REVIEW OF REDCLIFF(2008)MOVIE

I’d been hearing about this movie for a while; I’m not the most up-to-date person on Asian cinema (not
by a long shot), but occasionally a film is so extravagant or well-done that even I hear about it. My
curiosity is often peaked by Asian historical pieces, because for the most part they seem to have an
interest in taking them seriously and presenting the viewer with a visually stunning epic.

Red Cliff or Chibi (Chinese: 赤壁) is a 2008–2009 Chinese epic war film, based on the Battle of Red Cliffs
(208–209 AD) and the events at the end of the Han dynasty and immediately prior to the Three Kingdoms
period in Imperial China. The film was directed by John Woo, and stars Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro,
Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Zhao Wei, Hu Jun, and Lin Chi-ling.

The film symbolizes the Chinese interpretation of various aspects of life such as the relationship between
man and nature, and the relationship between an individual and the state. This paper endeavors to
analyze how the film Red Cliff displays the Chinese interpretation of various aspects of life, most
importantly, the relationship between man and nature, and the relationship between an individual and
the state.

John Woo returns to his Asian roots after a long gap of 17 years. And he returns with a huge reputation
to live up to, having carved an enviable niche for himself in Hollywood with films like Mission Impossible,
Broken Arrow and Face/Off. Ostensibly, he is the first Asian director to strike gold in mainstream
Hollywood, much before Ang Lee mesmerised the West with Sense and Sensibility and Brokeback
Mountain.

With Red Cliff, he takes on an ambitious project that ends up as one of the most expensive Chinese
productions, mounted at a staggering cost of $80 million. But more than the money, it is the scale of the
film that is majestic as it tries to analyse the art of warfare through a period film set in China's
contentious past.

Woo sets his film in 208 AD when China was divided into three warring kingdoms. Each kingdom has its
own hero, determined to defend territory at all cost. This time however, the Kingdoms of the south and
the west come together in order to ward of the advancing armies of General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi)
who seems to be the mightiest of them all, with an army of 800,000 soldiers. Only Tony Leung and
Takeshi Kaneshiro, the brave generals from the other two camps, can act as spoilsport and prevent the
power hungry Cao Cao from conquering the Red Cliff, a symbol of the sovereignty of the southern
kingdom. But victory doesn't depend on the strength and might of the navy, army and cavalry alone in
this copy book case of war; it depends on strategy too, which could empower even a lesser equipped
band of warriors. As in the case of our defenders who use the direction of the wind to win an almost no-
win battle.

Don't go looking for Zhang Yimou's period epics; nor expect the anti-gravity athleticism of Crouching
Tiger Hidden Dragon and you might just be mesmerised by John Woo's grandiose battles. But what you
will sorely miss is the breathtaking cinematography and the feminine mystique that is so intrinsic to
Chinese epical cinema. Of course there is the much touted cinematic debut of model Lin Chiling as Mrs
Tony Leung and there is Vicky Zhao playing the feistyPrincess Sun Shan Xiang who infiltrates enemy
territory. But, by and large, they remain by-standers in this all-male drama which mostly has one thing to
boast about: the chemistry between Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro.