Shadow [Ying] **** (2018, Chao Deng, Li Sun, Ryan Zheng) – Movie Review

Co-writer/director Zhang Yimou bounces back from his 2016 The Great Wall with Shadow [Ying], a spectacular-looking period action drama set in China’s Three Kingdom’s era of AD 220-280, that starts with a lot of talk, characterisation and plotting, running like a beautifully photographed stage play, and ends up like a real movie with spectacular action – and very lusty and gory it is too. It will always be remembered for its sword-packed umbrellas, real weapons of mass destruction. Just what you need on a rainy day!

The story is of a great king, The King of Pei (Ryan Zheng), and his people, who are threatened with being expelled from their homeland by a warlike neighbouring kingdom. The king’s general (Jun Hu) seeks, with his son Ping (Lei Wu), to win a final battle but plots in secret. The women of the palace – Madam (Li Sun), the wife of Commander Yu (Chao Deng), and the king’s sister The Princess (Xiaotong Guan) – struggle in the background. The Commander has a shadow – a double, or stand-in, his twin brother called Jing (also Chao Deng) – and, in the end, as the title suggests, it is all about that.

Some of the plotting is hard to follow, but if you keep in there all becomes clear eventually, as the story gains impact and momentum. Brutal and eventually heart-pounding, it is an exciting movie in every way, mixing action thriller with art movie very effectively, and eventually emerges as one of Zhang Yimou’s best films, staying long in the memory.

Visually, it is exquisite, definitely an art work by an old master. He carries off what may seem like a gimmicky experiment brilliantly, shooting in black and white tones, apparently following the style of Chinese ink wash paintings, but with faces and bodies in skin colours. You kind of expect him to abandon this idea after a few minutes, but, no, he continues it throughout, and it makes a good movie even better. Shadow [Ying] may seem slightly slow moving in its early sections, but it all pulls together and manages an epic feel in just under two hours.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

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