Have you ever read a book by an author incapable of writing a bad sentence, and yet, for some reason or another, the book as a whole never maintained your interest as much as its well-constructed sentence-level parts? It’s a very unique reading experience. The third-film in the Chinese “Victory Trilogy,” Hidden Blade, translates the experience to the visual plane: it’s a gorgeous spy-noir, with hardly a boring composition in it—and yet, I’m not sure I’d jump to recommend it and its empty calories to many. 

Set in Japanese occupied Shanghai on the onset of World War II, the Chinese Communist Party’s Special Branch leads a covert intelligence operation undermining the Japanese and the anti-Communist Kuomintang. The excellent Tony Leung plays Mr. He, a double-agent whose true loyalties are with the Communist Party even though he works for the firmly anti-Communist Japanese. The beautiful compositions start with Leung, donning his signature suit and cigarette look and filmed in beautiful post-noir lighting. At this point in his career, it would feel like a misuse to not make him smoke while wearing a suit.

Continue reading at the Boston Hassle.