ALARIS' REVIEWS

1st July 2009
Red Cliff: I & II (2008-2009)

Tony Leung Chiu Wai. Takeshi Kaneshiro. John Woo.

It takes a lot to convince me to watch a 5 hour, political, period drama in Mandarin, but those three just about do it.

Red Cliff is based on the pivotal Battle of Red Cliffs from the Chinese historical epic, the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms. The film originally screened in two feature length parts in Chinese cinemas - Red Cliff and Red Cliff II, while countries like Australia screened Red Cliff as one heavily abridged film. This review covers the full length, two part version.

It's 208 CE, and Prime Minister Cao Cao wages a brutal war against the southern warlords, Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Zhuge Liang (Kaneshiro) is a philosophical strategist determined to forge an alliance between Cao Cao's enemies, and outwit the vastly superior forces arrayed against them. Leung is Zhou Yu, Sun Quan's military commander, and the man whose trust and experience are critical to the success of the alliance.

You can tell it's a John Woo movie, although the Hong Kong director is better known for his melodramatic action movies involving lots of guns and cathedrals bursting with doves (The Killer, 1989; Hard Boiled, 1992). Red Cliff is a very different creature, but there's still melodrama, there's double sword action, and yes, there are doves.

With a total runtime of 290 minutes, Red Cliff doesn't feel unpleasantly long. While the film could easily be edited down, the pacing is steady, the characters likeable, the events dramatic, and the production values superb. Red Cliff strikes a beautiful balance between spectacle and subtlety, with roaring action that borders on the fantastic, amidst delicate moments of warmth and connection.

I first saw Leung and Kaneshiro together in one of my favourite movies, Chungking Express (1994), and I've since seen them individually in numerous films. Leung is always heartbreakingly good, and Kaneshiro is always heartbreakingly likeable, so their scenes together in Red Cliff are an absolute delight. All the supporting cast are excellent, and while native speakers of Mandarin might complain about the dubbed voices, and the contemporary accents, I didn't find either intrusive.

I love stories about strategy and wit overcoming brute force, and Red Cliff is full of thoughtful plotting as well as gutsy action. There are enough moments of pure Woo to excite fans, but swordplay addicts might lose interest during the slower periods of political machination.

For me, Red Cliff is far more enjoyable than the period dramas of celebrated directors like Zhang Yimou (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000; Hero, 2004). While Zhang's films are beautiful and tragic, Red Cliff has beats of humour and warmth, which make the victories more brilliant, the tragedies more poignant, and the characters more human.

Red Cliff is a cinematic accomplishment, a fascinating historical interpretation, and an enjoyable film.

Verdict: A sweeping Chinese epic that delivers on story, characters, and heart.

If you want to see John Woo do a cast of thousands period drama, you'll like this.