Shorts from The Screening Room – October 2019

From the Video Store Shelf:

Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) – Zhang Yimou’s third action movie is set inside China’s Forbidden City during the Tang Dynasty in 928 A.D., and sees the imperial family unravel under the kaleidoscope colors of feudal palace life, suppressed emotions, and family betrayals.

“The Curse of the Golden Flower” is less an action movie and more a film that deals with the violent implosion of a family oppressed under the weight of its secrets and allegiances. As such it takes a concerted step away from the wuxia elements of Yimou’s, “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers” while still boasting the largest action sequence of this pseudo-Quadrilogy. And what wuxia elements do remain see a smaller and more effective use of wirework, one that appears born more out of necessity rather than spectacle, though spectacle still certainly applies.

The look of the film is stunning while being both expansively and oppressively opulent, even including a recreation of the Forbidden City courtyards. Yimou’s kaleidoscope panes and rainbow mixing of colors seems to particularize the ever-shifting positions and viewpoints of imperial life. No single image is static, and trust shifts sinuously under the belly of exposing secrets, plots, allegiances, and betrayals.

My Admission – $6.00
One Line Review – “The third film in what I like to call: Zhang Yimou’s martially artistic “Quadrilogy of Color”
MPA Rating – R for violence

Ma (2019) – If you saw the trailer than you know pretty much what you’re getting. The surprises within the film aren’t as shocking as the movie’s inability to make them wholly tenable. And while the last thirty minutes of the film manages to cross the terror/carnage line far enough to be memorable and simplistically entertaining it doesn’t qualify it to be persuasive or ultimately sensible.

My Admission – $3.00
One Line Review – “Well, I think I overstayed my welcome. So…I’m-a GTFO.”
MPA Rating – R for violent/disturbing material, language throughout, se*ual content, and for teen drug and alcohol use

Shadow (2019) – Zhang Yimou delivers another strongly themed and colored action film. Set during China’s Three Kingdom’s Era (220-280 AD), the film concerns the schemes and conspiracies of a royal court commander and his common born double. Setting up a profusion of intrigue that spans treacherously across the court, the battlefield, and the marriage bed.

The film is a little muddier than Yimou’s previous efforts, though it still packs a visual and aesthetic punch that equitably raises it to a level of enjoyment that’s on par with the other films in this pseudo quadrilogy.

The action remains as intoxicating as in the other films. The stakes are high, consequences are felt, and the audience’s concern and care for characters remains ever shifting. And while effective emotional connection is a flaw of all four of Yimou’s action films, it may be most pronounced here. That’s not a film crushing flaw however, though it, amongst other narrative issues, help to keep “Shadow” arguably at the bottom of the four-film cycle.

Filmed almost exclusively under the cover of rain and graying skies, the film’s colors are almost exclusively black and white fulfilling the yin and yang motif of the overall film, but within that color scheme is an unavoidable gray, (and brief hints of other colors) that acts as a clear diffusement of the individuals on either opposing side.

Note: This is the first of the four films that I had to pause consistently in order to catch/read all of the subtitles.

My Admission – $6.00
One Line Review – “The fourth film in what I like to call: “Zhang Yimou’s martially artistic Quadrilogy of Color”
MPA Rating – Not Rated but contains violence and gore, intense action sequences and mild alcohol use

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) – Beginning forward motion in the aftermath of the MCU’s 23-film “Infinity Saga” conclusion can be a difficult process. “Spider-Man: Far From Home” feels like the right movie to carry the weight and I’m grateful for the opportunity to slowly wade back into the Superhero Pond.

Not quite as fun as its predecessor, “Spider-Man: Far From Home has a first half that feels awkwardly, but perhaps not surprisingly, juvenile and less Superhero Genre-like, before the actual “MARVEL” feeling takes over and carries through until the film’s conclusion.

Specifics of the film all lead to spoilers, so I’ll forego them like normal, except to say that Jake Gyllenhaal delivers appreciably while the core supporting cast: Marisa Tomei, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Tony Revolori, and Martin Star remain as engaging as ever, and bolster great support for Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

My Admission – $5.50
One Line Review – “A solid enough beginning to the future of the MCU”
MPA Rating – PG 13 for sci-fi action violence, some language and brief suggestive comments

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