As I began to look, I thought, ‘Is it possible to spoil the Three Kingdoms so much?’ After all, this is an action movie with elements of fantasy, and not a deeply philosophical work, such as Journey to the West. Turns out you could. If you finish half yourself and stuff more cranberries.
To begin with, the film was released in two versions: the full, in two parts, for China and the cut, half the time, for the United States. If the full version still somehow follows the original source, then the shortened version is cut down so that in some places everything is turned upside down. For example, the characters, in the original one of whom passionately hated and wanted to kill the other, in the film became best friends (in the full version this is still less pronounced).
The film is full of cranberries and babes: mirror shields, blinding the enemy, female warriors, surprisingly accurate pigeon mail, typhoid parcels, left-wing characters and so on. I can understand why Liu Bei and Ko were involved (well, just to have famous heroes), but why stuck a line with Xiao-qiao sucked out of a finger?
Indeed, the themes of cunning intrigue and misinformation are almost thrown out of the film, which are very well spelled out in the novel and make up a considerable share of the interest of this story (and in the stripped-down version these themes are completely cut out), but instead the screen time is occupied by the dullest line with Zhou Yu’s yu’s pesky wife, who preaches make love, not war and creates drama where she does not belong.
Another, no less stupid line is with a woman-scout, who in the camp of the enemy is not only easily mistaken for a man, but even never suspect, although she burns herself and manages to paint a white sheet the size of three or four square meters with cartographic data.
Also, a lot of screen time is occupied by the topic of football (more precisely, it is tsuju, but this is not easier). Why it was even introduced into the plot and why it takes so long to muzzle - it is not clear at all.
But, despite as much as five hours of duration, the film did not have enough time to somehow reveal the characters. It is clear that every Chinese already knows them, but the authors kind of counted not only on the Chinese. But almost all the characters are nothing more than a named talking dummy without individuality, which is why they are absolutely not remembered and it is sometimes quite difficult to figure out who is who.
In general, the film turned out to be very tedious and protracted, with many silly moments sewn with white threads, dull drama where it is not needed, and, conversely, the lack of drama where it should be. The authors redraw the plot for the worse, threw out a lot of the original source, but could not offer their best or at least equal alternative.
Similar to the plot and visual series. Despite the fact that the picture is filled with battles of various kinds, there is not much to look at: boring, monotonous, sometimes too cranberry. You will not see any beautiful shootings or any impressive scenery in this film.
Musical accompaniment is also not impressive and not memorable. After watching it, it is difficult to remember that there was some music in the picture (well, except for the plot game on traditional instruments).
In general, I would not recommend this film to watch, especially as a film adaptation of the story from the “Trinity”. There are much more pleasant examples of adaptations of the novel.
Whatever it is today, the world is our tomorrow.
V. Hugo
The battle for peace, the battle for the well-being of the people, the battle for a better future of the state, the battle for convictions and ideals - this is what this is about, I will not fear this word, an epochal film adaptation. But it will also tell us about love - love for the homeland, love for your nation, love for peace and prosperity. Two sides of the same coin with a very clear distinction between bad and good, good and evil, black and white. Perhaps this is more like a fairy tale for adults, but of course instructive, beautiful and at the same time very true.
This story is about outstanding people who chose different paths to achieve their goals. As befits the Great, having once chosen his way, remained true to himself until the very end. Someone following his guiding star constantly improved, and someone nurtured his ambitions and thirst for power as a result of which pride reached such heights from which it became very difficult to see what was happening there on earth. On the one hand, prosperity and well-being, on the other hand, the suppression of all by their authority and power. Such a duo is quite dangerous in that it generates exorbitant vanity, which in turn can become insatiable, insidious and arrogant, demanding to quench thirst again and again.
So how do you resist that? Only a successful, skillful and competent alliance can save from enslavement, humiliation and ultimately death.
And here comes He! Brilliant strategist, outstanding personality and Mr. Little. Why a little? It's simple! As it turned out, He was a bit of a weatherman, a bit of a musician, a bit of a philosopher, a bit of a farmer and even attention! Only such a unique person can unite and direct in the right direction no less bright personalities. Their interaction and mutual respect can cause the viewer only one thing – admiration. The viewer will see friendship, mutual assistance, the relationship between a man and a woman. Everything is so competently woven into the canvas of the film that without such an addition, the film would seem unable to play in all its glory.
The film is not just about battle, but about the battle for peace. Indeed, battle scenes abound, but they are not cruel and ruthless, but beautiful and spectacular. One can endlessly chant at what high level the battles are set, how well the strategies are told, what impressive equipment the warriors have. But! It is better to see once than to hear a hundred times. In contrast to military actions, for the delight of the eyes, the picturesque landscapes of China are shown, rain is delightfully caught on camera, a wind break soaring into a bizarre vortex of foliage, and a ship that cuts through the water surface is filmed so skillfully that it cannot but bewitch. My applause for the camera work.
As you start watching The Battle of Red Rock, mute a bit of the critic, especially the one that is historical. No matter how the film is not based on Luo Guanzhong’s novel “Three Kingdoms”, but only on his motives, I think this is a significant difference. Do not follow the plot of the film in the book, give up this and get maximum pleasure.
Bravo John Woo! Your creation deservedly received a lot of awards and deserves the attention of even the most demanding viewer.
P.S. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of watching both parts of the film, and not one shortened for the West.
In Russia, films by American and European filmmakers are very popular. Russian manufacturers are mostly subject to quite fair criticism and irony. However, in this world, limited to Eurocentrism, the pictures of other peoples, in particular Asian ones, are often ignored.
In this article, I would like to draw on the stunning historical dilogy of Chinese director John Wu: “Battle of Red Rock”. This film - it is worthy of this title - is based on an excerpt of the historical novel "Three Kingdoms", written in the XIV century by the famous writer and natural philosopher Luo Guanzhong. This work is one of four classical Chinese novels, which in a sense are national and world treasure.
The plot of the novel tells about the events of the III century, when the absolutist rule of the Han dynasty came to an end, and on the site of the collapsed empire, the states of Wei, Wu and Shu were formed, each with its own dynasty and claims to the unification of China. The films also show the events of the end of 208 AD, preceding the actual collapse of the Han Empire.
Thus, John Wu, who became famous for his Hollywood action films in the 90s, faced a difficult task: to portray part of the novel (quite small, let me note), permeated with philosophy and references to earlier historical events, in cinematic form. The implicit question can be answered immediately: he coped with this perfectly, shifting a variety of scenes.
All situations of these films can be divided into three types: 1) battle episodes, 2) aesthetic moments, 3) various inserts.
The first type is displayed for the most part realistically and reliably. The armor and armaments, combat formations and the elements of strategy shown fully reflect those in China at the beginning of the third century AD. Fight scenes are fast, bloody and full of violence, weapons are dangerous and destructive, and special effects except for a couple of moments at height. The only unrealistic point is the acrobatic tricks characteristic of Chinese films.
Aesthetic moments, on the contrary, are very different in dynamics: they are leisurely, often they quote classical Chinese literature, sometimes they are wordless and filled with traditional Chinese music. All these scenes very smoothly and harmoniously interweave the plot, playing with its dynamics and content, enriching it. There is also a tea ceremony, a dance with the sword of one of the commanders, and, for example, the preparation of a strategist for a dangerous mission.
The last type - inserts - is also important, although I call it very inconspicuous. It is extremely diverse, as it includes both moments that reveal characters and very comic episodes. Separately, it is also worth mentioning military councils showing the tactical genius of each of the iconic heroes, which are the antagonist Cao Cao, chief strategist Zhuge Liang and military commander Zhou Yu.
The relationship of the latter is worth mentioning: at the beginning of the first picture, they become friends, realizing, however, that in the future they may one day have to oppose each other, since they serve different rulers. Their communication is full of light and subtle humor and is built on mutual respect and honor.
Thus, I can personally recommend this dilogy to anyone who believes that he knows how to appreciate a good movie. Yes, these pictures are not suitable for rest after a hard day’s work, but they can give an excellent enjoyment of cinema to anyone who is ready to enjoy it.
Some of you may also be scared off by my review. However, if you suddenly have because of my words a certain antipathy to these paintings, then it is solely my tongue-in-cheek, but not the movies, that is to blame. And it turns out that I could not tell about this aesthetic dilogy well, but still tried, because very often the art of Asia escapes from the eyes of a European. The film’s data is really great; it may well be just my subjective assessment.
The film looks great if at least for the sake of interest to come to the cinema prepared, not for the sake of empty spectacles, but with the desire to understand the author's idea and the film language of the director.
The film is based on a medieval novel created according to medieval Chinese canons, something like “The Song of My Side” or “The Song of Roland”. No peasants or household writing! The novel is historical, and it is fundamentally interested only in the figures of the era, and not simple peasants and artisans. The book, like the film, expresses the Idea, so in both works there are many exaggerations and metaphors - one conquers the many, suddenly shone a scarlet light and with one jump Liu Bei jumped over the river.
The elders saw the radiance and by these signs they understood that the commander was “good.” righteous, and he would be defeated.
The film carefully recreates the spirit and atmosphere of the era - that is why the characters are so categorically unipolar, Cao Cao is cruel, and Liu Bei is compassionate and enlightened.
Psychological introspection appears in foreign prose around the 19th century, and in Chinese tradition even later. Realism and literal copying of the realities of life have never been characteristic of Oriental art. And not to many excessive truthful realism and detail to their liking.
Take at least readers of the cycle about Kurt Wallander, many complain about the unnecessary details of the life of the Swedish Commissioner, such as eating a sandwich, drinking coffee, urinating. I felt thirsty and urinated again.
Or as Wim Wenders in “Over Time” shows the process of defecation of the character.
Everything is known by comparison.
The Chinese, like the ancient Scandinavians, the authors of the sagas, describe only the key moments and descriptions. So a simple “I go to “you” for the Chinese commanders is unacceptable, it is necessary to “sanctify” the decree with appropriate formulations, such as: “Cao Cao (Dong Zhou, Yuan Shao, etc.) tramples on the laws of China and oppresses the people. The number of his crimes overflowed the cup of patience and we are called to punish the villain and so on.
Almost all significant figures in the canon have a legendary canon of description. Zhang Fei had shaggy eyebrows, and Sun Tse was tall and stately, had an attractive appearance.
Everything that is rejected by the Western audience is part of the Eastern tradition. As they say, they do not go to a foreign monastery with their charter, so if you are going to watch a movie from China or Sweden, be kind, first get acquainted with the traditions and habits of the guest to have an idea of what you can talk about and how and what to interpret, this is just a requirement of etiquette.
And if something did not like or seemed funny, it is rather an indicator of the difference in mentality and that the viewer did not make enough effort to understand the guest, and not that the guest is deprived of any merits.
It is not often necessary to see and evaluate good, worthy, exciting films made in China. After all, this film is not just Chinese production, but the production of the Chinese director John Wu, whom many know from his Hollywood films ("Talking with the Wind, Payback Hour, etc.). John Woo manages to keep the quality of his films not only in Hollywood, but also in his homeland. This film is no exception.
Cao Cao is one of the most famous Chinese commanders, the Chinese, despite his contradictions, are very much loved and respected as a national hero. It was he who wanted to unite the Celestial Empire and gain full power in it. But on his way stood no less significant figures from the history of China – San Quan and Liu Bao.
The historical branch in this film is shown quite well, but there is no deepening into the essence of what is happening. Basically, the director bets on grand battles and battles. But there is a very unpleasant feeling when the viewer sees that the film is trying to show us a reliable story, based on facts, but everything is ruined by unrealistic fights. In my opinion, this is a huge disadvantage to this film. In principle, this is typical for any Chinese film, when one hero can deal with a violently attacking crowd, but of course, there is gravity in the film, namely inappropriate, when the characters from the impact fly a short distance.
If you still find fault with the film, you can see bright red blood, which is not quite like the real one, but this factor does not spoil the impression much, as the above.
In general, the Battle of the Red Rock is devoted to a lot of films, video games and works. The most famous work is the novel "Trinity", which is considered a classic of Chinese literature. All this suggests that China values its culture, history, traditions and thus does not allow it to be forgotten by the current generation. Moreover, it spreads, and thus “enlightens” its Chinese history to the whole world, thanks to such films as “Battle of Red Rock”.
If we talk about the budget of the film, then here he justifies himself, but saddens one thing. Fees in countries such as Russia and the United States are extremely small. I don't even know how to explain it. Chinese people love and watch American and Russian movies. Even with great reverence are treated to historical films of Russian production, in general, respect Russian culture. But we and our compatriots, judging by the collections of this film (and not only this), are somehow biased towards Chinese films, although in fact, some of them are filmed quite well, spectacularly. Such films include this film by John Wu.
Anyway, the movie is worth watching. Especially for those who want to know more about history.
"Battle of the Red Rock" As soon as I heard this name, I immediately remembered the classic of Chinese literature – the historical novel of Luo Guan-chung “Three Kingdoms”, which I happened to read in its entirety. But, already in the course of watching the film in the cinema, there was a firm conviction - "something is wrong here." That's right.
1. Why did Sun Quan’s kingdom of Wu become the kingdom of Wei? Which in the novel led... Cao Cao! Which in the film, it turns out, declares war and goes on a campaign with 800,000 army and a huge fleet ... to his own kingdom?
2. Where did General Zilong come from? I haven't seen anything like this in Liu Bei's work. I haven’t noticed anything like that anywhere. Anyone who has read The Trinity knows that Liu Bei was helped by Zhao Yun, who indeed (as in the book and in the film) saved Liu Bei’s son, Liu Shan, from the advancing hordes of Cao Cao.
3. Why is there friendship and harmony between Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang? In the novel, in fact, it is shown that they did indeed repulse Cao Cao’s attack together, but Zhou Yu actually tried to kill Zhuge Liang, realizing that he could be dangerous to the kingdom of Wu (partly he was right).
4. It is very disappointing that many characters and lines the director and screenwriters just “thought up” Luo Guan-chung, and not always for the better.
In conclusion, I will say that the film is still good and quality shot. Money for special effects clearly did not spare, perfectly shot battle scenes (but why so much blood?). Very successfully selected image of Zhuge Liang - Takeshi Kaneshiro was able to convey the fullness of this outstanding character of Chinese history. John Wu is indeed a master of Chinese cinema, but the script should still be written from the source, not fantasizing.
P.S. I wonder why it was necessary for the Chinese and Russian audiences to divide the film into two pieces, and for the Europeans, most of whom had never heard of Luo Guan-chung and his epic, to compress it into one?
If you once, like me, are interested in picking up quality Asian blockbusters for viewing, then the historical epic of John Wu will hint at familiarity with the history of the Chinese civil war two thousand years ago. And to refuse such advisory perseverance will not be easy, because the "Battle of the Red Rock" in absentia makes a pleasant impression. The principal factor that will determine your attitude to the film will be the desire to abandon the stereotypes, prejudices that, unfortunately, formed in most of us.
The first important advantage of the film lies in the choice of the most historical era and place of action. Agree, the vast majority of people have almost no idea about the history of China, apart from the passages of classical school education about the Great Wall. And the question of historical authenticity, which, rest assured, you will have for most of the two-hour timekeeping, is not as important here as the unfolding epic. Already during the viewing, driven by elementary curiosity, you want to turn to an open source. Before us, first of all, a work of art, which should cause the viewer the corresponding vivid emotions.
The plot is based on the story of the actual civil war, where the famous military commander Cao Cao, hiding behind the patronage and approval of the Emperor of China, leads, on behalf of the latter, a usurper offensive on the provinces of the dissenters. The scriptwriters offer us this conflict quite unequivocally, which sometimes obtrusively catches the eye. The two sides are very clearly divided into “good” and “bad”. The latter are brutal conquerors in dark armor, like locusts devouring new territories - without respect for culture and human life. Cao Cao’s oppressive image clearly fits into the framework of a stereotypical usurper and conqueror who quenches his own irrepressible desire to dominate and subdue. People on the other side of the war, on the contrary, are shown as persons who are not alien to duty, mutual support, love for animals and every blade of grass on their land. They help the mare give birth to a foal, and then listen to music to the sounds of raindrops. Such superficiality seems far-fetched, but does not interfere with the perception of the film as a beautiful, artistically verified fiction.
As for the theme of the battles themselves, battles on the battlefield occupy about a third of screen time, which fully quenches the thirst for "bread and circuses." If you choose one available designation of what distinguishes the film from colleagues in the workshop, you can voice the following: “Spear”. There are many replica battles here.” One of the main characters of the film is a military strategist, so the importance is paid to the so-called art of war, which is clearly different from the Western inspirers. Add to this simply delightful scenes of a peaceful nature – it turned out to be a holistic work, although it gives borrowings. In fact, the story of the first film ends on the most interesting, so the share of intrigue also plays a role in shaping the final opinion.
208 A.D. The irrepressible General Cao Cao took over the indecisive prince of the Han Empire, and declared war on the southern lands, deciding to take over all of China. The troops of the ruler Liu Bei bravely confront him, but the forces are unequal, and the crowd of refugees they guard forces the warriors to retreat. Knowing that in the future Cao planned to capture the kingdom of Wu, Liu Bei sent a talented strategist Zhuge Liang, so that he negotiated a military alliance with the local ruler Song Tswan and his brother-colonial leader Zhou Y. War not to pass, and help is not very hurt.
Having completed a medium-successful career in Hollywood (recently, the director was frankly unlucky), John Wu moved back to Hong Kong and immediately swung for a 5-hour military-historical epic (I will now, accordingly, also broadcast the whole movie at once). Despite the more or less positive reaction of the audience and technical awards, the master of the militants still subsided under such a large-scale material.
The script copes well with a large number of heroes of “Red Cliff”, each of which is important to the story. You can do this for the whole film and not remember the names of the characters, but who for whom and who has to get caught quite simply. But as for the plot, here John does not go so smoothly. On the contrary, there's nothing smoother! In general, there is a rare case when there is no room for surprise in the film. Along with the battle scenes, half of the film is devoted to strategic conversations about how best to outsmart the enemy. They will argue a little, they will stuff their brains with philosophical interpretations, eventually they outline a plan, and then ... they execute it with accuracy. They said that the arrows will reach, do not doubt. Will the wind change direction at one o'clock in the morning? That will happen. Well done, strategists! The enemy has virtually no chance. Especially when he is a self-confident idiot (well, how can you drink tea with the enemy’s wife on the eve of the decisive operation!!!). One rushes with a “cry of a cue and a kick of a leg”, while the opposition turns on its head and breaks its nose. Spectacular, large-scale, epic, yes, only for the viewer, these situations quickly turn into echoes of a structural scenario. Part of the fun is inevitably lost.
But it's old Wu, maybe he surprised others. In connection with the subj, first of all, you remember the battle scenes, and here the director has distinguished himself somewhere. Not everywhere, but, for example, can not help remember the powerful strategy of driving the enemy into the combat mechanism of the “turtle”, or fighting off attacks with a spinograt behind the shoulder (“Cool cooked”, in the course, reanimated). More often, however, there is a feeling of heavy clumsiness of battles. The comparison is strange, but I remember that moment from the horror movie “Cradle of Nightmares”, where the demon Danny Philfe from somewhere snatched an unrealistic blade and gently ticked the man on the throat. Here we go. Then they gallop through the air like the Legolas (here really like Jackson in "Battle of 5 Armies"), then lazily throw extras, wave peaks and die from loss of blood through a scratch. Which is natural, because one scratch costs a couple of liters of blood at once (first with a spear is an indicative episode). Wu doesn't regret blood. In five hours, battles can be easily filled with Swan Lake.
But battles with corpses (the main characters do not hurry to die, but extras were overtaken like ants), but the rear is uncovered. The drama of the 1990s and 2000s, the director, apparently, is fed up with, but here the genre itself requires, war without end and edge. And in the "Red Cliff" everything is dry and mechanical as in Worcraft (the ubiquitous computer graph, by the way, no less). The most dramatic moment is the collective delivery of a horse. However, he is also the most ridiculous (second place is given to the stupid comedy line of the novel by a princess-spy and a warrior-fool). Famous actors, respectively, can only play cunning when pointing a finger at the map and rage when waving a saber. With music, too, "Gladiator" failed. Hans Zimmer with Lisa Gerrard (as "MI:2") John Woo is missing. Except that you remember a purely musical chopped beatle on two qisianqin (something like our ghusls, like a recumbent guitar).
Anyway, what do you think? For the American box office John Wu "Red Cliff" reduced to one 2-hour film. Maybe it was still the best option, because what in this story you understand long before the final.
6 out of 10
I like to watch historical films. And it so happened that history is often filmed battles, as the culmination of the confrontation of the parties. Human history is full of battles, battles, defeats and victories. And they want to see, draw conclusions, learn.
Fighting can teach battle strategies, or peace strategies. In this film, the strategy of the battle clearly traces the strategy of peace, care for their people. With huge losses in battles on both sides, the film can not be called bloodthirsty, probably because the main characters protect the world.
I like to see that the ruler thinks more about his people than about himself and his family. And, very logically, at this time, his loyal subordinates think about the well-being of his heir more than about their own life.
I love seeing people who have developed their talent. Whether it’s the talent of a military strategist or a tea ceremony. Here we can see both of them.
I like that the chief battle strategist bases his experience on observing the laws of nature.
I like to look at the mutual help of men and women. This film raises this question as well. And there is a chance to hope that at all times there have been men who respect women, their talents and desires. Even in the East.
I love watching real men in movies. And there are a lot of them here. Especially interesting is the symbiosis of Tony Leung as Zhou Yu and Takeshi Kaneshiro as Zhuge Liang, which is the basis of the events described in the film.
I like to watch good films about mutual assistance, love, kindness and self-sacrifice. If you do too, I wish you a pleasant view!
