The Taking of Tiger Mountain
Description
Tsui Hark is a dazzling cinema stylist, an irreverent re-inventor of traditional genres. In The Taking of Tiger Mountain, he reworks the war film, portraying the complex standoff, then battle, between a Communist cadre and warlords propped up by Nationalist forces towards the end of World War II. Inspired by a Mao-era “model opera” to Communist ingenuity and bravery, Tsui deploys eye-popping 3-D effects and ingenious CGI to retell this story as sly political thriller and contemporary action extravaganza. The mission set before People’s Liberation Army Captain Shao Jianbo (Lin Gengxin) is to take Tiger Mountain, a one-time Japanese stronghold, now the domain of bandit king Hawk (Tony Leung Ka-fai, unrecognizable beneath bald cap and prosthetics) and his men. The tale grows intricate as Det. Agent Yang Zirong (Zhang Hanyu) infiltrates Hawk’s lair, upping the suspense quotient, but the film’s real strength is its dynamic action and its quicksilver pace. A gripping World War II battle scene only minutes into the film is only the beginning for this gorgeously rendered epic that is truly operatic in scale and stuffed with conflict, pyrotechnics and all manner of derring-do. —Noah Cowan
One of Hong Kong’s most influential auteurs, Tsui Hark made his directing debut with The Butterfly Murders in 1979 and has gone on to helm nearly 50 features, including Peking Opera Blues (1986), The Swordsman (1990), Once Upon a Time in China (1991), The Lovers (1994), Seven Swords (2005) and Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011).
Trailer
//player.vimeo.com/video/122138269?autoplay=1Film Details
LanguageMandarin
Original Language TitleZhì qu weihu shan
Year2014
Runtime143
CountryChina
DirectorTsui Hark
ProducerHuang Jianxin, Nansun Shi
WriterHuang Xin, Li Yang, Tsui Hark, Wu Bing, Dong Zhe, Lin Qian
EditorYu Boyang
CinematographerChoi Sung-fai
MusicWilliam Hu
CastZhang Hanyu, Lin Gengxin, Tony Leung Ka Fai