robin_d_laws wrote about Red Cliff earlier this year - most notably, that the Hong Kong release was in two parts, and they would be "smushed together" for other regions. I'm guessing that was the version you saw - and that would explain why it felt long, it's actually two movies rolled into one.

(Reply) (Thread)

Very interesting - I think it would have worked much better as two films. Presumably they had to cut a lot to make it a single over-long film.

Incidentally, as I went in the usher stopped me - the first time this has ever happened - and said with a worried expression 'You do realise it's in Chinese?' I said 'I think I'll cope' with a smile.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Where did you see Red Cliff? We've been really wanting to catch it, but haven't managed to find it in any cinemas in Cov (although we have been away recently)

(Reply) (Thread)

I saw it last night at the Showcase - very small audience though, so it may not last

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Damn! Our usual source of film listings has let us down - it isn't listed on cinemas-online. Thanks for letting us know.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Showcase online says:

Red Cliff (Chi Bi)
(2:11 mins)
1:05pm, 4:20pm, 8:10pm

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

That confirms my decision not to go see it. I had to fast-forward through the last 30 mins of House of Flying Daggers, so I suspect boredom would set in with this one, too.

(Reply) (Thread)

It's more like Hero than house of flying daggers, but it is more mainstream than either of those and more military I think

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Huh, coincidence. I just finished watching it last night.

It's not the best movie ever made, but I found it interesting how well it pushed certain cultural buttons. Having grown up with these stories from the Romance of Three Kingdoms, it's a part of my heritage? Subconsious? that I don't get to explore very often and it was an incredible thrill to see the personalities and certain stories in my childhood stories brought to life. The battle of Red Cliff is a huge deal in the Chinese consciousness, as are the characters of Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu and all the rest, and I thought the film tapped into that very well.

(Reply) (Thread)

Right, I see. Obviously, I don't know the cultural background at all. In that case I can see why it was told so straight-up. The audience have a context within which the story has resonance, which I am lacking altogether - like a Robin Hood or King Arthur story.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Exactly. :) It differs from the likes of Hero or Flying Daggers in that it's mainly a historical story rather than pure fiction, though obviously with certain embellishments as it was told through history (and unfortunately some further embellishments that the film added itself), but it's something that anyone who grew up in a Chinese culture would be very familiar with. I was trying to think of an apt example in western culture and agree that King Arthur or Robin Hood is probably the closest that you'd get.

Interesting side note - my Merlin vid, Red, got quite a big reception (by my standards, anyway) around fandom on LJ and thereabouts. And yet when I posted it to a Chinese-based Merlin comm, it basically sank without a trace. The reasons for that can be many, but I think one key reason was because the vid played to the larger context of the Arthurian legend, which resonated emotionally with the western audience but pretty much completely missed its mark with the Chinese audience, who simply didn't have that kind of cultural context. I guess the same can be said in reverse here.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)