King of Chess

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DanTheMan 2 Although seemingly co-directed by Yim Ho, King of Chess has Tsui Hark written all over it, with Hark taking full control later in production leading Ho to disown the movie entirely, the end result mixes their styles but Hark's is way more prevalent than Ho's historical melodrama. The decidedly goofy comedic beats and experimental editing feel out of place for a movie like this, dealing directly with the uneasy history of Mainland China under Mao - Hark's movies often take a more symbolic or allegoric stance on the matter, so makes for a nice stylistic discrepancy in his filmography. However, the cross-cutting narrative between Mao's China and 90s Taiwan draws up some interesting results of paralleling struggles and combined with Lo Ta-yu's infectious synth-driven musical score leads to a movie never quite in focus and equal parts infuriating as it is charming in a way only Tsui Hark can deliver. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Kind of an odd film, but a pretty nice experience. I really admired the choice to integrate the two time periods and gave the film a good deal of political relevance that was communicated effectively even to someone like myself who only has limited knowledge of the time. I have read Mao's Little Red Book, but my extent of the Cultural Revolution is not incredibly high so having the film show the rise and the current world during the time was pretty great. It did help a ton with character motivation as well. The direction was pretty good and mostly standard though there were a few sequences here and there that were masterfully done. The performances were all solid, but nothing actually stood out all that much and I cannot say that any of the actors impressed me immensely with the obvious exception of Tony Leung as Wang. While watching the film I was able to appreciate the whole past aspect, but when it came to entertainment, aside from the train ride, the snake eating, and the final chess match I kind of wished that the film stayed in the present. The disjointed narrative was not incredibly difficult to follow and I think that it did add a nice layer to the film, but at the same time it did not heighten the tension as much as it drew attention to it and made some of the scenes seem slow and frustrating as I waited for the film to get back to the action. The end is pretty cool as well and mighty pretty, but it did confuse me for a bit at first, though I think that the subtitles on the DVD were a bit off, or at least seemed awkward during this sequence. Either way, it was a poignant wrap up. The film has a few lower production points that provide unintentional comedy, but the story is pretty engaging and all that, and it's a nice little film to watch, just nothing that is really spectacular. B or 3.2982140321456356023 Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews

King of Chess

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