The
Assassin (2015/Well Go Blu-ray)
Picture:
A Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C+
Ninniang
was a former imperial heiress/princess of the Imperial Court, but she
was sent away and raised by nuns to to become the ultimate assassin.
Now, she patrols the various imperial court for the corrupt and
powerful. But when she receives the order to kill the man she was
betrothed to, can she do it or is she just a cold blooded assassin?
In
Hsiao-Hsien Hou's The
Assassin
(2015), she becomes known only as the Woman in Black. Ninniang (Qi
Shu) is feared by the corrupt Imperial member of the court. No
matter how many guards, master swordsmen (swordswoman/person?), she
can not be rattled or stopped, but what is her true nature and
mission in the Imperial Court? The truth is, she is the only thing
to stop the chaos of the Imperial Court from collapsing the
empire.
This film had a beautiful scenery and costumes, there
were a lot extra (and pointless) scenes with people just walking
around and doing nothing, but what was even more weird was how the
director seem to have made ALL the characters unemotional and only
talk with deep one liners. But then this is a very unusual
production all around.
Shot
on 35mm film in the Super 35 format, the film has a very odd 1.41 X 1
aspect ratio that we've never seen before (though the shoot seems to
be soft matte 1.33 X 1, so why go Super 35? It's an interesting
story we hope to hear about at some point.) with one 1.85 X 1 moment
and some faux black & white, looks great throughout with great
color, depth, clarity, detail and is one of the best Well Go 1080p
digital High Definition transfers to date. Unfortunately, the
lossless Mandarin DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix is a mixed bag of
too loud, unbalanced and too soft in other places with its
soundfield, even though the mix has a few good moments. Extras
include a behind the scenes clip and trailers.
-
Ricky Chiang
