really mixed feelings about this movie. i can fully understand that most people would find this movie to be extremely boring. i for one thought it was watchable.
it could have been more exciting. the movie went on a rather slow pace and one needs to pay attention to the movie to understand the relations between the characters.
oh... one last note: those girls were hella annoying. only the one who was on the boat for most of the movie was ok and not hard on the eyes either :P
I really liked this movie, i've watched a ton of kung fu flicks and very few actually do something new - this movie's fighting choreo i found to be very unique and a bit more realistic. The whole idea that real masters only attack once added a somewhat Japanese feel to the fighting. Some people didn't quite get that when two fighters are so powerful there will be a whole lot dodging and weaving because one hit will do the trick.
I thought the screen play was crazy, but crazy in a good way because it was so damn unique. Some of it got confusing when they go forward in hypothetical time, perhaps a slight filter would've helped but over all i got it.
It seemed to me to be a dark comedy as well, i think folks may have missed that aspect and really got confused while watching it.
I don't know, i found it a breath of fresh air and a very unique take on the martial arts genre and very gutsy! Overall I was pleasantly surprised.
decent review can be found here: http://blogcritics.org/video/article/dvd-review-the-sword-identity/
shareI also quite liked the film, though I can understand mixed feelings. There are a few dead spots, where repetition kind of kills the forward plot momentum. I think it's a bit self-consciously quirky, which can be a tough balancing act.
However, for what it was and for what it was trying to be, I really enjoyed it. It is not really an action film. It is slow moving. It is MOST DEFINITELY A SATIRE... and I laughed out loud quite a few times, despite the seemingly sombre tone. However, some of the more obvious humour felt a little out of place.
This is a film for real cinephiles, not necessarily for martial arts fans so much, though if you have an appreciation for art cinema AND martial arts, I think it's pretty neat. It certainly plays with the conventions of the martial arts literature and movie genre, while stripping away a lot of the romantic conceits to expose the banal, ridiculous, and occasionally beautiful reality embedded inside. That said, I wouldn't say it's a "realistic" film either, but it dances around the deflation of myths and cliches.
I absolutely LOVED the final duel scene. Anyone who's ever practised any form of martial art/sport that involves sparring, whether it's karate, or boxing, or fencing, should recognize the ambience and underlying realism of that sequence.
Also, in spite of a very neutral palette of greys and browns, I found it to be a very beautiful film to look at. The aesthetic sense has such a restrained elegance. The opening scene alone told me in 5 seconds that I was NOT watching a conventional wuxia film.
very well written post, agreeing with it.
it definitely is not a standard martial art movie and it wasn't trying to be one either. i guess most people were expecting it to be one though, hence the low scoring.