The Banquet is the latest big budget, period-piece film from China, providing yet another series of flawless, frequently impossible executions in the martial arts, along with a plot that includes palace intrigues, treachery and murder. Set in China's Dynastic era of some 1,000 years ago, this film offers intriguing eye-candy in its opulent sets, colorful designs and some unusual costumes. Following other well-known and much admired filmsCrouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger, Hero, House of Flying Daggersone more good film of this ilk is certainly palatable, the viewer might believe. But The Banquet seems so full of its own sense of profundity that what drama there is in the movie is lost in the film's slow and labored pacing. The opening sequence alone takes nearly ten minutes for a lone individual to enter the palace and exchange just a few words with a second character. At two hours plus the film is far too long, as there is far too little in the way of a good story, or good character study, to fill this much time. What the viewer gets is many slow-motion shots and long stares, each seeming to take longer with each passing scene. Since we've already had much of this sort of thing in the aforementioned films, these shots begin to lose their appeal and luster, especially after several repetitions. While the film might be viewed as a form of Chinese Nuoa Tang Dynasty art form said to have influenced the Japanese Noh styleone wonders if two hours plus of this sort of thing is typical. Perhaps yours truly simply lacked an appreciation for this highly stylized dramatic form, but then again, it's only a movie.
