Full River Red

Zhang Yimou is the most famous Chinese director of all time, but even he cannot be sure to get away with social criticism after the clampdowns against Jack Ma, Hong Kong activists and CoVid critics. So what does a film maker do when he wants to address the frustration many of his compatriots feel? He resorts to satire, and sets the action comfortably far away in the past.

What starts out as a mystery concerning a missing letter no one must know quickly turns into slapstick comedy, and many viewers familiar with Zhang's epics feel let down by this because there isn't really any suspense. There are numerous twists and turns which seem haphazard and do not dive the plot forward. All the while the action is confined to the same palace grounds. It's totally understandable if this seems rather pointless and dull. And the Hamlet-like ending seems out of sync with the previous irony.

And yet, there is something beneath which only people familiar with authoritarian regimes will catch on to - the zeal of government officials to save their own skin with complete disregard to the task at hand. The characters constantly plot against each other and/or form allegiances to somehow emerge from the whole dilemma unscathed. It's mostly in vain because they are puppets of an invisible power - like in contemporary China, where no one can figure out the meaning behind the latest regulations, and where even the powerful thrive at the mercy of appearances. Even the title-giving poem, which could be seen as an allusion to Taiwan, is actually just another smokescreen for personal ambition.

If Zhang had made this into a straightforward mystery or wuxia, it could have been interpreted as subversive by the censors, but because it's farcical, it's all a joke so they can't. So even if the story is too convoluted and the black humor doesn't stick, it's probably still a breath of fresh air for many Chinese spectators and deserves its commercial success.

When an ambassador is found stabbed to death, the Prime Minister "Qin Hui" (Jiayin Lei) orders an immediate investigation to be headed by his director "He Li" (Yi Zhang) and his deputy "Wu Yichun" (the quite charismatic Yunpeng Yue). Pretty quickly, this investigation has seen the killing of the Captain of the guard and his replacement by the young "Sun Jun" (Jackson Lee) who has alighted on a potential culprit in "Zhang Da" (Teng Shen). The Prime Minister has given the young man and his prisoner just two hours to get to the bottom of the killing and to retrieve a letter thought to have been contained in an ornate leather purse. For much of the first ninety minutes, this is quite a cleverly interwoven and characterful whodunit. Who to trust, who is behind the plot - what is contained in the letter? Who has read the letter? What might the beautiful courtesans know of the mystery? It's quickly paced and quite entertaining. Sadly, though, the last forty-five minutes rather falls away. The characters all start to trip over themselves and the intrigue stops being that and starts to become a bit of a farce leading to an ending that was really weak and disappointing. It looks great though, the production standards and costumes are professional and colourful - it's just an hour too long - and that's without counting the endless pre-title production credits!

Man Jiang Hong, internationally known as Full River Red, is a mixture of a period drama and a conspiracy thriller taking place during the Shaoxing period of the Southern Song dynasty. The entire movie takes place at the prime minister's residence where a foreign diplomate dies under mysterious circumstances and a secret letter he was carrying disappears without a trace. A team of investigators uncovers a conspiracy that is much more significant than initially anticipated.

This movie convinces on several levels. It has been directed by experienced veteran Zhang Yimou who has been responsible for cinematic masterpieces such as Shadow, The Flowers of War and Hero. While Full River Red isn't among his greatest movies, the calm, precise and swift camera work, the impressively detailed bird perspectives and the use of epic backdrops make this movie a visual sensation.

Full River Red brings the Southern Song dynasty to life with numerous imaginative details. This includes the diversified clothing, the way the huts and palaces are designed and also the use of numerous different weapons. The attention to detail in this film is particularly outstanding.

This film also entertains with a fluid blend of genres that will keep viewers intrigued through its ambitious running time. The movie starts with some slapstick comedy scenes, quickly features some visually stunning martial arts sequences, develops into a profound drama and ultimately becomes a gripping conspiracy thriller. The transitions between all these sections are very smooth as each genre gets about thirty to forty-five minutes to start, shine and fade out before the next section takes over. This procedure makes for a highly entertaining final result.

This movie however isn't without its flaws. The running time of one hundred fifty-nine minutes is a little bit too long for one single film. Zhang Yimou could have easily cut half an hour worth of material to avoid unnecessary repetitions and slow transitions. The plot is very clever but at times includes a few too many twists for its own good before concluding on an exaggeratedly patriotic note that many contemporary Chinese movies are dreadfully suffering from. One last element to criticize are the acting performances that are decent to good but fail to leave a deeper impression. The country's greatest actresses and actors can be found in other contemporary films such as Ride On, Sakra and Post Truth rather than this film.

At the end of the day, Full River Red is a wonderful movie for anyone interested in ancient Chinese culture, creative martial arts films and twisted conspiracy thrillers. For anyone who appreciates all three elements, this movie should firmly sit among the top twenty films of the year. However, this movie isn't as great as the promoters would like us to believe and Zhang Yimou has done better jobs on numerous occasions in the past.

What saves this story is the performance of the main cast. All actors play their roles passionately, and they are the only real strenght this movie has. The sets are limited but not holding back the movie.

The story is decently captivating. It starts as a whodunnit, that turns into a case of national security. Various factions are in the game, that don't know who to trust. Overall a gripping story, but it does get more nonsensical as it goes on.

The absolute worst part is the music, especially it's volume. Without exaggeration, the music is 10x as loud as the audio. I spent two hours holding the remote, ready to press mute. The music also fits the scenes it's played in poorly, but that would be forgiven if it was not 10x too loud.

A rather slow and stagnant film in the first half, it was largely driven by charisma of individual actors. Also not helped by the monotonous setting of the film, which is just grey wall and grey sky throughout. But Full River Red quickly picked up steam as twists after twists and as the suspense grew. The movie has a powerful ending as Yue Fei's poem is recited, for which the film is named after. It is not hard to understand why the film had sub a great box office as it is truly a star studded lineup, but perhaps it is a little surprising that the film is more than what is shown on the surface. It is about struggle and standing up to power and desires while being told in a self deficating way.