying swordsmen - was kept to a minimum.
Wonderful, wonderful film... and to those who have yet to see it, hurry!