Assassin, The (2015) [Blu-ray]
Drama
--- Subtitled ---
"Nie yin niang" (original title)
Back with his first film in 8 years, legendary Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien wowed this year's Cannes Film Festival (where he won Best Director) with his awe-inspiring The Assassin - a wondrous take on the traditional wuxia film. The story is simple,
if elusive - in 9th century China, Nie Yinniang is a young woman who was abducted in childhood from a decorated general and raised by a nun who trained her in the martial arts. After 13 years of exile, she is returned to the land of her birth as an
exceptional assassin, with orders to kill her betrothed husband-to-be. She must confront her parents, her memories, and her long-repressed feelings in a choice to sacrifice the man she loves or break forever with the sacred way of the righteous assassins.
Rich with shimmering, breathing texture and punctuated by brief but unforgettable bursts of action, The Assassin is a martial arts film like none made before it.
Storyline: 9th century China. 10-year-old general's daughter Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who initiates her into the martial arts, transforming her into an exceptional assassin charged with eliminating cruel and corrupt
local governors. One day, having failed in a task, she is sent back by her mistress to the land of her birth, with orders to kill the man to whom she was promised - a cousin who now leads the largest military region in North China. After 13 years of
exile, the young woman must confront her parents, her memories and her long-repressed feelings. A slave to the orders of her mistress, Nie Yinniang must choose: sacrifice the man she loves or break forever with the sacred way of the righteous assassins.
Written by Ipsith
Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, January 14, 2016 -- Some of the most interesting if also the most contentious discussions on various home video related forums (including those here at Blu-ray.com) involve aspect
ratios. It's almost a given these days that film aficionados are at least relatively well versed in the ins and outs (and "wides" and "narrows") of various aspect ratios, though this wasn't always the case, as evidenced by the PR battle some studios
and/or labels engaged in when so-called "widescreen" home video releases first started being offered. While home video consumers have become better educated over the intervening years about aspect ratios, there's still an almost subliminal and some might
say philosophical underpinning to various aspect ratios that rarely rise to the level of active discussion. In other words, folks are often prone to argue about various aspect ratios (especially when they're tweaked from their original theatrical
exhibition presentations) without ever really thinking about why various aspect ratios have been utilized in the first place. There has been at least one notable exception to this inattention to aspect ratio "theory" (so to speak), Wes Anderson's
The Grand Budapest Hotel, a film which trafficked in a number of different "frame sizes" as it explored various timelines and story elements. The Assassin has received pretty rapturous reviews since it first opened, and while many critics
mention a supposed "Academy ratio" prologue, very few then detail a number of other odd aspect ratio fluctuations that occur throughout the film, in a way that is at least arguably less organic than the way Anderson employed them in his film. Director Hou
Hsiao-Hsien has been interviewed repeatedly about some of the choices he made for The Assassin, including to shoot on film, and there has been at least passing discussion of his use of "Academy ratio," though very little discussion of the
changes of aspect ratio (some quite small) within what might be called an "Academy ratio spectrum" (just as some folks are prone to call everything from 1.33:1 to 1.37:1 and even wider "Academy ratio"). This might all boil down to what might be called
"If.... Syndrome", a tendency to over analyze choices that sometimes have mundane explanations. Critics tied themselves into knots trying to "explain" Lindsay Anderson's ping ponging between color and black and white in If...., when both he
and Malcolm McDowell have suggested that there was nothing really "philosophical" going on, and that choices were made for expediency's sake, as well as the budget. But the oddly variable aspect ratios in The Assassin seem like something else,
something that is either (at times) distractingly random or at least way too "meaningful" for this particular reviewer to deconstruct.
Some of that very "If…. Syndrome" might accrue irrespective of the aspect ratio issue due to the fact that The Assassin begins with a black and white prologue, the only monochromatic sequence in the otherwise lushly colorful film. This at
least seems to be grounded in some kind of structural context, since it gives a quick introduction to the titular hit woman, Nie Yinniang (Shu Qi), and her scheming mentor, a kind of combo nun-wuxia expert (there must have been lots of those, don't
you think?) named Jiaxin (Sheu Fang-yi). Yinniang has been raised and trained to be a cold blooded killer, an unexpected assailant who can seemingly appear out of nowhere to dispatch corrupt officials and other nefarious villains in the Tang Dynasty
Era.
Yinniang's incredible skill is demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt in the first moments of the film, but a second planned killing doesn't go exactly as planned when Yinniang finds her ostensible victim with a child and decides not to go through with
the hit. That decision doesn't sit well with Jiaxin, who then tasks her charge with a seemingly impossible situation, returning to the place of her birth to confront and kill provincial governor Tian Ji'an (Chang Chen), Yinniang's own cousin with whom she
has also shared a romantic history.
There are a number of sidebars that inform various narrative arcs, including a traditionally duplicitous aide whose banishment ultimately leads to a showdown, as well as a brief tour through the supernaturalism that often accompanies wuxia films.
But it's obvious that Hou Hsiao-Hsien is aiming for something more idiosyncratic here. The Assassin does have its exciting set pieces, but this is a peculiarly ruminative film that sees large swaths of exposition playing out in relatively static
dialogue scenes. In fact the film is a deliberate exercise in mise en scene, which again often brings the whole aspect ratio up, at least for those who obsess about presentation as much as about content. There's one relatively brief opening up of
the frame to 1.84:1 (see screenshot 4), which is somewhat perplexing considering its brevity. This strangeness is made perhaps even more so due to the fact that there are later sequences, notably a long court segment with two acolytes to Tian Ji'an
presenting opposing viewpoints, where a wider aspect ratio could have helped Hou Hsiao-Hsien to simply leave his camera plunked down and stationary (something he seems to want to do most of the time in the film), instead of panning back and forth between
various participants.
Many readers may be wondering "what the big deal is" with the aspect ratio issue, but for a film as dependent on style as The Assassin is, it's a question at least worthy of some consideration. If the attempt was to deliver an "old school" feel to
the film, which Hsiao-Hsien has alluded to in some interviews, why then that one brief opening up to widescreen "glory"? And why the subtle fluctuations within the "Academy ratio spectrum"? The fact is that as convoluted and even confusing as The
Assassin's narrative sometimes is, from a pure content standpoint, there's not a whale of a lot of "there" there, which means the film's presentational aspects (pun intended) rise all the more to the forefront. The Assassin is a fascinating
film to watch, not just for its stunningly beautiful tableaux, but also at least in part due to the teasing technical questions it raises but never answers.
I'm not quite sure that The Assassin is the unqualified masterpiece it was hailed as being by at least some critics at the time of its theatrical exhibition (other critics were more lukewarm, to be fair). There's undeniable grandeur to the visuals,
but the story is both convoluted and simplistic. Still, it's obvious that Hou Hsiao-Hsien was aiming for something different and perhaps more personal here, and the result is an almost hypnotic take on wuxia, one which emphasizes talk over wire
work or martial arts acumen. That may mean that adrenaline junkies may be wanting a bit more of a jolt than the film ultimately ends up offering. Maybe they can get exercised about those changing aspect ratios. Technical merits are first rate, and The
Assassin comes Recommended.
[CSW] -2.9- I have to agree with this reviewer and I couldn't have said it better: -- "I have mixed feelings about this movie. On the good side, this movie is absolutely a feast for the eyes, and worth seeing if for no other reason than this. The scenery,
the sets, the period-perfect wardrobe and decorations, are all stunning. You get a very strong feeling of being in the midst of nobility of feudal China. The acting is generally very good, though sparse on dialogue. And the basic premise of the plot is
intriguing (a young woman, returning home on a mission of assassination after at least a decade away under the mentorship of a harsh mistress assassin, and nearly matchless in her ability, now struggles with her morals). Some of the side plots (cheating
by the ruler, for instance, and how his wife gets involved with a mystical assassination attempt) are also a plus. On the down side, the plot moves very, very slowly, and you have to be patient with it since some plot points aren't explained until later.
There are a lot of scenes of scenery or of characters standing and looking at each other, etc. And don't bother watching this movie if you're looking for kick-ass action scenes. There is a bit of fighting, but no blood, and no one is shown dying. But the
action sequences were not very well choreographed and seem like an afterthought to the movie. The ending of the movie was very abrupt and unsatisfying, as it didn't tie anything together and you are left wondering. So this movie should be considered a
"vignette" rather than a full story".
[V4.5-4.5A] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.
º º