Reiko_95
to summarize it real quick :Artfully made, beautifully staged, and ultimately rather cold. Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet gets the artifice right, delivering a visual experience that's predictably elaborate and beautiful. However, the characters and emotions never seem to soar. Aesthetically, this is a better film than most, but looks aren't everything. now for the full comment :another highly-regarded Mainland Chinese director goes for international acclaim with The Banquet, a lavish costume drama set in 10th century Ancient China. For his first attempt at this genre, Feng Xiaogang enlists the world's most popular Chinese actress, Zhang Ziyi, plus he adds the required dose of flying martial arts, courtesy of master choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping. Feng also calls upon composer Tan Dun and art director Tim Yip, both veterans of a little movie called Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. With these sort of people attached to the film, Feng has created what amounts to a cinema guarantee. The Banquet promises high-quality spectacle, and indeed, expectations have been enormous from salivating cineastes and drooling Zhang Ziyi fanboys alike. Feng delivers on the spectacle; The Banquet is a feast for the eyes, and features impressive sets, costumes, and atmosphere. But for an actual time at the movies, perhaps even The Promise may be more entertaining.Zhang Ziyi stars as the young Empress Wan, who once upon a time was in love with Crown Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu). However, instead of marrying the Prince, Wan became betrothed to his father, The Emperor, who subsequently died under mysterious circumstances. The culprit is reportedly his brother, Li (Ge You), who inherits the throne and his hot young wife - and he seems to enjoy both pretty heavily, especially during the much-publicized massage sequences featuring Zhang Ziyi's famously uncredited body double. Li is threatened by Wu Luan, who's off hanging with a white-masked theater troupe, and sends a bunch of royal assassins to off him before he can attempt to reclaim the throne. But Wan is concerned for her former love/former stepson/current nephew, and sends warriors to protect him; during the ensuing actor bloodbath, the warriors do just enough to help Wu Luan escape.Wu Luan returns to the palace, where he reunites with his former girlfriend/former stepmother/current aunt, and sees firsthand that his uncle has usurped his father's place. Wu Luan also meets up with his current flame Qing (Zhou Xun), a pure sweetheart who doesn't mind that her true love is eternally moody over his crappy family dynamics. Predictably, Li is upset that Wu Luan has returned, and shows it by trying to kill him during a staged duel, attempting to exile him again, and just acting mean to him in an offhand, high-handed manner. But Li has other problems; some of his subjects think that he's an usurper, and some even plot against him. Meanwhile, Wan's place in all of this is unknown. Is she still enamored of Wu Luan, and is she grooming him to reclaim the throne? Or is there something more self-serving and sinister going on in her devious little head? And will Wu Luan ever do more than just brood?Wu Luan never really does more than just act upset, pace moodily, or display his ire through indirect means - which is fine, because he's Hamlet. The Banquet is a loose adaptation of the classic William Shakespeare play, and Hamlet is supposed to be a melancholy, borderline wishy-washy person with almost no forward momentum. Daniel Wu does a decent job of brooding, but Wu Luan never registers that deeply, probably because he's not even the film's central character. It's Empress Wan who takes on the central role in this web of deceit, lust, and potential betrayal - which is fine, because it puts Zhang Ziyi and her impressive bone structure front and center. Still, Empress Wan comes off as distant and undeveloped, and Zhang struggles to carry the film. One reason for this may be Zhang's age. A coolly conniving character like Empress Wan needs an actress with a bit more seasoning, and Zhang Ziyi is still a very young-seeming twenty-seven years of age.However, a bigger problem may simply be the film itself, which excels at aesthetically pleasing drama, but doesn't really find a way to convey any real emotion to the audience. The Banquet is presented in a conspicuously confined way, much like its stage-restricted inspiration. The sets and art direction are spectacular, but do little more than dress up each dialogue and gesture-heavy scene with obvious artifice. The Banquet feels very much like an ornate theater drama, where everything is perfectly arranged and everyone impeccably mannered. Even the people with murderous intent conduct themselves politely - to the point where they allow loved ones to die before finally acting with any sort of passion. It's all very beautiful in its restraint, but it's also very artificial and slow. The actors speak in measured tones, and even Yuen Woo-Ping's elaborate action scenes are hampered by an overabundance of slow-motion that makes them seemingly go on forever. The action also feels perfunctory and even unnecessary. Given its themes of desire and deception, The Banquet could have been told without any martial arts whatsoever, much less the flying kung-fu variety. The Banquet doesn't try to be as epic as its contemporaries, but its production is so polished and programmed for international acclaim that it ultimately detracts. The filmmakers follow the genre playbook and go for opulence and elegance, and the result is a film that never seems to surpass its obvious commercial or artistic aspirations. The Banquet is predictably gorgeous, but also somewhat cold.
JoeytheBrit
Not being a Shakespeare aficionado I didn't realise this was an adaptation of Hamlet although I did pick up on the Shakespearian aspects as far as the scale and tragedy are concerned. The Banquet also reminded me of The Curse of the Golden Flower – to which it is quite considerably superior in almost every aspect – in terms of the storyline crammed with intrigue in the royal court, the interaction of woefully dysfunctional families and the suggestion of incestuous diversions.Some reviewers have complained that the film is slow but I never really found time dragging. The set design and costumes are sumptuous and the performances are quite restrained for this type of flick. There are a number of tense scenes in between all the talk and a couple of stylised action scenes, mostly in slow motion. The fights are staged and choreographed like ballet dances at times. The score is used sparingly – and to incredibly good effect – while the storyline, although slightly convoluted at times, unfolds with agreeable style.The open ending is considered a weakness by some, but I'm not sure that we are supposed to be left wondering just who aims the final knife so much as the director is trying to make the impression that these intrigues, betrayals and murders will continue, simply with a new cast of duplicitous characters to replace the old.
wanderingstar
Movies out of HK and China are increasingly rivaling or surpassing the best out of Hollywood in acting, cinematography, costuming and artistic vision. 'The Banquet' is a shining example.This is a loosely based interpretation of Hamlet adapted for the Tang dynasty period. In my opinion there is too much energy spent on this site debating whether it is a good adaptation of Hamlet, comparing it to other Hamlet films, etc. It is not a straight "remake" of Hamlet - it obviously takes inspiration from the play, and uses many of its elements, and that's it. So just sit back, watch it and judge it on its own merits.This is primarily a drama but it's sprinkled with great martial arts choreography a la Yuen Wo Ping. Many fight scenes follow the wu xia (fantasy kung fu) genre – just suspend your disbelief and enjoy the beautiful spectacle of it.A riveting moment comes when a one of the Emperor's mandarins (scholars who rule over the provinces) introduces Wan as "Dowager Empress", language that means Wan is the mother of an Emperor (Prince Wu Luan) and is a slap in the face to Li. Wan and Generals alike must decide where their allegiances lie.The acting is very good and I enjoyed Zhang Ziyi playing the lecherous Empress, You Ge playing a convincingly imperial Emperor and Xun Zhou as the naïve Qing in love with our 'Hamlet'.One of The Banquet's strong points is it is absolutely stunning visually, right from the first scene in a verdant and swaying bamboo forest that makes you wonder if such a beautiful place really exists. The costumes throughout are incredibly rich and detailed.It lags a little in the last half hour (maybe I was just tired) but to its credit does not run much longer than 2 hours.Highly recommended.
Steve
I really don't have too much good things to say about this film...1. There are an excessive amount of baroque, while both storyline and characters fall short for being too predictable and seemingly unreal, respectively. There was a dream-like quality to whole movie experience, but it was not an enjoyable one.2. And there are too much perfectly choreographed death scenes... I mean, c'mon! WHO DIES LIKE THAT?! For example, there is a scene on the bridge where the new emperor's assassins synchronously killed themselves (for their failure). Or the scene on the snowy field where the imperial guards, again, synchronously fall from their horses after been struck by arrows.3. The ending (i.e. the banquet) didn't come as a surprise (at least to me). And by this point, I was a bit sick of the whole thing because amidst the grandeur of set (who knows how much was thrown on the set design and the costumes), the storyline was shallow.4. Please DO NOT compare this to Hamlet! Hamlet's character was 1000% better developed. We saw Hamlet's numerous soliloquies and understood his internal turmoil. What did we see in this film?This film also very much reminded me of "the curse of the golden flower." There is very little story-telling or character development; instead, the audience is bedeviled with flashy background and beautiful choreography, much like those horrible Star War prequels by George Lucas.Attention directors! We, the audience, demand a balance. Learn not just to tell a beautiful story with you fancy toys; tell a great story, one that is based on your refined script!
