Zhang Yimou's first foray into the spy genre is a blockbuster in Hollywood style, which also reminds much of the Korean “The Age of Shadows”, particularly in the way it has been set.
CMC Pictures will release “Cliff Walkers” to theaters across North America and internationally on April 30, 2021
Based on a script by Quan Yongxian, the previously known as “Impasse” film focuses on four communist party special agents, Zhang, Lan, Yu and Chiuliang, who arrive in Manchukuo in 1931, after training in Russia, in order to carry out a secret mission codenamed “Utrenya”. The operation is to take place in Harbin, where a witness to a Japanese massacre is hiding. The four of them decide to split, although Lan and her husband are rather reluctant to separate. Before they do, however, they promise each other that, whoever survives, should find their children, who have been left behind before their training begun.
As they are crossing the snowy mountains, the first duo realize that they are already double-crossed, after a rather agonizing scene on a train, (the “Age of Shadows”-elements I mentioned) with a large part of the rest of the movie focusing on their effort to warn the other two about the fact, who have continued their path to Harbin without having a clue of what is going on. As a web of treacheries, double-crossings, tortures and spy games begins to surround everyone, all lives are in jeopardy and no one knows if the ones standing beside them are friends or foes.
Zhang Yimou directs a rather labyrinthal spy thriller, which seems to incorporate almost every crowd-pleasing genre element in the book. Love, (melo) drama, comradership, double-crossings, agony, violence, shootouts, car chases, dedication to the Party and the Cause, presentation of the Japanese as monsters, are all implemented in a noir/retro package that manages to retain interest, from beginning to end.
If the narrative could be perceived as somewhat far-fetched and overcomplicated, there is no denial that in terms of production values, “Cliff Walkers” is truly masterful. Zhang highlights, once more, his ability to implement a huge budget in the best of ways, after the magnificent “Shadow”, by shooting the film on location in Harbin, where historical sets were 100% rebuilt just for the film, such as the city's central street, Asia Cinema and Martyr Hotel, which were completely recreated in 1930s style. This approach allows the movie to feel rather authentic, with the costumes, the cars and the overall presentation of the era being rather impressive. The dim lights of the streets, along with the long coats and the hats are those that give the movie its noir hypostasis, in another element that benefits the narrative significantly.
What really impresses here, however, is the way Zhang implemented the extreme drop of snow in the movie, with the weather essentially being one of the protagonists of the movie in the way it shapes the characters' actions, while creating an imposing antithesis with the darkness that engulfs most of the story. Zhao Xiaoding's cinematography finds one of its apogees here, starting with the panoramic scenes of the intro, and extending to the whole movie, with the way he has managed to capture all the aforementioned elements inside the thick snow being truly marvelous. The artistry, however, does not only apply only to the action scenes, since the two sequences that involve the protagonists eating are also greatly presented, with Zhang making the most of them in narrative terms, presenting sides of the characters that could only be revealed in calmness. These scenes also offer a welcome release from all the action and the tension, and also some much welcomed moments of humor.
“Cliff Walkers” is an impressive movie, one of those that should be watched in a theater in order to be fully appreciated and a true eye-candy that will satisfy all fans of Hollywood style, action thrillers.
