![]() ![]() The story takes place in the last years of the Tokugawa period when in Alain Silver’s words (2005, 258), “ ordinary samurai caught up in the turbulent wake of the bakumatsu. The concept of ‘change’ is the most significant theme of the film. Yôji Yamada, 2004) portrays the beginning of the end the end of the Tokugawa era (1600-1868) and the shift of political power from shogunate clans to the Imperial court of Japan. Opening in selected theaters February 17 from Well Go USA.The Hidden Blade Change in Japanese Societyīy Alireza Vahdani Volume 15, Issue 1 / January 2011 14 minutes (3304 words) It’s especially gratifying to see a mainland Chinese film that refuses to resort to propaganda. Still, Hidden Blade has a lot to offer viewers. ![]() A third act shift to action is unfortunate, reducing the movie to a routine spy adventure. Chang Er does little to help viewers, alluding to nicknames, neighborhoods, and offscreen events that will be obscure to viewers in the US. Hidden Blade is needlessly complex, especially for those unfamiliar with Shanghai politics during the war. This is his first major movie role, and he’s a soulful knockout, able to convey the sorrow and loss of an agent unable to explain his actions. The big acting surprise in Hidden Blade Wang YiBo, a singer, dancer, and former member of the boyband Uniq. It’s another in a long line of his deeply worked out roles. He is in command here, often better, more nuanced, more subtle, than the material deserves. Never miss any opportunity to see Leung Chiu-wai perform. When the scene reappears much later, viewers have found out enough about He to be able to more accurately question his motives. He is all smiles and efficiency, much like Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds, teasing and manipulating Liang into a mortal mistake. Take the opening scene, in which He interrogates Liang (Huang Lei), a Communist functionary. Instead of following a straight chronology, he stages and restages scenes, breaking the narrative in order to flesh out the characters, adding new colors to their behavior. Sitting in on their meetings is Tang (Chengpeng Dong), who believes, perhaps foolishly, that he can negotiate with the Japanese.ĭirector Chang Er, whose last film was the excellent The Wasted Times, sends these characters on a convoluted journey of betrayals, double-crosses, and twists that mirror the progress of the war at large. The three answer to Watanabe (Hiroyuki Mori), a swaggering, heavy-drinking Japanese officer who thinks he knows the war better than he does. His two underlings - Ye (Wang YiBo) and Wang (Eric Wang) - carry out his dirty work. ![]() Foremost is He (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), a “director” collaborating with the Japanese after surviving a brutal onslaught on Guangzhou. With allegiances shifting daily, no one could be trusted.Ĭomplicated and obscure, Hidden Blade conveys the suspense and danger of the time through a handful of key figures. French and British nationals along with Shanghai natives were restricted to an international concession where rights were stripped away daily. ![]() Occupying Japanese forces had to deal with Chinese fighters who were themselves splitting under two leaders, Communist and Nationalist. Shanghai in World War II was a viper’s nest of competing interests. ![]()
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