Life and intrigue in an ancient Chinese court.
“Shadow” marks director Zhang Yimou’s return to form after the disaster that was “The Great Wall,” wherein the auteur’s trademark lyricism and subtlety – particularly evident in the award magnet “The House of Flying Daggers” – got lost in all the bombast, nonsensicality, and Matt Damon. Possessing a mythical quality that casts a lingering spell, “Shadow” recalls the likes of Akira Kurosawa with its epic scope, grand themes, extravagant set-pieces, ballet-like battles, and visual/aural poetry. The somewhat-convoluted plot steadily descends into madness – yet, akin to the sight of crimson blood splatter across a translucent curtain, you can’t take your eyes away.
After a long and grueling imprisonment, legendary Commander Yu (Deng Chao) challenges tyrant Yang (Hu Jun) for control of the city, defying his cowardly King’s (Ryan Zheng) orders. Yu is hence (literally) stripped off his Commander title and becomes a commoner, on a mission to defeat Yang… Only there’s a twist. The REAL Commander Yu has long since become a shadow of himself, half-broken and raspy, living in a gargantuan, dank underground cave with his wife, Madam (Sun Li). He’s trained his look-alike protégé, whose actual name is Jing, for decades, sculpting him into a shadow of a shadow, in hopes that he could beat the unbeatable Yang.
Once the narrative sets into its groove, with its complex and seemingly disparate threads unraveling, the deeply philosophical “Shadow” casts a hypnotic spell. It moves at a purposefully deliberate pace and has a theatrical feel that allows you to delve deep into the characters’ Shakespearean intrigue. One gruesome scene involves the slicing of a deep wound with a saber, then “sterilizing” it with herbs that make it rot (“…to remember the shame of defeat”); the burden/significance of the wounds we carry, both physical and emotional, is just one of the many concepts Yimou touches upon. He studies what it means to be someone’s “shadow” (“Without the real, there can be no shadow”); explores the notion of “loyalty” – to your home, your mother, your master; and scrutinizes our perception of heroism and masculinity.
The crisp, not-quite-monochrome cinematography is simply stunning, each image resembling a classical Chinese painting, from the misty mountainous landscapes and bamboo forests to the crisp interior shots, as delicate as the prevalent ink brushings. That delicacy is powerfully counterbalanced by outbursts of cunningly-employed violence, jarring but equally breathtaking. One particularly memorable sequence, involving umbrellas as weapons, takes place in a beguiling yin/yang location – the notion of dualism another resurfacing theme (“If our minds will meld as one, we will grasp the technique”).
Some expository dialogue and abrupt narrative leaps don’t detract from the overall effect of this spellbinding feature. From its calligraphy to the ethereal Guzheng sounds, “Shadow” entrances with the subtlest of moments, by turns brutal and beautiful, surreal, timeless and mesmerizing. Don’t hesitate to skip “Endgame” and get swept away by “Shadow.”
Available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital August 13th
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