The Abandoned The Abandoned
Jul
12
2007

Fantasia Report: The Banquet Review

Posted by Todd Brown at 7:00am.

Posted in Film & DVD Reviews , Martial Arts, Drama, Asia, Fantasia Festival 2007, Toronto Film Festival 2006.

banquet still.jpg

[Fantasia info page here.]

Forget everything you know about Feng Xiaogang. While Zhang Yimou, one of China’s most revered arthouse directors, used the wuxia epic to make a move towards mainstream success director Feng, one of China’s most successful commercial directors, is here using the wuxia to make exactly the opposite move. Feng’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Banquet—available on DVD here—is every inch an epic scaled art film—deeply theatrical, stunningly beautiful, filled with intriguing contradictions, and a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the source material.

Set in tenth century China when the vast land was a political shambles, the dominant empire crumbling with rebellious regions splintering off into rival kingdoms, The Banquet stars Daniel Wu—a major star who has long since outgrown the teen idol roles that inexplicably remain his staple—as Wu Luan, the reluctant crown prince of the empire who withdrew to the country and joined an acting troupe three years previous when his father married Wan (Zhang Ziyi), his childhood friend and would-be lover. Wu Luan’s quiet life as an artist is shattered when his ambitious uncle kills the Emperor, assumes the throne and sends a band of assassins to kill the rightful heir. Wan, for her part, recognizes that the self appointed Emperor is a threat both to herself and to her true love, Wu Luan, and in a bid to protect him agrees to marry the new Emperor. With this slight modification to the character of the queen, who is now step-mother and lover, the film now moves ahead mirroring Hamlet quite closely throughout.

The Banquet is a curious blend of competing and seemingly self-contradictory elements—at once larger than life yet tightly restrained, both shockingly beautiful and shockingly brutal—and that Feng is able to pull it off is a testament to his very talented cast, his range of gifted collaborators, and his own skills as a director. Reportedly frustrated with his reputation as a purveyor of fluff Feng has intended The Banquet as proof that he is capable of more and prove his point he has.

What immediately strikes you with The Banquet is the sheer scale of the film. Feng has a gifted and experienced design crew—many of whom won Oscars for their work on Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon—and he has clearly also been granted a budget to let them indulge themselves fully. The sets, the armour, the costuming, it is all intricately detailed and truly epic. The opening theater set is simply gorgeous while the Imperial Castle truly deserves the ‘epic’ tag and must surely be one of the largest standing sets ever constructed. But what sets Feng’s environments apart from most is that while creating things on a truly massive scale he also shows a dedication to realism, stone walls weathered and undressed, floors largely made of polished wood, everything obviously well used. While Zhang has filled his wuxia epics with environments that dazzle with the heightened use of color Feng has opted to create something that is simultaneously epic and yet entirely plausible.

Given the structure of the film it also will not take long to be greatly impressed by the martial arts choreography. Though the film is actually significantly more focused on drama and palace intrigue than it is with hand to hand combat it opens with a simply stunning sequence and all subsequent sequences show every bit as much verve. Just when you though you had seen everything that veteran choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping had to offer on the fight along comes something like this film, in which Yuen shows us something entirely new. His fusion of grace and brutality suggests that Yuen may have spent some time with The Duelist recently but he has taken those influences and made them into something else entirely, crafting martial arts sequences that are graceful and flowing while also acknowledging the raw brutality of hand to hand combat. It is also quite refreshing to see Wu, a legitimate martial artist, given a rare chance to show his physical skills on screen.

Dazzling production values aside, The Banquet would come to naught if not paired with a cast capable of filling those environments, and Feng’s cast does exactly that. Zhang Ziyi turns in another in her line of strong performances, Wu shows more than he has been given opportunity to since One Night In Mongkok and the rest of the cast is similarly experienced and talented. The script is remarkably sparse and restrained, rarely wasting words and trusting the actors to carry the emotion of the piece through actions rather than dialogue. They do exactly that.

Ironically it is the strengths of The Banquet that will likely also limit its success. People go to a film made at this scale expecting a similarly flashy story line, equivalent bursts of action and sheer entertainment, but at its heart The Banquet is essentially a chamber drama, a film purely and totally concerned with the consequences of unbridled desire. Feng’s success in showing himself capable of ‘serious’ film, captured as it is in the trappings of epic entertainment, will itself make it difficult for the film to find a widespread audience.

One surprising—and major—oversight aside the new Hong Kong DVD release is simply stellar. The film is presented in its proper 2.35:1 screen ratio with an anamorphic transfer optimized for 16x9 screens. The transfer is crystal clear with deep, rich colors and excellent contrasts, see the screen captures below for examples. Sound comes in 5.1 and DTS options and the optional English subtitles are clearly translated and easy to read. The bonus disc is loaded to the gills as well, featuring a fifteen minute making of, interviews with cast and crew—Zhang Ziyi, Daniel Wu, Zhou Xun, Ge You, Yuen Wo-Ping and Feng Xiaogang—a pair of behind the scenes features—one clocking in at 16 minutes, the other at 40—and a complete range of promotional materials. Alas, this is the disc where the shocking omission occurs. How is it that a release as clearly targetted at the export market as this one is—hence the release being coded region free—could omit English subtitles on the special features? Quite surprising considering both the international recognition the film has received and the current state of Hong Kong DVD releases, in which subtitled feature sets are rapidly becoming the norm. This edition also comes with a beautiful photo book, the first half of which doubles as a calendar.

Screen Capture One
Screen Capture Two
Screen Capture Three
Screen Capture Four
Screen Capture Five

  • Digg This
  • Stumble It!
  • Reddit
 

Reader Comments

  1. Eight Rooks 09/07/2006 @ 7:00pm

    Can’t wait, pure and simple. Though I’ll have to.

    Though… Xiaogang has a reputation as a director of fluff? I was unaware of this—Big Shot’s Funeral is a satire on rampant commercialism IIRC and from what I’ve heard of his mainland productions before that apart from his first they’re not without meaning and subtext. Even Cellphone’s got some level of social commentary, hasn’t it? Still, the only one I’ve actually seen is still A World Without Thieves, which admittedly is slick but empty stuff. Anyway, I knew he was thought of as mainstream, just not as vacant. Oh well. Here’s hoping I share your enthusiasm, Todd. :D

  2. quadshock 09/07/2006 @ 7:47pm

    Nite.. one Nite in mongkok, if I remember correctly.

    Funny though, this is the first positive review of the movie that I have heard of. News has been that it is laughable, but it may be exactly what you said: the audience didn’t know what to expect

  3. Todd 09/07/2006 @ 10:33pm

    I don’t particularly consider Feng to be fluff, but he’s certainly been mainstream and I was talking to someone from the Chinese press today who told me that story about how he made this as a reaction against the idea that he was only capable of lightweight stuff.

    And, yeah, I’ve seen the negative press too, and I talked to some people afterwards who felt that way. But I really liked it during the screening and liked it more the more I thought about it. It’s very theatrical, which means it has a very deliberate and unreal style of dialogue but I thought Feng used that style well and integrated it tightly throughout the film. There this tension between high style and naturalism through the whole piece that I think he balances really well and that I just really, really liked ...

  4. ardvark 09/08/2006 @ 2:55am

    Can I compare this with, say, the Lord of the Rings movies, in which a large group of incredibly talented people manage to create a stunning and realistic (well, looking at least) environment?

    After which all sense of realism is destroyed by theatrical acting and unrealistic action?

    I like the LotR movies for the eye-candy and applaud Peter Jackson for his achievements with these movies, but I just stated the reason why I can’t love them.

    Based on your review I’m really looking forward to this movie (and hope it will play at the Rotterdam Film Festival, as I’m dutch), but I’m dreading it at the same time.

    Although I absolutely love The Duelist, so realism isn’t always a hang-up for me…

  5. Todd 09/08/2006 @ 5:20am

    You could say that, yes, Aardvark, though I wouldn’t myself. It’s not really aiming for realism, though, no more than Shakespeare (and Deadwood!)was by writing in iambic pentameter.

  6. ardvark 09/08/2006 @ 9:40am

    “Deadwood” was in iambic pentameter?

    (Sorry, couldn’t resist)

    But thanks for clearing up this point. I’ll just have to wait and see. It certainly can’t be more theatrical than the last Zhang Ziyi movie I saw at the Rotterdam Festival, which was “Princess Raccoon”. Talk about weiiiird. If I hadn’t seen “Pom Poko” first I wouldn’t have been able to make heads or tails of it.

    I get the impression you thought the acting style was fitting for this movie, so in that case there is a good change that I’ll like it. Oh, another question: was the soundtrack memorable?

  7. Todd 09/08/2006 @ 2:53pm

    Not all of Dedadwood is in iambic, but a surprising amount of it is, yeah, and it’s increasing season by season. It’s amazing how natural they make it sound ...

    And yeah, soundtrack’s great. Tan Dun’s always good ...

  8. Chris 09/09/2006 @ 10:03am

    Thanks for the review Todd!

  9. Kitkat 09/10/2006 @ 11:04am

    Nice review. Zhang Ziyi looks hot in the trailer!

  10. Hin Jang 09/15/2006 @ 11:52pm

    i attended the Gala Presentation of The Banquet at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival. although i was unable to welcome Ziyi along the red carpet i was seated in the second row, main floor of Roy Thomson Hall. from there, i was able snap two photos and shoot video footage of Ms. Zhang’s greeting to the audience. here’s a photo i took a brief moment after Zhang and Feng walked on stage: http://www.hinjang.com/media/2006_09150009-Zhang_Ziyi-and-Feng_Xiaogang.jpg i reduced the quality of the photo to 1200 x 900 at 28.346 pixels / centimetre. i can personally attest that past reviews of The Banquet—the good and not-so good—are accurate.

  11. Jeff 09/18/2006 @ 8:07am

    Spoiler warning:

    Who killed Queen Wan??? The Emperor?

  12. bah 09/18/2006 @ 5:25pm

    Jeff you tosser, at least leave a screens length spoiler before writing the spoiler, tool!

  13. Maximillian 11/12/2006 @ 12:19am

    Wow, after actually seeing the film some weeks ago, I can honestly say that I don’t agree with your review at all. This film is nothing more than Feng Xiaogang’s own attempt at worldwide fame packaged as a fake wuxia pian, and a poor attempt at that. Zhang Ziyi suffers through yet another role using her patented constipation-inspired glare. Her inability to create a unified character, act as anything other than a spoiled, immature girl, and convince the audience of real chemistry between her and her costars pretty much destroys the film. Whatever is left is destroyed by Xiaogang’s heavyhanded direction. With his ultra high speed photography and ridiculously lavish set design, he’s practically screaming, “GIVE ME AWARDS!!” Enough with these wannabe wuxia pian farces. Ignore crap like this and watch real Chinese films.

  14. Mishima 11/12/2006 @ 9:15am

    What’s a real Chinese film then, Maximillian?

  15. Maximillian 11/12/2006 @ 1:42pm

    Ever seen Ning Hao’s comedy Crazy Stone? Using language-based humor involving Chongqing dialect, standard Chinese, and Hong Kong dialect, cultural issues such as the real disparity between the rich and the poor, and well-drawn characters that exhibit human emotions, Ning Hao made a film that is neither propagandistic (i.e., pandering to Chinese censors) nor an Academy Award-whore (i.e., pandering to the West—like The Banquet). Given its place in contemporary China’s cultural climate and given Ning Hao’s ability to use international filmmaking styles to create a Chinese language film about Chinese issues, I’d say it’s a real Chinese film. The Banquet was made so Feng Xiaogang could show the world he’s capable of making a martial arts epic too. In that sense, it’s almost a joke of a film.

  16. Mishima 11/16/2006 @ 10:24am

    Those things sure makes Crazy Stone a real Chinese film, but they don’t necessarily make it less crappy than The Banquet, right?

  17. Maximillian 11/17/2006 @ 10:08am

    Actually, I find Crazy Stone to be a LOT less crappy than The Banquet. I would go so far as to say it’s easily the best mainland Chinese film of the year. Personally, I think The Banquet sucks on many levels because it’s not so much a film as it is a 2 hour advertisement for Feng Xiaogang. I watched Crazy Stone with a good friend from Chongqing (the city where it takes place) and she explained to me all the cultural jokes and language jokes (because I only understand standard Chinese, not the Chongqing dialect) and gave me lots of information about the city itself and how it fits into the film. It’s really an amazingly clever film that does so much more than The Banquet could ever dream, all without huge and expensive sets, lazy wire work, or big name stars who spend most of the film half-naked. The performances in Crazy Stone are totally effective because they appear much more natural and the characters themselves are extremely well-developed. So to answer your question, those things I mentioned absolutely make Crazy Stone a monumentally less crappy film than The Banquet. Maybe you should see it.

  18. Mishima 11/18/2006 @ 8:51am

    Oh, I’ve seen it. But, as you yourself points out, the dialect and other cultural references makes it a rather difficult film to grasp for nonchinese people. I sure get the wacky bits, but that doesn’t really make it into movie of the year for me. I would say Jia Zhangke or Lou Ye has much more to offer in terms of real Chinese issues, don’t you think? And you don’t need friends from Chongqing to fully appreciate their movies either, the message translates OK in spite of the spoken language. Even so, I’m not the one to judge if these films should be concidered more “real” than The Banquet. In fact, most of my Chinese friends in Beijing loved the Banquet, probably because they actually enjoyed the huge expensive sets and watching Zhang Ziyi half-naked.

  19. Maximillian 11/19/2006 @ 11:11pm

    It’s not the wacky bits that make it my favorite Chinese film of the year, it’s the total package. Yes, Jia Zhangke offers a lot in terms of Chinese issues, but I personally find his films less accessible than strong comedies like Crazy Stone. Still, he’s a much more talented director than Lou Ye. Suzhou River was good and expanded on the Vertigo-esque foundation, but Purple Butterfly was a disastrous mess. The message in Crazy Stone may translate “OK” in spite of the spoken language, but I felt I could fully appreciate it once I learned more about Chongqing and the dialect. I’m not one to judge if it’s factually more of a “real” film either, but I strongly believe it better represents China and Chinese culture than The Banquet ever could. Pure and simple, The Banquet was made for Western consumption. All of my Chinese friends, from Beijing, to South China, to Hong Kong, to Canada hated The Banquet, partly because of the huge/expensive sets and seeing Zhang Ziyi half-naked. Go figure http://twitchfilm.net/site/images/smileys/rasberry.gif

  20. Mishima 11/21/2006 @ 7:37am

    Well, there you go then, the opinions differ about The Banquet, as they indeed should. My point, though, is that it is quite useless and possibly rather insulting to a lot of people to make statements about “real” Chinese films, because there aren’t any. The Banquet and Crazy Stone might not have much in common, but they are both definitely Chinese films. Whether they are any good or not is another question entirely.

  21. Maximillian 11/22/2006 @ 9:22am

    No, I have to disagree. First off, it’s not insulting at all. Second, you don’t speak for a lot of people. You speak for yourself. Finally, one can easily argue that a specific film or group of films better represent a particular culture. It’s called a national cinema approach and is related to cultural studies. The idea is that to fully understand a film, you must place it in the political and aesthetic climate that produced it. To quote Timothy Corrigan from A Short Guide to Writing About Film, “An Ameican spectator might have little trouble comprehending a Kurosawa film, but without guidance and some cultural background on Japanese society, the films of Kenji Mizoguchi or Mikio Naruse might seem too foreign and confusing for the average American student.” As you yourself have alluded too, Crazy Stone would most likely be difficult for many non-Chinese to understand because of its cultural aspects such as language and dialect. I argue that there is little cultural depth to be found in The Banquet beyond what you physicall see/hear on the screen. In other words, aside from the actors, costumes, sets, language, etc, there are very few ties to Chinese culture. On the other hand, I could easily make a case for Crazy Stone as a representative Chinese text because of its cultural depth.

    Well, there you go then, opinions differ about The Banquet, as they indeed should. That’s not in dispute. My point, though, is that it is quite useful and never insulting to anyone to argue for such things as culturally representative films, because there are many. The Banquet and Crazy Stone might not have much in common, and they are both definitely Chinese films, but one could argue that one film is more “Chinese” and culturally significant than the other using certain approaches. Take films from the Hong Kong New Wave in the 1980s and early 1990s for example. At a time when Hong Kong was trying coming to terms with its multiculturalism and sense of identity, many filmmakers such as Tsui Hark and Ann Hui started making films using local dialects and focusing on local issues. Film is very subjective, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a case for our opinions based on cultural research. Stop being so close-minded.

  22. dkjf 01/22/2007 @ 12:02am

    I’m Chinese and I enjoy and welcome good films with ancient China as a background. Shaw Brothers produced a number of historical epics (Empress Wu, Yang Guifei,Diao Chan, Beyond the Great Wall, Kingdom and the Beauty) during the 60’s and I hope to see a continuation of this genre from China.

  23. The Visitor 07/12/2007 @ 9:22am

    Crazy Stone bored me to death. in comparison with The Banquet, Feng Xiaogang is less showy than Ning Hao. sorry, but i think Crazy Stone is an advertisement for Ning Hao. i really cannot understand how you can claim that it was the other way around.

    i loved The Banquet, but unfortunately i had to endure two girls next to me who were giggling throughout the movie.

    the final shot is oh-so-gorgeous!

  24. ardvark 07/12/2007 @ 10:44am

    This movie has crazy-beautiful set design, costumes and cinematography. Shame I didn’t care for half of the leads, while the other half are very good.

  25. conbarba 07/12/2007 @ 4:53pm

    Once again, i was happy to sleep through most of it. I doubt Zhang Ziyi is really the actress that appears naked swimming and all.

    -----

Post Your Comments

You must be a registered member to post comments.

If you have a Twitch account, click here to sign in.

If you don't have a Twitch account, click here to register. Don't worry, it's free!

Launch The Twitch Video Player

Stuff We Like

Shop at our affiliated sites and support Twitch while feeding your pop-culture addiction.

Our Latest Film & DVD Reviews

More Film & DVD Reviews...

Our Latest Interviews

More Interviews...

Recent Contests & Featured Content

Recent Comments