South China Morning Post Review: The Taking of Tiger Mountain – director goes too far1 min read

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Veteran director Tsui Hark has always been one for the visuals, and this reworking of Qu Bo’s novel Tracks in the Snowy Forest is spectacular from its outset – in 3D or not – as his cameras shoot in and out of the action, set in the highlands of northeast China.

At its core, this is a rollicking adventure, set just after the end of the second world war while civil war was rearing its head across the land. We follow the exploits of a group of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers as they are drawn into battle with the rabble led by the warlord Hawk (Tony Leung). He’s up there on that mountain with a stash of guns and ammunition the Japanese have left behind, and is choosing which side to go with as the civil war plays out.

As has been the case throughout his career, Tsui is at his best with the lavish set pieces, the ferocious battles where his cameras dive in and out of the action like the bullets they sometimes trace. There’s an old school feeling here – despite the often impressive use of computer-generated imagery – because of the famous opera that Tracks in the Snowy Forest obviously inspired. So there are plenty of overwrought expressions and high drama as people face their individual fates.

Read the full article here >> Via South China Morning Post

Image Credit CineVue