介绍:
"Brotherhood of Blades" is the best Chinese historical action film since "New Dragon Gate Inn" and Tsui Hark's "Once Upon a Time in China" series.
Set in the final years of the Ming Dynasty, the movie tells the story of three secret police whose lives are changed after being tapped to assassinate a runaway, corrupt eunuch. Unlike other historical action films made in recent decades, director Lu Yang's product is characterized by realism and attention to detail.
First of all, there are not as many wire stunts. The characters are not flung across the screen to show extraordinary martial artist skills, they are portrayed as ordinary people, just better trained with the blades. This arrangement may reduce the amount of spectacle in the movie, but it also makes it easier for the audience to sink into the story.
Another noteworthy arrangement is in the way the actors speak. Normally in historical movies and TV series, the characters speak a formal language which sounds rather awkward in our times. "Brotherhood of Blades" does not follow the stereotype, the conversations sound much the same as those in our daily lives, and that suggests the actors must have spent more time with the lines to be able to speak rather than recite.
The screenwriter Chen Shu takes as much credit for the lines as she does for the story. For what is lacked in spectacle, she makes up with excellent pacing and suspension building. It was the first time in many years that I was attracted to the multiple narrative and grapple to figure out what would happen next, only to be surprised by many a twist and turn.
Lastly, the movie is also scrupulous with the props and costumes. According to more scholarly critics, the movie is quite faithful to history in details such as character hairstyles, patterns on clothes and carvings on the blades. This somewhat makes the film a rarity among recent Chinese films and TV series, but I think we can appreciate that extra effort.
But unfortunately "Brotherhood of Blades" has become the latest example of how the quality of a film can have nothing to do with its revenue. 10 days after hitting the cinemas, the film has only managed to collect 70 million yuan from the box office, far less than "The White Haired Witch of the Lunar Kingdom", which is widely considered a critical flop.
The crux of this problem is gullible audiences and a huge cash influx into the industry. Apparently such favorable environment has made it easy for mediocre but resourceful filmmakers to thrive: all they need is an effective sales strategy to start a topical discussion on social media.
The crew behind "Brotherhood of Blades" have obviously failed to come up with such a strategy, but the good news is, sales is now picking up due to good critical response and word of mouth.
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