Set in China during the warring 1920s, notorious bandit chief Zhang descends upon a remote provincial town posing as its new mayor, an identity that he had hijacked from Old Tang, himself a small-time imposter. Hell-bent on making a fast buck, Zhang soon meets his match in the tyrannical local gentry Huang as a deadly battle of wit and brutality ensues. Jiang Wen is a good actor and great director. He reminds me of Clint Eastwood, who is also a good actor and great director. Wen Jiang only have 4 films as director, he is not productive but every film he made is masterpiece to me. I love the Devils on the Doorstep most, it tell some truth no one fear to say.
Let The Bullets Fly is newest work of Jiang Wen. I watched the Chuan idiom edition today, very love it. Chuan idiom is one of Chinese hundreds idiom, the people live in Sichuan Province and Chongqing use it in their daily life. The reason why the movie have a idiom edition because the script is adapted from a novel of a old Sichuan writer. That's too much fun to watch the movie with the familiar idiom. However I love it not because the idiom, the reason is it's a good movie.This movie is mixture of Quentin Tarantino and Sergio Leone, full of bizarre funny idea and masculinity. The last film The Sun Also Rises is criticized too vague, so this one is totally a commercial film. But as the one said in this film, he can made money without knee to others, Jiang Wen not knee to business, there's no disgusting ads and low-grade lines only passion for a good work, that's not easy for present Chinese film. This is why I respect him.
Some sensitive people like me aware some political metaphor in this film, this feeling is similar to the one I felt in Devils on the Doorstep. Jiang Wen knows Chinese deeply, or maybe he just so brave and smart can tell the public what he knows. Someones know the truth but they keep it and exchange it with fortune. Someones speak it loudly and directly, they only scared the public and get suffering. Of course in Jiang Wen's way, only small amount of people know what he want to say, but that's enough. Truth always rests with the minority.Although this is a good movie, the non Chinese native speakers may found a little difficult to understand it, it like more a Cult than a commercial film to them.Actor-auteurJiang Wen directs with a macho, devil-may-care bravadothat expresses the anarchy and rapacious opportunism of warlord-dominated China in the 1920s.
Although the film promotional hook is the rare cast combination of Chow Yun Fat, Ge You and Jiang himself, its instant rise to the summit of China's box office may be attributed more to the racy storytelling and current Chinese fascination with Wild West crime capers like sleeper Welcome to Shama Town and Zhang Yimou's A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.The film is less tailored for festivals as the unabashedly entertaining elements clash with Jiang's more poetic works such as And the Sun Also Rises. Even with polished subtitles, the heady plot and cacophony of loquacious characters demand high viewer alertness. Breathless pacing also causes the narrative to peak before a busy but hurried finale.While en route to become the new governor of Goose Town, Ma Dingbang's (Ge You) train is hijacked by notorious bandit Zhang "Pock-faced" Muzhi (Jiang Wen). The chameleon Ma lies to Zhang that he is only the governor's counselor Tang. Zhang decides to pose as the governor and scam the townsfolk for a fast buck with the aid of Ma.
When Zhang arrives with his entourage of bandits posing as officers, he soon discovers that Huang Silong, the king of the hill, has colluded with former governors and local tycoons to bleed the townsfolk of everything they own.When Zhang's adopted son Six falls prey to Huang's nasty trick, he swears a revenge worse than death -- he will "destroy Huang's soul."Although strategic wars are not novel to China's period blockbusters, few achieve this film's level of sophistication in nuanced dialogue, plot twists and bravura acting. Even though the protagonists are a rogue, crook and weasel respectively, Jiang, Chow and Ge imbue their roles' negative traits with charisma. Chow plays both Huang and his decoy, and makes the distinction clear. He conveys the former's unfathomable nature, whose treachery is hidden behind a veneer of westernized dandyish charm.Watch Let the Bullets Fly Movie Online
The action pays homage to Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa, but visual conceptions are more exaggerated and cartoonish. For example, Bulletsopens with a train robbery that stands up to any Hollywood western in its stylized, balletic movement, but it is subverted by a touch of martial arts fantasy: The train is drawn by horses, and its passengers are feasting on a chimney-sized hotpot that shoots off like a satellite when the train is jolted by Zhang's flying ax.Kurosawa has the strongest influence as the motif of an outlaw or mercenary who arrives in town to mete out rough justice to a despotic power is a variation of The Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Tsubaki Sanjuro. The role of Huang's decoy is also reminds one of Kagemusha. However, Jiang subverts these personas by making the protagonists anti-heroes with double-identities, dual personalities and multiple moral standards.
