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» Seven Swords (Chat Gim) is a beautiful film that is somewhat simplistically shot compared to other wuxia films, mostly because there is less colour modification and considerably less use of wire-fu. As a result, the movie isn't as sweepingly magestic as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo Hu Cang Long) and other Chinese movies of that ilk. That said, this is a plus side to the film.
It tells the story of a group of a kingdom where martial arts has been forbidden. A tyrant is taking advantage of this edict, and is tearing through rural villages, claiming all their occupats to be criminals and being well paid for every head he collects. He comes up against seven swordsmen (well, six swordsmen, one swordswoman) who battle to save one of the villages.
It's a long film that has suffered from editing (it was originally 4 hours; now it's 3). The editing breaks down some of the links between the subplots. There are varous romance stories, a revenge story, a broken friendship, a potential mole - a lot happens. But it's very enjoyable, and very watchable for certain, even if some of the violence can be visceral. I wasn't specifically impressed by any of the actors, although it was interesting to see Donnie Yen. His character is very serious, as was his character in Hero (Ying Xiong). I really liked Charlie Yeung, and I'd like to see her more. She reminded me of Michelle Yeoh's character from Crouching Tiger, although she wasn't so refined.
The highlight of the film is definitely the fight climax which was reallywell choreographed. The film could definitely be more coherent, and perhaps more attention to more characters would have (a) distinguished them from one another and (b) made me care more about them but as it stands, it's an entertaining watch, and I don't regret havng spent however many days finding time to see it.
» The Banquet (Ye Yan), as it turns out, is a Chinese adaptation of Hamlet which plays well with the elements of the play to produce a very Chinese movie. It's visually stunning, and the set of the Emperor's palace is the largest set in Chinese film history. Zhang Ziyi takes one of the three leads as the Empress (Little Wan) who was in love with Crown Prince Wuluan but was forced to marry his father instead. Wuluan escapes to a distant refuge where he practises dance and art. However, the Emperor is killed by his brother, who then takes the throne - Little Wan sends for Wuluan. The Ophelia figure within the film is this sweet-looking actress who - unlike Ophelia - does not kill herself. It's a brilliant twist on Shakespeare's play.
Like I said, visually stunning - very sharp image, very rich and distinct colours, just like House of Flying Daggers (Shi Mian Mai Fu). Ziyi's performance is actually stronger than I expected it to be (in Hero, Maggie Cheung steals the spotlight, and whilst Zhang is light on her feet, Hero does not mark her best performance); Daniel Wu makes for a sympathetic Wuluan, but although he is supposed to be one of the three protagonists, I really thought this was Zhang's film. My favourite scene is one in which he displays her usual balletic grace in swordplay/combat, but I must note that it is not primarily a martial arts film. There are sweeping scenes of fighting, but the film is less about that and more about the story underneath. I think this might be easier to watch than Seven Swords. I definitely enjoyed it.
