Shanghai Triad
|
List Price: Our Price: $12.99 You Save: $18.00 (58%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $6.54 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Shanghai Triad
Movie Review: Decadent, cool and highly enjoyable
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a movie I think people either like a lot or dislike a lot. I've seen it twice in movie houses and now three times on DVD. It's a cool film, decadent to the core and with only one really likeable character, a 14 year old boy. I'm one of those who like it a lot.
The boy is brought to Shanghai (in the 1930s) by his gangster uncle to work in the "family" of a powerful, aging drug boss. The drug lord's mistress, a nightclub singer, is played by Gong Li. The boy is assigned to fetch and carry for her. Gong Li plays her as a willful, beautiful, selfish and perhaps overly confident courtesan. Gong Li sings and dances several times as the star of the nightclub, and she is wonderful in the part.
Nearly everything is seen from the perspective of the boy -- which means you don't get the full picture at any one time. There's a brutal gang attack and the boss with his key henchmen, his mistress and the boy flee to an isolated fog-bound island to regroup and plot. There's betrayal and merciless, calculated revenge, and practical killing. The ending, needless to say, is not pleasant...except, perhaps, for the boss. The boy, at least, survives.
The film is gorgeous to look at and beautifully lit and photographed. The DVD transfer is excellent.
Movie Review: Amazing Cinematography and Worth Viewing More Than Once
Summary: 5 Stars
Having become a recent fan of Asian cinema (one of my favorites being 3 SEASONS), I found this movie, from its outset, to draw me into the world of Shanghi, China during the 1930s. Created with precision and stunning decor both interior and exterior, the director has crafted the story of a boy who comes to the city to work as a servant for a mafia boss's "Miss." The story progresses over a week's time and is evenly paced. It's strength is found in each scene, which maintained my interest with the careful brilliance and awe of each shot, and the obvious abilities of the film's actors/actress. Highly recommended, especially to the film buff who is looking for a story/visual film that goes beneath the surface.This movie should be in any collection of great films.
Movie Review: Gong Li is terrific!
Summary: 5 Stars
A young boy is sent to Shanghai from the country to work for his uncle, who is a powerful crime boss. He is made assistant to his uncle's concubine, Bijou, who is also the featured performer in his nightclub. (The depiction of Shanghai nightlife is one of the charms of this film. We are treated to two wonderful cabaret numbers.) The boy becomes a silent witness to a life of waste, deception and betrayal. I have never seen a more heart-breaking finale than the one in this film. It is a harsh dramatization of how average, hard-working people are so often trampled and destroyed by those with too much power and too few scruples.Movie Review: Succeeds on many levels - a great movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
I happened to catch this movie one night while channel-surfing, and was immediately sucked in! This movie has it all: gangsters, a femme fatale, beautiful scenery, a great story, love, and death.If you like good stories and characters, you will like this movie. The last twenty minutes or so will have you on the edge of your seat. Also, it has one of the best endings I've seen... not what I was expecting at all.
The only negative is that there aren't a whole lot of extras on the DVD. But it is a really great movie.
BUY IT!
Movie Review: One of my favorites
Summary: 5 Stars
I've seen this movie twice on the big screen and can't wait for its release on dvd so that I can own this flick. I just enjoyed it thoroughly...the plot, the scenery, the acting. Although set in the 1930's, the humanity demonstrated by two of the main characters is timeless and, for me, a source of optimism and inspiration in the crazy time we live in today. Others may think me insipid for that statement, but screw 'em.