Oct
7
2006
The Banquet
Posted by luna6
Movie : The Banquet / Ye yan / 夜宴
Year : 2006
Country : China
Director : Xiaogang Feng
Starring: Ziyi Zhang, Daniel Wu, You Ge
Runtime : 112 Minutes
Rating : 7.0
(7 Votes, User Rating: 8.71)
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Plot Synopsis : In 907 A.D. China, Prince Wuluan meets a maiden known as “Little Wan” and they become romantically involved. Unceremoniously, Prince Wuluan’s father, the Emperor of the China steps in and marries Little Wan for himself. Prince Wuluan is now heart broken and retreats to the southern heartlands of China, seeking solace in the art of music and dance.
Three years later the Emperor of China is murdered and his brother takes over the thrown. Empress Wan quickly dispatches her messengers to warn Prince Wuluan of what has has happened to his father and urges him to come back to the palace. But, Empress Wan is unaware that the new Emperor has already sent his own Imperial Guards to the southern part of China to assassinate Prince Wuluan.
The new Emperor asks the former Empress Wan to become his wife and to take the thrown as Empress once again. Empress Wan accepts his proposal…if he will not kill Prince Wuluan.
Meanwhile, Prince Wuluan manages to escape the Imperial Guards that came to murder him and he quickly makes his way back to the Palace. Now a treacherous power struggle occurs within the Imperial Family culminating in the banquet, where everybody makes their final move for power and revenge.
Movie Review : Inspired from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” The Banquet is a lavish epic piece, that features mystical fighting sequences in the style of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” The Banquet should appeal to a broad range of cinema fans, because of its compelling “Hamlet” inspired story line and the growth of Zhang Ziyi as an actress. The film also features some fantastic costumes and cinematography that is a feast for the eyes to absorb.
The martial arts sequences were done in a artful manner, but sometimes too artful. The slow motion shots of Prince Wuluan (Daniel Yu) and Empress Wan (Zhang Ziyi) doing pirouettes with their long flowing robes, as they test each other’s sword fighting prowess…was more of a scripted ballet scene than a fight scene. That scene just came out as a “forced” moment where the director seemed intent to force the viewer to admire their artistic shots, rather than a fight sequence that evokes admiration because of their artistic shots. Besides that scene the rest of the actions scenes were tastefully done, though some featured a gratuitous amount of bloodshed that may scare away some viewers.
The movie’s script was probably the strongest aspect of the movie for me. As the movie progressed along to the film’s finale at the banquet, I was totally engrossed in the movie’s storyline and the way each of the characters had their own agendas. Zhang Ziyi’s Empress Wan character was the central figure in the movie and as the movie progressed my feelings about her would shift every ten minutes. Empress Wan was not a lovable character by any stretch of the imagination, but her character was admirable for the complex and multi-faceted nature of her personality. Nice to see Zhang Ziyi grow as an actress and play more complex characters.
As good as the build up was in the Banquet..the payoff was a bit of a let down. I expected a whole lot more oomph from those final scenes, but maybe I just wanted too much from the film. I was expecting Yin and Minister Yin to give more of a fight in those final scenes and the Emperor’s reaction was really hard to fathom. His response to what transpired at the banquet seemed completely out of nature with how his character was built up to be. The final scene with Zhang Ziyi by herself at the palace could have been edited out completely.
The Banquet features a strong script and provides visuals that are enthralling to watch throughout. The set pieces with its lavish background and rich & colorful wardrobes was a pleasure to witness. The fight scenes were mostly well done, in the manner of the mystical “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” style of fighting sequences. A few times I thought the director was so absorbed in displaying the artistic merits of those action sequences that it just seemed forced. Also, the ending was a letdown compared to the build up to those final scenes. Even with those problems, the Banquet is a compelling film that is filled with juicy things like desire, betrayal, lust and vengeance. The two hours just flew by, like some of those people did when they were fighting.
2006 Movie Reviews, Movie Reviews |