The Assassin (D+) Movie Review
In Hou Hsiao-Hsien's The Assassin, Qi Shu assumes the role of an assassin named Yinniang, sent to kill her cousin/ex-lover in eight-century China.
Ah, if only I had seen The Assassin before I published my list of most underrated and overrated films of 2015. Premiering at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, The Assassin opened to (mostly) rave reviews. This is baffling to me.
With the exception of a few stylish action sequences, a remarkable performance by Qi Shu, and some absolutely brilliant camerawork, there is nothing of substance to The Assassin. I felt that any emotion that could've been translated through this cold and repressed film spouted from Qi Shu. Through her subtle but commanding performance, we get the feeling that Yinniang is a conflicted warrior; a woman who may not even want to be a warrior. She struggles with who she is and who she was, what her duty is and what she feels is right. It's a quiet performance, almost entirely performed through body and facial expression. Still, it's powerful.
It's true that The Assassin is also one of the most visually astounding films of, probably, of all time. Seriously. Every single frame of this film is perfectly structured, breathtakingly beautiful, and transporting. The attention to detail, not only in the cinematography but in the production design, costume design, and overall detailing of this long lost world is incredibly realized. It's crazy to me that places can be photographed this beautifully, let alone that there are places in the world this beautiful.
Unfortunately, that's about as fair as my praises go. The pace alone is enough to alienate the majority of audience members. This is about thirty minutes of story packed into an hour and forty five minutes of film. But even viewers that can appreciate a slow burning film might not find any reason to stick around. And what thirty minutes there is of story is painfully convoluted. The plot sounds simple enough. An assassin is sent to kill her cousin/ex-lover after she fails to complete a task in which she showed human compassion. This is a basic plotline. But even in some places, The Assassin veers into unexplained, confusing plotlines that go nowhere meaningful. At least you get some cool fight scenes out of it. I'm not even someone who needs explosive action sequences to get involved in a story; my favorite film of 2015 so far is Carol! But a few more here wouldn't have hurt.
The Assassin is a frustrating experience. Very little of anything on screen will get you emotionally invested. It feels like a plodding sequence of events that just... happens. Nothing means anything because these characters' relations feel so cold and unrealized. It's a dull script that offers very little in the way of strong characters (with the exception of Yinniang), exciting plot events, or underlying, important thematic material. This film could take the award for being one of the most overrated movie experiences of 2015.
FINAL GRADE: D+
MPAA RATING: NONE
Ah, if only I had seen The Assassin before I published my list of most underrated and overrated films of 2015. Premiering at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, The Assassin opened to (mostly) rave reviews. This is baffling to me.
With the exception of a few stylish action sequences, a remarkable performance by Qi Shu, and some absolutely brilliant camerawork, there is nothing of substance to The Assassin. I felt that any emotion that could've been translated through this cold and repressed film spouted from Qi Shu. Through her subtle but commanding performance, we get the feeling that Yinniang is a conflicted warrior; a woman who may not even want to be a warrior. She struggles with who she is and who she was, what her duty is and what she feels is right. It's a quiet performance, almost entirely performed through body and facial expression. Still, it's powerful.
It's true that The Assassin is also one of the most visually astounding films of, probably, of all time. Seriously. Every single frame of this film is perfectly structured, breathtakingly beautiful, and transporting. The attention to detail, not only in the cinematography but in the production design, costume design, and overall detailing of this long lost world is incredibly realized. It's crazy to me that places can be photographed this beautifully, let alone that there are places in the world this beautiful.
Unfortunately, that's about as fair as my praises go. The pace alone is enough to alienate the majority of audience members. This is about thirty minutes of story packed into an hour and forty five minutes of film. But even viewers that can appreciate a slow burning film might not find any reason to stick around. And what thirty minutes there is of story is painfully convoluted. The plot sounds simple enough. An assassin is sent to kill her cousin/ex-lover after she fails to complete a task in which she showed human compassion. This is a basic plotline. But even in some places, The Assassin veers into unexplained, confusing plotlines that go nowhere meaningful. At least you get some cool fight scenes out of it. I'm not even someone who needs explosive action sequences to get involved in a story; my favorite film of 2015 so far is Carol! But a few more here wouldn't have hurt.
The Assassin is a frustrating experience. Very little of anything on screen will get you emotionally invested. It feels like a plodding sequence of events that just... happens. Nothing means anything because these characters' relations feel so cold and unrealized. It's a dull script that offers very little in the way of strong characters (with the exception of Yinniang), exciting plot events, or underlying, important thematic material. This film could take the award for being one of the most overrated movie experiences of 2015.
FINAL GRADE: D+
MPAA RATING: NONE