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By all rights, Zhang Yimou's remake of Joel and Ethan Coen's first feature shouldn't work, but it does--marvelously so. It's not that Blood Simple is a masterpiece, though it's very good, but that the two filmmaking entities would seem to have little in common. Zhang even moves the action to feudal China, where noodle shop owner Wang (Dahong Ni) browbeats his unnamed wife (Ni Yan, beautiful and feisty) and coworkers Zhao (Ye Cheng), Chen (Mao Mao), and Li (Xiao Shen-Yang, sweet and jittery). When traveling merchants drop by while Wang is away, his wife buys a pistol--in a sequence so over the top it threatens to derail the
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By all rights, Zhang Yimou's remake of Joel and Ethan Coen's first feature shouldn't work, but it does--marvelously so. It's not that Blood Simple is a masterpiece, though it's very good, but that the two filmmaking entities would seem to have little in common. Zhang even moves the action to feudal China, where noodle shop owner Wang (Dahong Ni) browbeats his unnamed wife (Ni Yan, beautiful and feisty) and coworkers Zhao (Ye Cheng), Chen (Mao Mao), and Li (Xiao Shen-Yang, sweet and jittery). When traveling merchants drop by while Wang is away, his wife buys a pistol--in a sequence so over the top it threatens to derail the entire picture. Wang, meanwhile, pays patrol officer Zhang (Honglei Sun, in a tightly coiled performance) to spy on her and Li. After the officer confirms his suspicions about their affair, he offers more money for Zhang to take the couple out of his misery, but Wang doesn't count on the double-crosses that will ensue. Zhang intends to rob the man blind, except he doesn't know the combination to the safe, unlike waiter Zhao, who isn't as dumb as he looks (prominent teeth and a tiny topknot only reinforce the impression). Despite a tone that veers between slapstick and suspense, A Woman offers the stunning visuals that characterize most Zhang works, like House of Flying Daggers. The desert--which doubles as a graveyard--is gorgeous in its desolation, while the shop setting is ingenious in its construction. And the ending is truly transcendent. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Classics
Release date: 1 February 2011
EAN: 0043396369344 UPC: 043396369344
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