​FILMS

the assassin

2015 review number 139:

The Assassin: (Drama/Action): 43 out of 100: The running time is 105 minutes but it seemed more like three hours! I must be missing something however, as Hsiao-Hsien Hou received the Best Director Award at this year's Cannes Film Festival. It has also received glowing reviews from many critics. If you like long, lingering shots of trees, birds, houses and people standing around doing nothing, you will be calling this a masterpiece.

 

The film is set during the mighty Tang Dynasty period in 6th Century China. The story focuses on Nie Yinniang (Shu Qi), who was abducted as a child by a nun and raised to be an assassin who will kill corrupt local officials at the command of Dame Tian (Zhou Yun). However, when Tian informs Nie Yinniang to eliminate a local official from her hometown, she is reluctant to do so as the man she’s assigned to kill is the same man to whom she was promised as a child.

 

There's no doubt that the film is visually stunning with exquisite costumes, elaborate production design and beautiful scenery. Hsiao-Hsien Hou seems so preoccupied with showcasing these gems that he forgets to move the story along. Even the trailer demonstrates how slow this movie is. His directing style comes across as pretentious and elitist. It's so slow that you can easily doze off, which I must admit that I did several times during the film. What doesn't help either is there seems to be a lack of emotional depth to the characters. I simply did not care what happened to them. If I saw this on DVD, I could fast forward all the boring bits to reduce it to a one hour movie.

 

Are the martial arts scenes any good? Frankly, there's not that many of them and they're not that exciting anyway. Those viewers who enjoy Asian martial arts films will be left disappointed. I am one of those people as I enjoyed Chinese martial arts films like House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Ip Man.

 

There is a sparse music score which doesn't help in keeping the viewer awake. If there was a loud orchestra playing, there might have been some hope in raising the excitement level. The music actually reflects the snail pacing of the movie - slow, dull and uninvolving.

 

These types of movies excite some critics, but they don't interest me. If I wanted to gaze at a scene for a long time, I would visit the art gallery and admire the paintings. Movies are often known as motion pictures. The Assassin should be called a still motion picture.

 

Starring Shi Qi and Chen Chang

(105 minutes)

Parental advice: Violence

Additional scene during or after credits: No

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kmOX11PdR4 (Movie trailer)

(Reviewed on Tuesday 22nd September, 2015)

 

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