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Film: Wu ji -- The Promise (2005) [PG-13] 128 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $14.00
Where Viewed: AMC Loews Uptown, Seattle, WA
When 1st Seen: 9 May 2006
Time: 3:25 p.m.
Review Dedicated to: Zach C. of Chicago, IL
The most expensive Chinese movie ever made…one of the most beautiful movies ever filmed…a fairy tale the rest of the world has never heard…The Promise (2006) or Wu ji for those practiced in their pin yin and Mandarin Chinese. The first statement is fact, the second is addressable hyperbole from the film’s marketing dept., and the third is my own addition that could be used to describe this film—the 2005 Foreign Language Film Oscar® entry from China. At a hefty $280,087,500.00 yuan renminbi, €27,436,990.74, Canadian $38,528,355.99, or US $35,000,000, The Promise (2005) really was the most expensive movie ever made by a Chinese production company. The money shows on screen with some nearly miraculous cinematography and outstanding special effects. Even the water looks amazing. As for the beauty of the film, there is no doubt that there are some spectacular achievements when it comes to costumes and set design. Truly, the film is very beautiful. Whether it is the most beautiful film ever made, that I wouldn’t state for the record. When it comes to fairy tales, as the folks as Walt Disney® can attest—we’ve already seen just about every single fairy tale there ever was? Or have we? As a matter of fact, there are dozens and dozens of Chinese fairy tales that most westerners have never discovered. The Promise is just one. In this case, we have the tale of a young girl, Qing Cheng (maybe 7 or 8 years old) rendered family-less when her family is attacked and killed by war mongering barbarians of a rival tribe. After which, she is confronted by the goddess Manshen (Hong Chen), an ethereal spirit that floats and glides about our world without regard to the laws of physics, who suggests her fate is sealed after she makes a deal: ultra-beauty and ever-lasting life in exchange for her ability to have true and lasting love. At age 7 or 8, what does she know? The goddess insists that her fate can never be changed unless time flows backwards, snow falls in spring, and the dead come back to life. So, she makes the deal and off she goes. Next, we see Qing Cheng (Cecilia Cheung) grown up and living as a concubine of the Emperor (Chen Qian) whom she has grown to loathe for his cruelty. In the backdrop, the emperor’s General, Guang Ming (Hiroyuki Sanada) aka, Master of the Crimson Armor,
"Director Kaige Chen, has created an amazing film...not...as good as Crouching Tiger / Hidden Dragon, but ... a spectacular motion picture [nonetheless]."and the narcissistic, malevolent, Duke Wuhuan continue to battle for supremacy of the realm. Of course, the barbarians are always on the prowl. In a battle between General Guang Ming and some 20,000 barbarians, Guang Ming inherits an ultra-fast moving slave from the Land of Snow named Kunlun (Dong-Kun Jang) who then becomes his most trusty servant. Just after this victory, believe it or not, a twist of fate in the form of an attack by Duke Wuhuan, leaves Guang Ming to swap his ultra-famous armor with his servant Kunlun and instructions to rescue the Emperor from the attack by the Duke. Unfortunately, Kunlun ends up killing the emperor by mistake; and, of course, everyone thinks it is the General who is responsible for the treacherous action. A few more twists of fate later puts Qing Cheng in the hands of Duke Wuhuan, and this is where things really start to get interesting. Wuhuan, you see, has the intention of keeping Qing Cheng all to himself, and fashions a giant golden birdcage to keep her in. Others can look in and see her, but none can touch her. The rest of the film tracks the stories of Wuhuan, Kunlun, and Guangming as they battle for the love of Qing Cheng—which of course she cannot give due to her fate. Hopefully, the plot summary will help set you up and make it less necessary for you to focus on the subtitles for the first hour.
As for the film itself, Director and writer Kaige Chen, has created an amazing film. I cannot say it was as good as Crouching Tiger / Hidden Dragon, but it will be hard to equal that film in my mind and heart. The thing that separates the two films most is an ill-defined hero. In The Promise (2005) you sort of have to place your bets and hope the person you think is genuine turns out to be a real hero. Whereas, of course, in CT/HD there were several genuine heroes around which one might rally. So, the stories are very, very different. The plot for The Promise (2005), in fact, is very unusual and, therefore, unpredictable. This film is more about full-scale battles with far fewer individual battles. This one involves more magic and sorcery—which makes for some excellent special effects and fewer brilliant martial arts maneuvers. Also, I thought the music was stronger in CT/HD. Nonetheless, The Promise (2005) is a spectacular motion picture. While stating it is the most beautiful story ever made might be too much hyperbole, certainly it is one of the most colorfully enchanting. The costume designers and special effect artists did a stunning job. The actors were also very, very good. This film was, in the end, a very worthy contender for the Academy Award, unfortunately, last year’s entries were all very strong and The Promise (2005) did not make the cut to the final five. I’ve only seen 3 of the five nominees so far, and I have to say that The Promise was better than Paradise Now, about the same as Tsotsi (the eventual winner) but not quite as good as Joyeux Noël. In other words, I’d say it should have gotten a nomination. In general, I would put in a plug for seeing this film and as many of the five nominees as possible plus any other great international films you can. There is no less expensive way to really learn about a current culture on this planet.
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