I understand what they were going for with this, but somehow it failed to move me very much. The artfulness is enjoyable, but for some reason, perhaps the acting or the perennially bouncing camera, I never was released into flowing with the movie. Instead, it felt like acting, and thus I couldn't help but feel a manipulated instead of moved.
It's a nice try, however. Irons is fun to watch, if not as well done as in others. Gong Li is more enjoyable on her deeper roles (such as Temptress Moon and Raise the Red Lantern), as opposed to the shallow one turned in here, due to playing a shallow character (as with Shanghai Triad), or one which does not seem to break out into the foreground, perhaps compounded by being clumsily mashed into an English-speaking role. She didn't look comfortable the entire film. No one did, ever. Perhaps that itself is a facet of Hong Kong, and an effect that I failed to catch.
Then again, truly moving art films are hard to make. While it didn't score anywhere near off the charts with me, like the far more graceful Temptress Moon, it was still much enjoyed over the usual local (Hollywood) fare.
It's a nice try, however. Irons is fun to watch, if not as well done as in others. Gong Li is more enjoyable on her deeper roles (such as Temptress Moon and Raise the Red Lantern), as opposed to the shallow one turned in here, due to playing a shallow character (as with Shanghai Triad), or one which does not seem to break out into the foreground, perhaps compounded by being clumsily mashed into an English-speaking role. She didn't look comfortable the entire film. No one did, ever. Perhaps that itself is a facet of Hong Kong, and an effect that I failed to catch.
Then again, truly moving art films are hard to make. While it didn't score anywhere near off the charts with me, like the far more graceful Temptress Moon, it was still much enjoyed over the usual local (Hollywood) fare.