The Wasted Times

Directors and titles spoil good stories. Good stories are torn apart. Every story changes when it is clear. On the contrary, many irrelevant details are left behind, such as the first two jokes before the shooting, and what is the relationship between the theme of the story? Poor audiences who go to the cinema to give their heads off

The scenes were a bit jumbled in the first half of the film which could be confusing. It's almost like too many different plots going on and then doesn't continue until later on. There were some unnecessary introduction of minor characters that were kind of pointless. However you could understand what the director was trying to portray such as the theme of betrayal all throughout the film.

"Lu appears to be a merciless mastermind in the opening gambit, substantiated by a chopped hand and a summary execution of a dishonest Union organizer from north (for those who are cognizant of Chinese history of that time, a big chunk of the personages can be traced back to real-life figures, such as Lu is based on Du Yuesheng, a well-known mob boss and key supporter of Kuomintang, and by implication the unlucky northern guy can be linked to Wang Shouhua, a Communist cadre who was murdered by Du in 1927). Never abandons his urbanity, he seems to have everything under control, when facing the proposal from Japanese party for collaboration, his firm declination is final despite its polite elocution."

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This is one of the best gangster movies I've ever seen. It's streaming on Amazon and I've watched it twice, and I'll watch it again. I'll buy it. Complex, beautiful, horrific, and unforgettable. Everything about The Wasted Times is great. This film deserves far more interest and a much higher rating.

A violent war movie I would not have watched if not for Wallace Chung. He appeared for maybe 10 seconds in the movie, yet by then, I had already gotten intrigued by the unusual story and characters, I could not stop watching.

It's an interesting look at Chinese and Japanese relations in Japanese-occupied Shanghai in WWII.