User reviews

A young boy is brought to 1930's Shanghai from the countryside to be the manservant of a gang boss's mistress. The mistress (Gong Li) is a glamourous nightclub singer and a royal bitch. Soon after he arrives, the boy is witness to a power play in the underworld that results in the uncovering of lots of treachery and quite a bit of violence.

It's a nicely constructed story with good acting from everybody involved. It's fairly straightforward, but satisfying, and seeing the gang land activity from the perspectives of two outsiders makes it all the more interesting.

SHANGHAI TRIAD became my favourite Zhang Yimou film when I saw it some years ago, for the simple reason that it was one of the most beautiful films I'd seen. The production design, costumes, lighting and camerawork are all quite remarkable - creating stunning images from the opulence of Shanghai's nightclubs and mansions to the simplicity of the rural island where the second half of the film takes place.

Unfortunately, the R1 DVD fails to do the film justice. The colours are far too subdued, giving the film a rather lifeless look, and the demon of the digital age, Edge Enhancement, rears its ugly head again. The result looks rather like a VHS transfer, but I'd swear in court that the film looked a lot better on my UK VHS copy (mainly because of the colours). Poor Zhang Yimou, he hardly ever seems to get good representation on DVD.

The film is recommended for fans of Zhang Yimou or Gong Li, though without the vibrant cinematography the film wouldn't be ranked as his best by many people. If you've already got the film on VHS, it's not worth "upgrading" to the DVD though.

The big plus here is in the visual department It is gorgeously filmed with deep, rich colors.

The story isn't that much. You keep excepting it to get better. It holds that promise but doesn't deliver until the ending, which has a neat no-nonsense twist. I really liked and admired that ending and wish more movies had realistic finishes like this.

Gong Li, who stars in here, plays a character that is interesting for the first half of the film but her spoiled-brat routine gets annoying after awhile. The main gangster, however, is an interesting guy throughout.

I've watched this twice and, frankly, expected more both times.

There has been way to much chatter about how beautiful this film is with its sumptuous sets, costumes, and magnificent photography. On the surface this looks like another gangster film, this time taking place in Shanghai. But of course, it isn't. The gangster scenario is just the backdrop really.

Shuisheng, a boy of 14, has come to the city to serve the haughty and beautiful Xiao Jingbao, the nightclub singing moll of Tang, head of the most powerful gang in Shanghai.

Shuisheng's uncle is a riot as he gives the boy a whacky set of instructions on how to be a proper servant to snobby Xiao, wonderfully played by Gong Li. "Call her 'Miss'. Follow her wherever she goes, not to far behind, and not to close. That's the rule. Hold her coat in your left hand and her hat in the right, but don't let the coat drag on the floor. That's the rule. Got it?" And the Shuisheng replies, "Got it." However, after "Miss" delights in calling him a country bumpkin, and chews him out a couple of times, (And why not, Shuisheng can't tell a red dress from a green one.) the kid starts looking for the exit. When his uncle tells him, "When she rings for you, stop everything (yes, everything) and go to her. Got it?" His reply this time is, "I want to leave." Bad move, uncle is most displeased.

In many ways, Shuisheng is the most inscrutable character in the movie. He's got a real poker face, and you'll probably have a tough time deciding if he's an idiot, or a sharp kid who's observing things closely and learning fast. This is the heart of the film, the relationship between the boy and the woman. Eventually, the boy will find out the self-important, hip swinging Xiao Jingbao is miserable. She is the beautiful songbird hopelessly trapped in a world where she is bathed in luxury by the ruthless Tang, with no hope of freedom.

The boy's whole attitude changes when he realizes this, and the question the film poses from here is ... what, if anything, can he do about it? If this was an American film, (and I'd love to see such a version) probably plenty, but director Yimou Zhang is a cynical man with a dark outlook on life. All his films have downbeat endings, and this one is no exception. What really bothers me though, is that events take place that result in a complete shift in setting half way through the film, and that's always a dangerous move in the cinema. And this abrupt shift comes at a time when things are just getting interesting in the nightclub, when Shuisheng realizes "Miss" is very unhappy. He might have been able to help her in the big city and spacious confines of the nightclub, but marooned on an island, there's not much he can do. This is a good film, but I would have liked to see the plot move in a different direction in the second half.

This is a fine movie - wonderfully acted, beautifully shot, quite simple. Without being heavy-handed, one comes to sense the presence of real evil that tempts and corrupts and destroys. It's a little slow at times because the story is so simple - yet the slowness and simplicity does allow the messages of the movie to hit home. Something else I like is that the protagonist boy is not made to be cute or winning - he just is who he is - largely an observer but sometimes acting with generosity and sometimes with contempt.

Much has been said by others about the beautiful cinematography and that's certainly true - but I'm also struck by the amazing work of those who constructed or chose the sets, costumes, background characters - they were quite memorable. What a star in Gong Li, and what a director!

I don't agree with those who contrast this with American movies - surely we feel the same evil in watching either version of Scarface or The Petrified Forest or The Road to Perdition.

In fact, I would say this movie is most like The Road to Perdition of any I've seen - not in its story particularly but in its tone, its simplicity, its contrasts of character, its cinematography.

This is also a good movie for those who say they don't like foreign movies - you'll like this one.

This story is told through the eyes of a boy who has just begun working as an underling for a Chinese mobster in the 1930s. It seems the young man is the servant to the mistress of the triad chief and he is treated, at times, more like a slave than a person. The lady is quite beautiful but also seemed very petulant and foolish throughout the film--making it very surprising indeed that this boy bonded so quickly with the lady. Had I been in the boy's place, I probably would have taken the first chance to either poison her or run!

SHANGHAI TRIAD was nominated for the Best Cinematography Oscar and this certainly isn't surprising when you see this film. It's actually pretty rare for a foreign film to get this nomination, but this movie was one of the most artistic films I have seen in ages. The camera-work is great--with the wonderful use of filters, excellent framing techniques and grand colors.

Unfortunately, while the film is very beautiful, the story itself is too often sterile and one of its main characters (played by Gong Li) is just too unlikable--seeming like a complete brat. While the mob boss is quite amoral and vicious, at least you didn't find yourself hating him quite as much--especially since he was a smart guy. Additionally, all too often, events occur off-screen and you only hear about them or catch glimpses of the results--giving the film very little energy. Fortunately, despite being slow, the film does end very well with some interesting twists--but not quite enough to redeem the film. Overall, it's very watchable but with more energy and a more involving story, it could have been so much better.

Here's something you don't see every day - a mobster movie that focuses on the evil of criminals, instead of their coolness. "Shanghai Triad" shows you how mob violence destroys the life of a gangster's moll and endangers her innocent, fresh-from-the-country servant. It's exactly the kind of story you wouldn't see in a Hollywood movie - which is, I suppose, why we watch this weird foreign stuff!

Gong Li is, as ever, forceful and compelling, with a role that's infinitely more interesting than what America's "lead" actresses usually get. She's very glamorous here, and totally unlike the peasant characters she played in "To Live" and several other films. What a wonderful, versatile actress.

The film's other strengths include gorgeous, award-winning cinematography, interesting point-of-view shots, and an effective shift from an urban to a country setting that's pulled off very smoothly. It's a shame that this is the last film that director Zhang Yimou and Gong Li made together, but at least it caps off their collaboration on a high note.

Gong-Li and film making partner Zhang Yimou have another fine hit; in a series that is beautiful filmmaking as well as one the government would find disapproving of the reality of triads.

She plays a "moll" , also a singing star triggering more than an ample reward for the conniving under bosses who would try to topple the boss.

Stunningly photographed and acted, maybe near the Hang Zhou coast (or a rare unfilled canal in Shanghai?) ... with his beautiful concubine, and the narrative device of a young male orphan as fellow observer; the Boss hits the mattresses due to an attempted murder from within; and retires to an island to discern the traitor giving orders to kill anyone who arrives or leaves the island without his permission.

Then the Boss waits, and Gong-Li idles no longer singing in the cabaret; and the "smoke out" begins.

Excellent poignant drama sensitively photographed.

As in all her films, and the directors, the people as bystanders and victims of any corruption is a subtle attended theme!

"Shanghai Triad" tells the story of a young country boy who takes a job as a servant to a mob boss in Shanghai and becomes a passive observer to the skulduggery behind Shanghai's opium wars. In spite of the subject matter, action takes a back seat to art as the film languishes in the beauty of each scene while telling a thin and only mildly interesting story. Expect lots of beautiful cinematography and little else and you won't be disappointed.

When I first saw Zhang Yimou's wonderful 'Raise the Red Lantern', I missed all but the last 30 minutes. This is the most regretful episode of my life for the film has now been deleted. My life was honestly changed as that half an hour was a real time anomoly, obeying the theory of relativity and breaking that particular convention by immersing me so fully that it seemed to last forever and yet, not long enough. 'Shanghai Triad' does not contain that one off quality, however, it is in itself a fascinating film. The colour scheme, of many Yimou films remains, his use of colour is deeply moving as it becomes sublime and almost 'old school'. You can see movies of the studio system being played out again but in a whole new style. Red is so prominent once again and for reasons we can only speculate. Personally I see the colour red as an exciting colour, it conveys to me a sense of a past in which I did not belong to, how I did not exist. The fascination I have in history pre-1982 and more importantly the early 20th century glamour and ancient history.

The splendour of the whole thing is beyond belief, it could almost have the production values of a Hollywood mainstream movie. It shows that perhaps you can create a better effect with lower production values. The Tang household is splendid, but it's vastness perfectly encapsulates a lonely feeling that puts you in the place of the child as well as any cliched point of view shots ever could. It is moments like these that prove Yimou's background as a cinematographer, he is a master of the visual, able to simply show a character's mood in an implicit sweep of camera and minutely fine detail within the mise-en-scene excluding cliche from his work completely. This is the sort of filmmaking we would associate with Ridley Scott, Scott is a visualist, he works with far darker tones than Yimou, which from a personal point of view, makes Yimou my prefered choice, but Scott himself blended both dark and light in 'Thelma and Louise' like Yimou has done for most of his career. The characters themselves have layers of light and dark which are conveyed well in all of their surroundings.

This comparison with Scott brings me to the point in Triad when the empathy shifts from the boy to be shared by him and Bijou. This does echo a bit of the Roy Batty syndrome which was probably the reason for 'Blade Runner's' limited success on it's original release, or so says Robert McKee. But Gong Li's performance is outstanding. She nails Bijou's nasty streak to a tee and then compels us to believe that she is more than that. Of course it is helped when the viewer feels that the situation she is in is a frightening one, not unlike mountaineering where one false step could end up in death, at what ever height you are at. Li is one of the finest actresses in the world, not to mention that her beauty is unparalleled. (Despite the fact that she is just four years younger than my mother) The film may not be seen as very moral but it is clear that it has heart as we feel so bad about the events that end the film. Li shows her hardness of character and complete vulnerability then finally her loss of control, shame and regret. This heart is not made of solid stone, rather a quite flexible rubber.

It requires a period of reflection, one that does not equal that of 'Raise the Red Lantern' but is the only film to have such a numbing effect since. By now though, I have Lantern in such a high regard that it borders on gaining a mythical quality as I have yet to see it in it's entirety. It's not every day that a heavily opinionated young man will be reduced to a pathetic single syllable, but when Triad is finished, many of you will be reduced to it too, lay back and just clear your head of anything other than the film, all that enters the head will be "Wow".

A country lad in brought to Shanghai to be a servant to a gangster's moll. There's not a whole lot to say about this movie, it's pretty standard stuff about evil corrupting and destroying everything it touches, et cetera. Li Gong's performance is good as always, and the sumptuous photography is a delight to behold, although the color palette appears muted on the DVD. The plot and Li's character take some interesting turns in the third act, but it's not quite enough up for the mundane build-up. Although it's not one of Zhang's best, especially from this period, it's perfectly watchable and sticks with you for a bit.

In "Shanghai Triad", Yi-Mou Zhang trains his lens on a gangster's girlfriend and her young servant boy as the mob lurks in the background doing what mobs do. A character study which focuses on Li Gong's wonderful portrayal of a kept woman whose singing and beauty took her from peasant life to wealthy emptiness, there's little story to be found as the film moves serenely from cabaret song and dance numbers to pastoral scenic beauty. Those who appreciate the Chinese culture will enjoy this lyric and beautiful film the most. For many westerners, however, there will not enough of a story arc to make for a satisfying watch. (B)

I had hopes for it, and it opened beautifully. It promised introspection, scope, meaning, and a bit of beauty, yet the first three were still-born, and the last ruined by triteness. But, the expected revelation in this movie never came. And in the mean time, Gong Li was incredibly annoying the entire film, due to her successfully acting the part of the spoiled singer flirt. I used to enjoy watching her, but after this torture, not any more. Why see this, when you can see Temptress Moon, which was richly embroidered with meaning, and did have scope, and it not only met, but exceeded propounded expectations? Sadly, Shanghai Triad has a superior video cassette box, since it is a film of superior marketing, but drastically inferior plot, scope, characters and quality.

This film is, foremost, a gangster film, but Zhang Yimou tells it from a much more interesting angle. As far as the plot about moles and trying to find the traitor in the group, it's old hat. What isn't, however, is seeing how the children, practically enslaved by a triad boss, begin to slowly turn into the type of people that Tang and Bijou are throughout the movie.

Another refreshing change was, despite Tang's wealth, the triads are not romanticized like the mafia often is in this country. Tang, unlike Vito Corleone, is a ruthless killer, born and bred, not a family man forced into a situation.

What impresses me most about Zhang Yimou's films are the cyclic nature, where everything comes full circle in the end. For many, the colors and political messages are the topic of discussion, but watching events carry out within a restricted time, and follow the Eastern idea of cyclical rather than linear time, is more interesting, since these characters continue to develop in one's head even after the movie has ended.

Shanghai Triad has an interesting MO. It is really a socio-historical commentary masquerading as a coming of age story masquerading as a Gangster Film.

Yimou makes bold storytelling choices - using the servant boy of a gang lord's mistress as the unlikely protagonist - shifting the setting of the film suddenly from bustling urban Shanghai to the peaceful Chinese Countryside.

The risk taking pays off - it is what separates Triad from generic Hollywood tripe.

Rather than some sort of high-handed morality play or costume melodrama, Yimou uses the story to illustrate the corruption of innocence, shifting loyalties and the endless struggle for power and dominance.

Yimou purposely subverts our expectations of the genre picture by denying any form of release - any false catharsis/closure.

The protagonist/viewer can only watch helplessly from the sidelines as the cycle of violence and exploitation continues.

This device will prove undoubtedly frustrating to a Hollywood Audience and I commend him for it.

Zhang Yimou's attempt to squeeze yet another Chinese history lesson into one of his movies aside, I still came away unexpectedly moved by "Shanghai Triad." The story is fascinating, sometimes in a morbid way, sometimes in a childish one. I got the sense that I'm being witness to a myth in the making, one of those amazing stories out of history that have underlying messages about the human condition. Zhang's treatment of the aesthetic, both visual and aural (Ajiao's song makes for a wonderful musical theme), is moving as ever. And since it's by him, all the symbols, allusions, circular events, juxtaposition of characters - and all the rest of that - applies.

Gong Li as the bratty and doomed Bijou is wonderful to watch, and Wang Xiaoxiao is very effective as the audience's stand-in in the movie.

And the history lesson wasn't so bad either.

There is no dispute Yimou Zhang is still the best-known working director from China, but after the lucrative-but-critics-panning CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (2006, a 6/10), which also marks a reunite with Goddess Li Gong after 11 years, his successive works (A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SOUP 2009, a Chinese adaption of Coen Brothers BLOOD SIMPLE. 1984; UNDER THE HAWTHORN TREE 2010, an over-innocuous love story under the backgrounds of Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 70s; and his latest, a westerner saving Chinese women from Japanese invaders during Nanking 1937 stars the newly Oscar-crowned Christian Bale, THE FLOWERS OF WAR 2011; I haven't watch any of them yet) all have received pretty lukewarm feedbacks and even dire dissatisfaction from both audience and critics. So since then his domestic reputation has been quite disproportionate to his renowned international prestige.

SHANGHAI TRIAD, Yimou Zhang's period drama set in Shanghai of 1930s, has eluded me for 17 years, but sincerely culminates Zhang's ingenuity in his virtuoso cinematography scale, while the story itself, doesn't match his previous masterpieces, namely, TO LIVE (1994, an 8/10), THE STORY OF QIU JU (1992, an 8/10), JU DOU (1990, an 8/10) or his groundbreaking debut RED SORGHUM (1987, a 9/10).

The ugly truth is that Zhang is never an exceptional storyteller, if he has an excellent script (the said four films), with the aid of which the films surge onto an elated dimension of ethos, otherwise, the outcome could be a lesser achiever notwithstanding with stunning shots abound. Take this film for example, it owns an experimental use of camera angles, DP Yue Lv even garners an Oscar nomination, for me the cunning tactic is the maneuver of two drastically different terrains: Shanghai's lavish villa for the richest and an ominous countryside island with wild weed backdrops, they are in parallel to dissect the storyline with an absorbing visual momentum which flourishes successfully to meet the eyes, especially for those non-Chinese audience bearing some exotic curiosities.

The cast is solid, Gong Li (at her prime-time being the muse of Zhang's oeuvre) does provide a wide range of emotional scopes as the boss' mistress whose ill-fated destiny sparks a woeful compassion, and surpasses the common dolly bird blandness, but the film still has too many corny characters (basically all the male characters here, with Baotian Li, the ruthless gang lord as a borderline exception) and lacunae in the script which should not have been underwritten (an non-fictional gangster's life could be more intriguing and intricate).

ps: As a home-grown Chinese, Gong Li's cabaret renditions are quite amateurish and lip- synched, while the music numbers are sentimentally undue, which I have already had a bellyful of.

One day you wake up wishing had a lot of things. You dream of luxury, plenty of everything, succulent foods, fine jewelry, luxury cars... and why not, live in a mansion. To achieve this, scores with a beautiful body and a pleasant voice to sing. And then, you attract a man who can bring things like you want... and as much you longed to have them, do not ask questions, but you know who you are provided by not acting with dignity, hurt many people and not treat you like you wish to do so.

Suddenly you realize you're paying a high price... nothing, absolutely nothing. Because then you realize that things are worth very little, if a woman does not feel valued, respected and treated with affection. You realize, of little use for luxuries, if you're constantly round the fear and loneliness. You realize that, although now "have everything", you'd be willing to leave if you find someone you truly loved.

Like so many women, this is the experience that goes Xiao Jingbao (Gong Li more fascinating than ever), a girl who also encouraged the dream of love, but that falls into the trap of material success and ends in the hands of a gang gangster who will give you all them learned to give. The story is seen from the perspective of a boy named Shusheng Tang, who joins the gang as a servant of the beautiful Xiao, induced by a uncle who expected out of poverty in which has so far lived. Frequent and well achieved subjective shots, put us at crucial moments in the boy's point of view, and with him witnessed the cruel world and weaknesses of the outlaw.

Zhang Yimou shines with a flawless picture, a beautiful staging, and a careful pleasing soundtrack that includes songs, among which stands out, especially, the lullaby duet portraying Gong Li and Yang Qianquan girl who gets an emotional role as Ah Jiao, a being that sensitize the beautiful singer and will feel that life offers us wonderful things, but maybe for her are now too late.

Once again, Yimou takes a woman as the center of the universe, and his deep nostalgia when he remembers, how the women lost so many dreams and hopes, by yielding to ambition.

"SHANGHAI TRIAD" is the kind of movie that no girl should miss.

Shanghai Triad never gains momentum from a slow start and languid pacing until it eventually fizzles out.

Gong Li looks superb and director Zhang Yimou's attention to detail and stylistic conceits never fail to impress. But the plot is overly simplistic and the characters never rise above a narrative bogged down with one dimensional characters and clichéd situations. You get the feeling Yimou was ready for something different in his career and Gong Li had played one too many parts under his direction.

That said, it is entertaining without ever attaining the high standards of previous collaborations.

One the most beautiful films I saw in the last fifteen years, together with "Burnt by the Sun" from Mikhalkof, "the Piano" from Campion and "Heavenly creatures" by Jackson.

It's filmed in a very artistic and original way, quite a perfect fusion between independent/innovative and classical/stylish styles. Like if Polansky, Cronenberg, Bertolucci, Spielberg and Annaud were made one! Kubrick's influence is noticeable too, in the very "quiet" way of filming that give this "surrealistic" feeling to trivial events. It's incredible to feel so close, so empathetic to characters so different from us...

I was very moved AND fascinated at the time.

I'd recommend it to anyone who likes unique movies, and it can be watched with pleasure by anyone who not the "technolywood" kind (Cameron & Emmerich fans, stay away from this one, you'd be bored to death!) I'd like to see more from this director...

An Oscar nominee for it's brilliant cinematography, and a Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film (lost to Les misérables), this film is directed by Zhang Yimou and stars Gong Li. They worked previously on five films: Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, The Story of Qui Ju and To Live.

14-year old Shuisheng (Wang Xiao Xiao) is brought in from the country to serve the Boss' mistress Bijou (Gong Li), who he can't control.

Shuisheng soon finds that she is not a nice person, and he gets back at her when he can.

I especially liked the bar scenes where Bijou performed. It had the right mix of beautiful costumes and smokiness.

But, this was a gangster picture, so things end badly for some.

If you have seen Godfather and suchlike, and believe that in so doing, you have seen every gangster movie worth your time, you are wrong. That is, unless you've watched Shanghai Triad, Zhang Yimou's terrific gangster tale set in pre-communist Shanghai. Check it out! extraordinarily brilliant actress and filmmaker at a time!!

I would recommend this film just for its superb photography - except that it also happens to be a lavish, well-plotted gangster film. The mobsters are every bit as nasty as those in "The Godfather", with the (tasteful?) difference that the violence is always off-stage - though only just, at times. This is not a matter of squeamishness : most of the film is seen through the eyes of a 14-year-old boy, a reluctant 'witness' (well, he's usually on the other side of the door) to the various plots, sub-plots and counter-plots. On second thoughts, the gangster boss here is NASTIER than anything in the Godfather. That point doesn't immediately sink in, because the film is so BEAUTIFUL, a real feast for the eyes, and because the final twist in the story - in my case, anyway - has a delayed impact. It's one of those films you need to see again, armed with the knowledge of how it is going to turn out - like "The Usual Suspects". If this is how Chinese cinema is developing, we shall be seeing - and welcoming - more of this stunning fare.