Word: xuejian
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SHANGHAI TRIAD. A gangster movie without the classic Western romanticism by director Zhang Yimou. Shuiseng (Wang Xiaoxiao), a small town boy, is brought to the Shanghai of the 30s by his Uncle Liu (Xuejian Li). Uncle Liu takes him to work for a very wealthy mafia boss, Tang (Baotian Li) and his mistress Xiao Jingbao, played by the timeless Gong Li. Overwhelmed by the glitzy life of the big city and the opulence around him, Shuiseng also witnesses inter-triad betrayal, Xiao’s tumultuous love affair and vicious gang wars. The plot carries director Zhang?...
...Xuejian...
...during the so-called Warring States period in China, the story revolves around Ying Zheng (Li Xuejian), whose grandiose ambition to unify the states into one massive, centralized entity is both truly visionary and tragically misdirected. Though (debatably) well-intentioned, Ying Zheng resorts to more and more extreme acts of violence to achieve his goals. In protest of his increasing brutality, Lady Zhao (Gong Li), Ying Zheng's childhood friend and long-time lover, announces that she is leaving him. Ying Zheng manages to convince her that the bloodshed he has incurred is only necessary in creating a lasting period...
...tension inherent to the characters aren't played out to their full potential, resulting in a certain degree of dramatic sag. Without strong characterizations, the plot founders, and the focal trio is all too easily eclipsed by the bombastic military hullabaloo around them. The biggest problem is that Li Xuejian, for better or worse, gives a truly confused portrait of the emperor, alternating between unabashed cruelty and childish buffoonery. His emperor is conflicted and multifaceted, for sure --but lacking the visible development from ambitious commoner to dangerously monomaniacal ruler, he also lacks the necessary pathos to be anything more than...
STARRING: Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi, Li Xuejian DIRECTOR: Chen Kaige OPENS: Dec. 17 in N.Y.C.and L.A.; wide...