Seldom, if ever, do I see three local English language entertainment magazines unanimously heap high praises on a movie from Mainland China. Still rarer is to see these normally cynical movie critics intimating to being moved by the heroism in a mainstream, commercial feature. After watching "The Message" I see how deserving it is.
This artistic achievement of this movie, while not in the art-house context, is second to none as a mainstream entertainment. It scores an "A" in every department – direction, script, cinematography, set and art direction, suspense and twist, and acting, particularly acting.
The story is simple and universal. While it in set in China in 1942, it would work perfectly with a French underground resistant group against the Nazis. The plot is simple. Five people in the counter-conspiracy office of the unpopular puppet government are "invited" to attend a meeting to discuss security and code-breaking matters in a Gothic mansion. As the scenes unfold, they are made to realize that one of them is an infiltrating undercover agent and the idea is to find out which one. At the same time, this agent has just fallen for a hoax and sent a message to the organization to initiate an assassination. Now trapped in this mansion, this agent has to find a way to send a countermanding and warning message or the entire organization is in danger of being wiped out. There are, of course, more twists and turns but all I'm going to say is that the audience will find the resolution of all the twists quite satisfactory.
Even more engaging, however, is character development. While as part of the plot, the suspects have their claws out against each other, the audience, in addition to being intrigued by the unfolding revelation, is also fascinated by how their characters evolve, shift and deepen. In order not to give anything away, I'll only mention the most prominent actors. The best scene has to be between the two women, how they play out their multi-facet and multi-level relationship. Both ZHOU Xun and LI Bingbing are nominated for Best Actress at the Taiwan's Golden Horse award. They both deserve to win. Last year's Golden Horse winner ZHANG Hanyu also has a spectacular performance, especially in his scenes with ZHOU.
I mentioned how the depiction of heroism moved the critics. This is achieved with no flag-waving rhetoric. The audience gets to gradually feel for the characters, without knowing who the real heroes are. Then the twists and turns silently attest to the lengths they would go for their course of fighting for freedom. The nobility of the self-sacrificing spirit is finally brought home by one last message that will touch even the hardened cynics.
One thing the local critics haven't talked about much is the quality of the dialogue. While not quite titillating Bernard Shaw, these dialogues are intelligent. Examples (without getting into specifics):
(1) When a friend tells a secret agent about finding out the latter's identity, the agent takes the friend aside and asks -
Agent: When did you find out?
Friend: At this very moment. I was bluffing.
(2) Interrogator trying to get prisoner to talk -
Interrogator: I can protect your family if you talk.
Prisoner: I don't think that in your position, you have enough clout to do that.
Interrogator: When I say protecting your family, what I mean is not hurting them myself (at which point a phone is passed to the prisoner with the latter's frightened mother at the other end of the line).
This artistic achievement of this movie, while not in the art-house context, is second to none as a mainstream entertainment. It scores an "A" in every department – direction, script, cinematography, set and art direction, suspense and twist, and acting, particularly acting.
The story is simple and universal. While it in set in China in 1942, it would work perfectly with a French underground resistant group against the Nazis. The plot is simple. Five people in the counter-conspiracy office of the unpopular puppet government are "invited" to attend a meeting to discuss security and code-breaking matters in a Gothic mansion. As the scenes unfold, they are made to realize that one of them is an infiltrating undercover agent and the idea is to find out which one. At the same time, this agent has just fallen for a hoax and sent a message to the organization to initiate an assassination. Now trapped in this mansion, this agent has to find a way to send a countermanding and warning message or the entire organization is in danger of being wiped out. There are, of course, more twists and turns but all I'm going to say is that the audience will find the resolution of all the twists quite satisfactory.
Even more engaging, however, is character development. While as part of the plot, the suspects have their claws out against each other, the audience, in addition to being intrigued by the unfolding revelation, is also fascinated by how their characters evolve, shift and deepen. In order not to give anything away, I'll only mention the most prominent actors. The best scene has to be between the two women, how they play out their multi-facet and multi-level relationship. Both ZHOU Xun and LI Bingbing are nominated for Best Actress at the Taiwan's Golden Horse award. They both deserve to win. Last year's Golden Horse winner ZHANG Hanyu also has a spectacular performance, especially in his scenes with ZHOU.
I mentioned how the depiction of heroism moved the critics. This is achieved with no flag-waving rhetoric. The audience gets to gradually feel for the characters, without knowing who the real heroes are. Then the twists and turns silently attest to the lengths they would go for their course of fighting for freedom. The nobility of the self-sacrificing spirit is finally brought home by one last message that will touch even the hardened cynics.
One thing the local critics haven't talked about much is the quality of the dialogue. While not quite titillating Bernard Shaw, these dialogues are intelligent. Examples (without getting into specifics):
(1) When a friend tells a secret agent about finding out the latter's identity, the agent takes the friend aside and asks -
Agent: When did you find out?
Friend: At this very moment. I was bluffing.
(2) Interrogator trying to get prisoner to talk -
Interrogator: I can protect your family if you talk.
Prisoner: I don't think that in your position, you have enough clout to do that.
Interrogator: When I say protecting your family, what I mean is not hurting them myself (at which point a phone is passed to the prisoner with the latter's frightened mother at the other end of the line).