double impact
Zhang Yimou is back on fighting form…
SHADOW 15 film extras OUT 16 September DVD, BD, 4K, Digital HD extras Featurettes
After his messy American-Chinese monster movie mash-up
The Great Wall, Zhang Yimou delivers an epic return to form. Like his earlier works Hero and House Of Flying Daggers, Shadow is a breathtaking mix of action, adventure, politics and intrigue. The added bonus here is the exquisite production design, a monochromatic scheme inspired by the yin/yang symbol that’s sewn into the fabric of the film.
A complex story set in the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, the plot does take some figuring, especially with Zhang holding back on the action for the first third. Much of it revolves around the jostling for control of the occupied city of Jingzhou, within the Pei Kingdom, whose cunning military commander Yu (Deng Chao) has employed a double (also Deng)
– the ‘shadow’ of the title – as part of an elaborate battle plan.
If all this deception induces the odd headache, it scarcely matters once the
fisticuffs get underway. Choreographed by Kill Bill’s Dee Dee, the fight scenes are exhilarating, with combat taking place on a giant circular platform decorated with the yin/yang symbol.
The highlight, however, is surely an attack on Jingzhou with marauders spinning and sliding down the city’s sloped central street with metallic umbrellas, throwing out deadly blades. It’s moments such as this that leave you slack-jawed, and that make Shadow one of the most dazzling Asian films of the past year. James Mottram