Red Cliff: Discussion by Chelle (finally)

I have to admit, the very first minute of the film had me worried. I already knew I'd love this film; it’s an historical piece, venerably directed, and brimming with some of my favorite actors. But this version is for Western release and rather than showing you a prologue written in Chinese character (like House of Flying Daggers does) they have included prologue narration in English. The English is good. The narration is bad. The minute that guy said General Cao Cao’s name, which sounded like “Chow-Chow” on his tongue, all three of us were rolling with laughter; I think I paused the film until it subsided. Thank the gods it was only a prologue and the rest of the film could continue uninterrupted.

Now I could go on and on about how much I love Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung (or how much Rob loves Chang Chen), but there is much more to this movie than my crushes. Upon reflection, I’m beginning to think this film might be more entertaining for a Western audience. Apparently the Battle of Red Cliff is a well known and beloved historical moment in Chinese history. The Chinese audience knows how the tale ends. We in the West, do not. And in that way, we can be pleasantly surprised when it turns out the allies’ separation and Zhou Yu’s wife’s going into Cao Cao’s camp are all part of a delightful ruse to throw off an extremely clever military thinker who just happens to have an extremely large army and navy.

We all know that John Woo is extremely good with Action flicks and this is a good talent to have when making a film that will be loaded (and I mean loaded) with battle scenes. Unlike Rob, I really don’t take note of camera work (except in the most extreme cases, like a Sam Raimi film), so the Wooness of the film wasn’t apparent to me at all. What I liked best was the character interaction. What really allows the allies to win is their ability to work together. Respect and admiration are rampant among them. Whereas in Cao Cao’s army hierarchy and fear run the show. What I didn’t like (or rather had hoped for and did not receive) was… (sigh) Takeshi. This does not mean that his performance was lacking in any way, or even that the character was unnecessary, but for all the wisdom that Zhuge Liang (TK’s character) possesses, he doesn’t do anything. He’s the catalyst that brings all the allies together, and the man with the master plan, but he never once participates in the battles. I was sad; there’s nothing better than a beautiful man with a beautiful sword in a beautiful field slashing his foes into tiny bits. The duet scenes between Takeshi and Tony almost make up for it. And if I can’t have Takeshi with a sword, at least I get to watch a wonderful scene with Tony Leung practicing his sword form while lovely Zhao Wei recites verse from the Art of War.

Told you I’d love it.