Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Writers: Hou Hsiao-Hsien, et al.
Production Co.: Central Motion Pictures, et al.
Starring: Shu Qi, Chang Chen
Unlike its lucid title and spectacular trailer, The Assasin is far from ordinary Chinese Martial Arts or Historical genre. In every aspects, director Hou Hsiao-Hsien strives to avoid convention.
The most significant escape from convention is its mingling between widescreen and standard aspect ratio. I tried to figure out a regularity from the transitions but failed. Even staff of Lincoln Center Theater didn't spread the black curtain mistakenly until the first widescreen shot appeared. More importantly, although we usually believe widescreen is for enhancing landscape view, the director framed landscapes in standard ratio. On the other hand, I think, he subverted formulaic assumption of aspect ratio by using widescreen ratio for individual or interior shots.
Use of long take is also noteworthy. Instead of amplifying tempo by cutting actions minutely, Hou sets a number of actions in static shots so that I could contemplate on multiple elements of mise-en-scene. Moreover, Hou emphasizes sound when he needed to move back and forth from (relatively boring) long take shots: swinging of swords, subtle fractional sounds from fabrics.
In terms of narrative, Hou stays far from complete story. To put it figuratively, there are "rules of the game". At first, Hou never presents blood throughout the film. Both Yinning (the heroine)'s first duel with another assassin with golden mask and the second one with her princess are bloodless. What defines who's defeated is whether their clothes were cut by their counterpart. And they comply. Even outside of the assassins' covert world, there are other rules. Every conflict among characters is not fatally resolved at all. However, there are certain limits of action that confines the characters. Either satisfied or not, their conflict temporarily ends there. I assume that this open ending represents openness of life.
I refer this film to using female and matter of choice in life. Although the heroine's omnipotent capacity was less compelling, it was a nice film to enjoy contemplation.
**Add: Chang Chen's performance was not bad. But I am afraid if his image of Sun Quan in John Woo's Red Cliff is being recycled.
** Add 2: The most significant scene in this film is undoubtedly the duel between Yinning and the assassin with golden mask. Through soft focus, mere forest becomes abstract background and isolates the two assassins from reality. Without any computer graphics!
