I wanted to see this because it's Ang Lee's newest film after Brokeback, and I haven't seen any of his Asian films besides Eat Drink Man Woman. Plus I'd heard pretty good things about it.It was... okay. Elements of it were really great. The cinematography, the costumes, pretty much everything visual was wonderful. The score was also beautiful, and it stuck with me days after I watched it, and I only realized today that it is by one of my favorite composers, Alexandre Desplat.
The plot was incredibly intricate and hard to follow. This could have to do with the language. Even though I had subtitles (obviously), I sometimes find Asian films harder to follow than, say, French or German films. Perhaps because the intonation is just so different.
The historical detail was probably a bit much for the average viewer, but I liked it. I also liked the neo-noir feel.
Here's the thing. There was supposedly a lot of sex in this movie. Unfortunately, Blockbuster only had the R-rate (not NC-17) version, which meant a lot of these scenes were cut out (I'm assuming). I say "unfortunate," because I feel like I must have missed a lot of dialogue, etc. that would have helped me understand the characters, the plot, and just everything in general.
I think perhaps rewatching this one might give me a better impression—but I don't know if I feel up to it.
Rating: 3.0
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