Full River Red (2023)

I guess FULL RIVER RED is effectively Part 3 of Zhang Yimou's conspiratorial assassin period film trilogy, though it adopts quite a different tone to Hero or SHADOW, opting for a kind of comedy that isn't particularly congruent with Zhang Yimou's style.

The plot is a convoluted criss-crossing of twists, bluffs and entrapments, which is more up Zhang's alley, and somehow keeps moving at a pretty relentless pace despite the lengthy runtime. The weird bursts of anachronistic music kick things into an even higher gear at times.

The acting is similarly dialled up for most of the running time, with not too many moments that call for nuance. The main characters are all reasonably well represented, but I wouldn't call any of the performances memorable.

This isn't a wuxia and doesn't have much in the way of action, with what little there is generally consisting of people stabbing each other unexpectedly, which doesn't call for much in the way of graceful choreography.

The film ends with what I imagine is a stirring message, that was completely lost on me... presumably it will resonate with some segment of the Chinese audience, though I can't even guess which.

I didn't particularly enjoy FULL RIVER RED, but I didn't particularly mind it either. Despite its length I never felt it had outstayed its welcome, and there are a few scenes I genuinely liked. I doubt I'll watch it again though.