All good filmmakers have some poetry in their souls no matter what genre they express themselves in. In the case of filmmaker John Woo, he finds the ballet of violence and force against force to be his haiku (yes, I know haiku is Japanese and Woo is Chinese but just go with it.)
In his soon-to-be-released "Red Cliff" Woo once again shows why he is a director who must express our humanity with blood and battle. But "Red Cliff" is so much more than a foxtrot of fists or a sonnet of swords. It's an all out, balls first, epic - with a heart. It's about big moments, small moments - the huge tapestry of life, and life on the edges of despair and death.
The Event:
This was the West Coast premiere of the film. The red carpet was out at the Regency South Coast Village Theater for Woo and the Newport Beach Film Festival's movie club with theater host (and OC Screenwriter's Board member) Larry Porricelli doing his best
harried Master of Ceremony shtick keeping people of all social bents moving and flowing to the event. General seating was available and over 500 people came to see the movie and listen to Woo talk about filmmaking. The Q&A with Director Woo was serviceable if uninspired. Here's a living legend who still burns with the same passion he had decades ago when he introduced superstar Chow Yun Fat and astounded us with bloodbaths that seemed like they were coreographed by angry dance companies and I felt like the questions were too matter-of-fact for this legendary director who redefined what violence could look like on film.
The Q&A was oddly before the film which might have contributed to it being somewhat muted - I can't imagine why anyone would schedule like that so it must have been Mr. Woo's choice. He appeared not to have stuck around for the screening, perhaps having another commitment. At any rate, he was funny and personable even if the questions weren't.
The Movie:
"Red Cliff" is an epic without peer. It has huge, amazingly big, battle scenes that take your breath away. Woo said it took six months to train the horses and horsemen - easy to believe when you see the scope of those scenes. The period is the end of the Han Dynasty in China and a civil war is about to break out. This is the Battle of Red Cliff 
where an undersized and technically over-matched group of warriors defeated the Imperial Army. Several unconquered clans ally in order to beat back the inevitable subjugation from Prime Minister Cao Cao who has browbeaten the Emperor into bringing the "Southland" under the Chancellor's nakedly ambitious banner. The source material is from "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms" a historically accurate book source. It is is a story well-known to millions of Chinese people so bringing it to American audiences could have proven difficult. But war is war, death is death and ambition is known to all cultures so I don't think anyone was confused by the storyline or unengaged by the story and its many threads. A four hour plus version was released in Asia in two separate movies. Having seen the trimmed down American version, I'd be very interested in seeing the full epic.
The sheer scope of this picture makes you wide-eyed with wonder at how Woo did it. The battle scenes are second to none with large and small battlefield focuses. Woo pulls back to show you tens of thousands of warriors massing for battle, then comes closer as a battalion executes a perfect calvary maneuver, then finally dives blood-deep into the battlefield where men die in horrifying spurts of red. Forgive Mr. Woo for making some battlefield scenes more like an out of control superhero movie - these were legendary warriors who could take several arrows in the body and still decapitate a foe. They had to be given their due. One warrior could take on dozens of enemies and then easily knock down a horse and rider and ride that horse to safety - they were just that badass. There was even some Chinese Wushu opera thrown in when these super-warriors had to climb embankments and they scaled the dirt hills like billy goats on meth.
For all its spectacle, Woo knows that a good story follows a character line and in this he delivers. There are several major players in this, all very compelling. From the intellectual and somewhat supernatural Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) whose mission it is to unite the clans, to the strong and silent Zhou Yu (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) whose wife is luminously played by actress Chiling Lin. Their relationship forms perhaps the best of the human poetry as they unite and then have to part because of the war.
The ending battle is a blaze straight from Hades as ships and men burn in a stunning
conflagration thematically suggesting one of the final lines: "there are no winners here." Woo shows you the awesome and fearsome horror and, if there is such a thing, glory of war. No matter there were no guns then - men still managed to kill men by the thousands using arrows, catapults and brimstone (fire.) The rage in these warriors hearts matched the raging fires they used to kill each other, no quarter asked and none given.
Even without guns, the standard Woo-stuff rears its bloody and suspenseful head. A "Mexican-standoff" with swords and bows and arrows caps a long and violent ending attack sequence. So just like in all Woo films, whether it's "Hard Boiled" or "Red Cliff" the big battles rock but it's those small, one on one moments that make you clench your fists and grind your teeth. Also typical of the good Woo films, there were moments of tenderness, mysticism, humanity, lack of humanity, humor and everything in-between. In the course of telling a good story, all human experience should be showcased and it is here. My understanding is that it is even in more good display in the uncut version which I plan on seeing.
If you get a chance, see this film big - it would be a shame to see this masterpiece of filmmaking on a TV set, 1080 dpi or not. This is a true theater movie and it does not disappoint.
9/10 - incredible filmmaking.
