Third installment of of Bona's “China Victory Trilogy,” a series intended as “a gift to the Communist Party for its centenary, “Hidden Blade”, however, strays far away from the previous two installments, as it mostly follows noir, extremely stylized paths while the propaganda, although still present, is quite toned down.
Hidden Blade will screen exclusively on theaters starting February 17, courtesy of Wellgo USA
With the initial scenes taking place in the ‘present', the story then makes an intense flashback to November 1937, the day after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, moves to the intense bombings of Guangzhou that lasted for about a year, and then settles in Shanghai until August 1945. It is in the last setting the majority of the story unfolds, where we are introduced to the main characters. Mr He is the director of counter espionage for the Japanese authorities in the area, but in reality he is a double agent who is helping the Chinese Communist Party Special Branch is Shanghai, whose members are recruiting, obtaining information, killing traitors and are trying to establish a broader united front. Mr Ye is his right hand, essentially the main enforcer of the group, and a truly terrific and cold assassin, who retains, though, a strange relationship with his fiance, just as Mr He does with his wife, Ms Chen. Mr Zhang, Mr Tang, Mr Wang are also members of the same group, but a sense of mystery regarding their true goals also surrounds them. All of them however, seem to be terrified of the Japanese Officer in charge of them. As the story progresses, the web surrounding all the protagonists becomes more and more entangled, while the evident loss of Japan in the war hangs above the heads of them all.
Allow me to start with the most obvious trait of the movie. The visuals here are truly top notch, with Cheng Er implementing the evident huge budget the movie had in the best fashion, in order to present a true eye candy, with the highly stylized combination of noir aesthetics and a pretentiousness that works quite well here, being one of the best traits of the movie. The initial interrogation scenes, where the sepia colors dominate, the darker ones that take place inside cells later on, the almost monochrome depiction of the destroyed Guangzhu after the bombings, the scenes in restaurants, candy stores, even in the aftermath of the main events are all truly astonishing to watch, with the job done in cinematography, set design and SFX being one that deems “Hidden Blade” a film that is definitely worth watching on the big screen. Even more so in the action scenes, some of which are also quite stylized and implementing slow motion, and others induced with a sense of desperation that points towards the peak of HK action cinema.
Apart from visuals, though, the movie also thrives in its atmosphere, with Cheng Er creating an atmosphere of constant danger and threat, that could easily be compared with the best spy thrillers out there. The fact that all the protagonists are spies is just the beginning, as the concept of double agents adds even more to this sense along with a sense of mystery and doubt about who is loyal and who a traitor, with the excellent Hiroyuki Mori in the role of the Japanese officer being the root from which this whole sense begins. Particularly the scenes when he is asking the simplest questions to his subordinates while highlighting a rather dangerous doubt about their sincerity, is a true wonder to watch, as much as the coolness Mr He smiling replies come.
At the same time, and although Cheng does stray completely away from portraying the Chinese as victims and heroes and the Japanese as ruthless aggressors, the fact that all of his protagonists are damned from the beginning, considering the lives they live and how the war ended, brings a balance to the narrative that works quite well for the narrative, even more so when the sides picked by each one become apparent and violence inevitably ensues. These scenes, and the abundance of one-on-ones in the movie are another of its biggest traits, also due to the acting, with Wang Yibo as Mr. Ye and Tony Leung as Mr. He truly thriving during those sequences. Dong Chenpeng, Eric Wang and Lei Huang also thrive in this overall setting, in the secondary parts of the movie, while Zhou Xun and Jiang Shuying hold the main female parts, incorporating elements of both femme fatales and victims, although the truth is that the movie is almost exclusively male-oriented.
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A second fault is that the way the story unfolds can create some confusion with the back-and-forths taking place throughout, although most of them are revealed clearly as the film progresses. In the end, the editing also emerges as quite good, particularly with the way the pace picks up and slows down quite fittingly on occasion. Lastly, some overly melodramatic tones do appear towards the end of the main story, without, though, harming the overall sense the movie leaves.
Cheng Er seems to have studied Tarantino, Hong Kong and Korean cinema quite thoroughly and the result is a truly exceptional spy thriller that thrives equally on visuals, acting and overall atmosphere.
I really like Hidden Blade. At the beginning was a little slow for me. But before I knew it I was so immersed in it. Yibo fight scenes are so explosive. Yibo fits so well with Mr. Ye was their appearance as cold and detached persona. Lan Wanji had the same appearance. It was so sad to see he has to keep his real identity from his fiancée. Sacrifices the anonymous people made for the country🥺🥺. I enjoyed the flash back and forth narrative scenes. Tony Leung and Zhou Xun are superb. The way Zhou Xun was crying while she was hugging Tony L. was heart wrenching. Although I was not familiar with China History, the movie is very addicting. Yibo’s emotions at different times were shockingly real. I am going to watch again. Cheng Er and Yibo are match made in heaven. 👏👏👏 I hope and know that Yibo will win some type of award at least if not a couple of awards for his performance.