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Location > Chinese > Movie

The Banquet (Chinese Movie DVD)
Zhang Ziyi , Daniel Wu , Zhou Xun , Ge You , Ma Jingwu
The Banquet (Chinese Movie DVD)

Language : Cantonese,Mandarin,Thai
Subtitle : English,Thai
Media : DVD All region NTSC Format
Genre : Drama
# of Disc : 1 Disc
Product code : 3300564THA
Other Info : Rose Entertainment
$16.99
The Banquet (Chinese Movie DVD)    The Banquet (Chinese Movie DVD) "Our DVD price includes US Media Mail Shipping - within the US only"
Non pre-order items usually ship within 1-2 days

Though "Banquet" (2006) is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's famous drama "Hamlet," this Chinese film should be seen as another entry in "wuxia" genre, Chinese martial arts action films such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Actually some of the crew of Oscar-winning Ang Lee film came back - Tim (Timmy) Yip as art director, Tan Dun providing original music again, Woo-ping Yuen as action choreographer and of course, the film's star Zhang Ziyi.

The story is set in the war-torn era of China after the collapse of Tang Dynasty. After the strange death of the Emperor, his younger brother Li (You Ge) succeeds the throne and he plans to assassinate the son of late Emperor, Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu). To protect the life of Prince now living like a hermit, devoting himself to dancing (to whom, it is suggested, she was once romantically attracted), beautiful Empress Wan (Zhang Ziyi) consents to marry Li. But there is more to come after her decision, which culminates in the "banquet" of the title.

Zhang Ziyi plays Empress Wan, equivalent to Gertrude of Shakespeare's original drama, but unlike the original play, she is not the hero's mother. Though the film is inspired by "Hamlet," I am not sure this should be called adaptation because the role of Prince Wu Luan (= Hamlet) is considerably reduced while Empress Wan plays a major role in the meandering storyline which looks sometimes unfocused. Changes are welcome as long as the original's interesting storyline is kept intact. Here, despite some intriguing premises, it became weak and confusing.

There are martial arts fighting scenes choreographed by Woo-ping Yuen, but not many. The opening sequence is visually striking, but the fighting didn't impress me because, well, I don't see the point of killing innocent dancers in this violent and bloody way (one decapitation included). I don't think people act or fight like this even in the wuxia world. Another fight sequence is slightly better, but I believe Woo-ping Yuen did a finer job in "Fearless."

Many people would watch this film because of Zhang Ziyi, who is fantastic as always, but more impressive is Xun Zhou as Qing Nu (or Ophelia) whose strong performance as unrequited lover almost steals the show from Zhang Ziyi. That is a great feat in itself.

"Banquet" is a welcome addition to wuxia films, but if you ask me whether or not this is a great one, my answer would be, sorry, not exactly.






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