The story revolves around the main assassin, Nie Yinniang (Qi Shu), who is sent on a mission to assassinate a high political figure in seventh-century China. She spends a good majority of the film testing the waters of her skills, while preparing for the final moment where she does the deed (not going to spoil how that ends up, just expect the unexpected). It’s a patient story that does what it wants, when it wants and how it wants. For that I enormously respect director Hsiao-Hsien Hou. It takes a lot of effort not to fall into the traditional mold of what American audiences expect when it comes to Asian cinema. Honestly, I expected lots of fighting, a good chunk of over-the-top drama and something beyond Chinese historical fact.
The Assassin proved it was better and above such cinematic stereotypes, which is an aspect I’m grateful for at the end of the day.
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With that said, the problems with the movie lie in the storytelling. Nearly all of the movie is spent building to the moment of assassination. The problem with this plight is that the story is a bit messy and doesn’t really stay on track, especially for audience members like myself, who aren’t really familiar with Chinese history. Characters come and go in the movie, sometimes creating confusion about what exactly is going on with the characters and why they are relevant to the overall story. When you’re trying to guess the three act development and coming up short, that’s never a good thing for a movie. That is the case with The Assassin.
It starts with an uphill narrative that gathers no steam towards the middle, nor does it barrel into a third act. Simply put, it takes its own creative pace and doesn’t offer the viewer any other gear beyond the first. Just when you think things get started, they slow down to a snails pace. They rev up again, only to slow down again. It’s frustrating to keep up with the story because of this and somewhere in the middle I nearly gave up with doing so.
Honestly speaking, I don’t mind films that give a notion of methodical storytelling that start with a bevy of beautiful pieces, which slowly combine to form one enormous surprise of film excellence. There have been plenty of movies over the years, especially in Asian cinema, that took this route, but The Assassin is different. It doesn’t give you any cinematic pace, it doesn’t reveal its hand about motivation or build characters into either monsters or heroes. It doesn’t do anything of the sort — it simply just tells the story it wants you to hear and doesn’t really give a damn about your expectations.
I can respect that, though, but I wish there was a bit more solidarity to acts one through three. For me, one man in a group of many reviewers, it simply doesn’t cut it as a great Asian film. I want it to very badly, but it never does.
Having said all this, I give Hsiao-Hsien Hou major props for creating a visually stunning film. You will find lots of lovely wide shots, plenty of gorgeous colors that represent a captivating Chinese history and good use of Chinese landscape that can’t be replicated through CGI or a studio lot. Practical locations combined with hauntingly good lighting make for a visually appealing film from beginning to end.
So, there is some balance in the overall package. Still, I wish there was more to the story that grabbed the audience, pulled them in and made them care for the characters. That would have been the perfect experience.
On the special features side, here’s what you’re getting:
– Behind the Scenes (four parts)
– Trailer
Not bad for a film like this on Blu-ray. The passion in the Behind the Scenes bonus features is very evident. You can tell there was some thought put into this production, not that the visuals don’t tip you off on that fact. Anyway, excellent stuff for The Assassin.
