Synopsis
A martial arts-infused spy thriller set in 1937 Beijing. A time when China was lurching between revolution, prosperity, and chaos.
A martial arts-infused spy thriller set in 1937 Beijing. A time when China was lurching between revolution, prosperity, and chaos.
Xie bu ya zheng, 侠隐, 邪不壓正, Скрытый человек, Hidden man, 사불압정, Tà Bất Áp Chính, Homem Oculto
Back in 2010, Jiang Wen found an ideal pop cinema form with Let the Bullets Fly and much like his follow-up Gone with the Bullets, Hidden Man is designed as variation on it. In common all three films are 30s period pieces designed as big genre romps, this one more of a spy revenge tale, keeping the multiple plot and counter plots inside a cynical world of the predecessors. Gone with the Bullets played up the carnivalesque allegorical feel of the early movie while this one streamlines everything towards a more straightforward presentation (a much more conventional and less uneven film). The eastern narrative traditions with western filmic references tension of the earlier films are even more underline here. Hidden…
An absolute madhouse of a movie whose only (albeit, major) fault is that it wants to entertain you *too much*. At least 4 languages, 3 conflicting nations, 2 revenge plots and a whole mess of every other melodramatic development under the sun - Jiang Wen's ambition is only contained by time itself, as this film features millions of indelible moments that aren't merely projected on a film screen so much as they explode out of it like shrapnel and get stuck in your head days later. Hit-or-miss gags are crammed down your throat at such a rapid clip as to avoid leaving a poor taste in your mouth and the action scenes pile on complications and contrivances that would make…
Jiang Wen sounds his barbaric yawp* over the rooftops of Beijing.
*naked Eddie Peng
More to come.
Eddi Peng berperan sebagai Li, anak yang mau membalaskan dendam atas kematian gurunya. Orang itu Zhu, sudah menjadi kapolres dan satunya kolonial Jepang.
Konsep lelaki-tersembunyi kurang tersampaikan secara apik sinematik. Karena karakter Li cuma lompat-lompat di atas genteng mengawasi musuhnya. Ya untuk apa? Kan dia hidden man, hidden identity, setelah dibesarkan di Amerika.
Drama tentang takut dan ragu membalas dendam cukup manusiawi. Ini salah satu kelebihan filmnya sendiri.
"Kamu takut kan mau balas dendam," tebak Guan, perempuan pincang yang pada suatu ketika terpaku melihat musuhnya datang ke toko tailornya.
Diselingi beberapa komedi, Hidden Man memang tidak serius martial arts banget. Bahkan momen thrilling-nya alpa disematkan.
54/100
[tweet from TIFF ‘18]
Lightning-paced (for 137 minutes!), utterly weightless period revenge saga, tonally pitched toward comedy while rarely going for actual jokes. Intermittent fun, but it baffles me that the man who made Devils on the Doorstep is now content to do this.
Stellenweise lustiger und fantastisch inszenierter Streifen, dessen reiner Zweck leider darin besteht einfach anders zu sein. Bewusst werden Handlungsstränge und plottwists rein geworfen die keinen Sinn ergeben und nur für Verwirrung sorgen. Anfangs noch ganz lustig zersetzt sich der Film selbst in seine Einzelteile. Das Schlimmste ist dabei, dass es dauerhaft annimmt als sei dies ein revolutionäres Meisterwerk.
Am Ende ist es aber nur ein lächerlicher, charakterloser 130 min. Nonsense, was auf hohem cineastischen Niveau produziert wurde und stellenweise seine angedeutete Genialität in Sachen Witz und Stil aufblitzen lässt.
Fazit: "Was zum Teufel sollte das!?"
(Kleine Anmerkung zum Film: Der Humor soll angeblich den klassischen Beijing Humor widerspiegeln, mit dem ich mich persönlich nicht aus kenne)
Rispetto ai due precedenti film di Jiang Wen questo è decisamente più sobrio nella struttura narrativa ma conserva la caratteristica esagerazione nelle scene d'azione e pure nelle interazioni tra i personaggi. Questa revisione si rivela una scelta vincente e capace di valorizzare l'umorismo di Wen e la sua bravura nel dirigere gli attori garantendo divertimento e scorrevolezza.
L’Hidden Man del titolo è Jiang Wen che, forse per la prima volta, decide di nascondersi/scomparire per lasciare spazio unicamente al suo cinema (i suoi film, nonostante le evidenti differenze, comunicano tra loro a meraviglia).
In più, anche questa volta, i culi sono cause del disastro. E poi ci sono tutti i suoi meme, le passeggiate sui tetti, le urla che si perdono nell’infinito, Luciano Pavarotti e tanto altro ancora.
Non vedo l’ora di vedere il tuo prossimo film.
Ti prego, sbrigati.
Il più grande regista vivente e uno degli artisti più decisivi (citando PMB) negli ultimi anni della mia vita.
- Su quale chiappa? Destra o sinistra?
- In mezzo!
“You play dirty. I’ll play dirtier.”
Nobody really does revenge/farce/romance/action/comedy/commentary pieces quite like Jiang Wen. In fact, I’m not sure anybody else is even doing them which is why - despite this film being all that it is - I love it for all that it is. Leaps over modern Mailand (and Hollywood) cinema as so many Beijing rooftops to Eddie Peng.
A fun, highly stylized film about revenge, set in early 20th century Beijing. The set is romantic, melodramatic, and nostalgic - our protagonist leaps across rooftops and lives atop a bell tower with a magnificent view. All the actors overact justttt a little in typical Jiang Wen aesthetic, which I quite like because it boldly brings comedy and absurdity into the mix, showing that no one is taking themselves 100% seriously. I definitely agree with netizens who say this film has Tarantino vibes.
However, the second half of the film was just really hard to follow. The character's motives (besides protagonist Eddie Peng's) just get really messed up - I don't know really know who to trust in a way…
Il mix giusto tra l'ultimo Jiang Wen e la tradizione del cinema cinese. Di fatto, il regista archivia le vie demenziali e commerciali optando per una strada decisamente più tradizionale, che gli permette però in ogni caso di risaltare ottimamente le sue doti. "Hidden Man" è un film molto più elegante, dove la regia diventa molto più posata rispetto al solito (sebbene non rinunci ad eccessi pulp e dissacranti) e anche l'ironia diventa decisamente più fine e delicata, meno demenziale. Sembra di rivedere la scia dei film in costume e dei wuxia di Zhang Yimou (da cui riprende anche il tema dell'onore e della vendetta) e di Lou Ye (soprattutto "Purple Butterfly"), soprattutto per l'utilizzo delle dissolvenze incrociate e di…
From the 20 minute mark forward I had no idea what was going on, who wanted what and why. That is probably a failing on my part, talky plot-heavy movies can easily lose me in the weeds.