Movie night: 'The Banquet'
Our team went out for a movie. We watched The Banquet (Ye Yan, directed by Feng Xiaogang), starring, among others Zhang Ziyi.
Synopsis: Set in ancient China, the story revolves around intrigues in the imperial court. The Emperor dies mysteriously. The Emperor's brother takes the throne and marries the Empress. His son, the Crown Prince, suspects foul play ("Tofu stinks in the Forbidden City."). He seeks revenge. He's got the hots for his stepmom. His girlfriend, the courtier, dies. His uncle, the usurper, dies. But there's a twist. :)
Sounds like, hmmm..., yep, "Hamlet". Take Mel Gibson's Hamlet, minus the insane bloodshot eyes; add true-blue (royal red?) acrobatics and kung fu chops of Jet Li's caliber, but better; add astounding landscape panoramas; and you've got Hamlet, Chinese style (or is it Little Ma-ling? ngwek. :P). Plus, this isn't about the Prince at all, but about the women. I mean, hey, with Zhang Ziyi and the Qing lady what's-her-name, who cares about the Prince?
But it was great. It was fun and refreshing watching something like this after a long day's work. (I came to the movie late, joining my teammates near the middle of the film, because I still had a remote troubleshooting conference with a Turkish customer (something about Akamai's servers not being friendly).)
Rating: four chopsticks.
Spoiler: they all die.
Synopsis: Set in ancient China, the story revolves around intrigues in the imperial court. The Emperor dies mysteriously. The Emperor's brother takes the throne and marries the Empress. His son, the Crown Prince, suspects foul play ("Tofu stinks in the Forbidden City."). He seeks revenge. He's got the hots for his stepmom. His girlfriend, the courtier, dies. His uncle, the usurper, dies. But there's a twist. :)
Sounds like, hmmm..., yep, "Hamlet". Take Mel Gibson's Hamlet, minus the insane bloodshot eyes; add true-blue (royal red?) acrobatics and kung fu chops of Jet Li's caliber, but better; add astounding landscape panoramas; and you've got Hamlet, Chinese style (or is it Little Ma-ling? ngwek. :P). Plus, this isn't about the Prince at all, but about the women. I mean, hey, with Zhang Ziyi and the Qing lady what's-her-name, who cares about the Prince?
But it was great. It was fun and refreshing watching something like this after a long day's work. (I came to the movie late, joining my teammates near the middle of the film, because I still had a remote troubleshooting conference with a Turkish customer (something about Akamai's servers not being friendly).)
Rating: four chopsticks.
Spoiler: they all die.
I thought this was the Zang Yimou film for 2006. When I learned it was something else, di nako na interest. :)
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