Minimalist martial arts movie debuts at Cannes
Print Edition
“THE Assassin” — “Nie Yin Niang” — has an exciting title and its star, Shu Qi, performs wicked fighting moves, but make no mistake: the latest movie from Taiwan’s director Hou Hsiao-Hsien to premiere at Cannes is a study in lingering, minimalist art.
The film is set in 9th-century China, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, with Shu playing a highly trained female assassin who, after failing in one mission, is sent back to her home province to kill its governor, who is also the man she loves.
From that premise, a martial arts spectacular of flying assailants and swirling swords might have been born. But the director, Hou, has instead applied the contemplative, distant aesthetic he is known for in pictures such as “Millennium Mambo” and “The Puppetmaster.”
The handful of fight scenes are over in seconds and involve none of the wire-work that earlier Taiwan wuxia (martial arts) movie, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” made famous.
Of more interest to Hou are meditative scenes in which movements and actors’ performances are pared down so much that even the movement of a silk sleeve or a curtain dominates.
The effect is painterly and slow moving to the point of trance-inducing. The plot unfurls as a somnolent river would, with no rocks of exposition.
Critics unanimously hailed the movie’s beauty but were divided over its accessibility and its chances in the Cannes competition for the Palme d’Or.
Many tweeted it was an arthouse “masterpiece” that deserved the top award.
But others, including The Hollywood Reporter trade magazine, said “its refinement may weigh against it for fans hungering after spectacular kung fu.”
Hou, 68, said he was drawn to wuxia novels as a child and wanted to turn one into a movie.
“And of course I was also inspired by the actress, Shu Qi, with whom I wanted to work because of her personality and her temperament. She reminded me of these female assassins,” Hou said.
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