Red Cliff (FILM)
I don’t often regret not living in China. But had I lived in China when seeing ‘Red Cliff’ I would have seen the four hour version and not the 2.5 hour version edited down for Western audiences. Dammit!
In a nutshell…
The evil Prime Minister Cao Cao intimidates the Emperor Han into decreeing war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. These three rival warlords are left with no choice but to band together against Cau Cao’s million soldiers.
The mood of the film…
Epic, grand, larger than life, dramatic, courageous, valiant and with some romance thrown in for good measure. Thank goodness the colour coded schmaltz of a film like ‘Heroes’ seems to be something of the past.
Best one liner…
It’s not a one liner as such, but it is powerful enough to mention. While Zhou Yu practices his sword skills his wife Xiao Qiao recites the Art of War whilst watching him.
Best scene…
It is a tossup between the tortoise formation and the stealing of the arrows. The tortoise formation is impossible to explain and the stealing of the arrows is such a cool trick, I don’t want to give it away.
What makes the film relevant today?
If we stand together we can perhaps achieve more? We can even be heroic?
FYI
The Chinese Army lent the film 100 000 soldiers as extras.
Rotten Tomatoes score
88%
My score
90%