Aided by CGI and a vast budget, John Woo’s first Eastern film for years will affect your eyes more than your brain, since characterisation is not its strong point and Woo does not have the depth of Zhang Yimou or Ang Lee.
But the numerous battle scenes, culminating in the famous Battle of Red Cliff, prove Woo is an action director par excellence.
The story shows prime minister Cao Cao (a bewhiskered Zhang Fengyi) attempting to rid China of its competing warlords and install himself as emperor of a unified kingdom.
He is opposed by Liu Bei (You Yong), the emperor’s uncle, his military advisor Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and the viceroy of the Wu Kingdom (Tony Leung), so he sends 800,000 soldiers and 2,000 ships down south.
The ensuing battle cost both sides enormous casualties and is said to have altered the course of Chinese history like the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan.
"I genuinely believe," says Woo, "that human emotion is universal and not bound by culture." He is undoubtedly right.
But, alas, the emotion in Red Cliff is virtually non-existent.
You just watch and admire the costumes and the fighting until you begin to plead for mercy because of the inordinate length of the thing.
Red Cliff
Cert: 15
