MovieChat Forums > San qiang pai an jing qi (2009) Discussion > 4/10. Here's why:

4/10. Here's why:

posted 8 years ago by IMDB_Vits
2 replies | jump to latest

When I talked about BLOOD SIMPLE, I admitted that I didn't love it, but I still appriciated all of its achievements (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9FXxHUz1vk). SāNQIāNG PāI'ÀN JīNGQí is a pointless remake. Don't get me wrong. I support it when remakes have a different point of view (otherwise, why make them in the 1st place?). Remaking a crime thriller but as a comedy? Sure, why not? Unfortunately, this movie tries to mix the thrills with the laughs. It fails because it tries to replicate the atmosphere of the original, which was neo-noir, and also create a light slapstick enviroment. The cinematography is very good, but the performances are weak. Ni Yan's in particular is terrible. The ending is quite similar to the original's one. Bad idea. The original was heavy on symbolism and borderline surrealism. You can't add those kinds of things at the end if the rest of the movie doesn't have it. It doesn't fit.

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Any thoughts?

[–] marqik 8 years ago

never seen the original, so 8/10.

[–] london777 7 years ago

Sadly, I have to agree.

The landscape and the cinematography, the period details and the deliberate anachronisms, some of the set pieces like the changes from night to day and vice versa and the noodle-spinning scene are all wonderful. I like the complicated plot with its mishaps and misunderstandings culminating in Zhang's final ironic laughter.

Honglei Sun does well as Zhang, but the other actors seem like amateurs presenting French farce. The two male employees are especially tedious with their moronic slapstick routines. Farce needs split-second timing, but the comic scenes here drag and ruin the black comedy aspect inherited from "Blood Simple". Was it really necessary for all the comic characters to trip over the doorstep every time they entered or left a room? After the tenth instance it was not amusing.

It was a good idea, and contains some super scenes, as one would expect from Yimou Zhang, but the attempted blend of slapstick and Film Noir does not work for Western audiences. Maybe it does for the Chinese?

I gave it 4.5 and my DVD to the local charity shop.