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The Banquet (Special Edition) DVD

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When I first saw Akira Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood" a decade ago, I was shocked by the screen imagery painted by that legendary director. At first I didn't like it, but after two viewings, I came to love it. Same with "The Banquet." At first it seems strange, with production and character designs quite unfamiliar to this connoiseur of Asian cinema, but it soon grew on me. This is Hamlet-inspired, no doubt, which is a good thing as the story is not going to confuse most Westerners. The set design is quite powerful, as is the cinematography, but it's really the characters that deliver the power of the film. I always like Ziyi and she does a fine job as the queen here. I think this is one of those experimental films that you either love or hate. I like it a lot, and think it's a worthy movie to watch for anyone into real movies (i.e., not the Hollywood trash we're bombarded with each year).

This film was a wonderful display by a director at the height of his powers. The nuanced performances, beautiful yet realistic sets, intriguing and thoughtful cinematography, and a powerful control over the pacing and the rhythm of the film were simply unforgettable. I felt like watching the film again right after it finished. At many times it reminded me of Kurosawa's "Ran" (another Shakespeare adaptation), especially by the chamber drama aspects present in "The Banquet". It will not be everyone's cup of tea, to be sure, especially those who expect to see a martial arts film, which this is not; or those who expect a literal adaptation (or those possesed by semantics...)...but if you can enjoy a slower-paced film that takes its time building intricately nuanced characters and deep psychological studies, then this is the film for you. Very highly recommended.

This movie succeeds where "The Promise" failed. It's headed by who's who of China's movie industry and the production value of "the Banquet" is truly exemplary. It's unfortunate that the fundamental of the movie is divulged by reviewers, of it based on Hamlet. Personally, it would have been better seeing this movie not knowing what to expect and as the end credit roles, & as we put the pieces together, that's where we get maximum value out of this movie. For those that are looking for no-nonsense martial arts movie (normally starred by someone as Jet Li), "The Banquet" is no "Fearless". This movie is verging towards arty farty movie with extensive choreography upon the fighting moves which resemble more like a dance, dance of doomed lovers. Abstract would be a word to describe the fighting sequence. Other than that, "The Banquet" is a character-driven movie which focuses upon lust, betrayal, loyalty, family, power, greed, love, innocence's lost. I have to say that Chinese movie is gradually finding its own feet in the Western market & no longer it stereotypes itself churning out picture perfect movies or martial art movies glorified by Quentin Tarantino in "Kill Bill 1& 2" but rather, quality movies that make you think & unashamedly captivate your attention. There's nothing wrong for the Chinese to copy Shakespeare's story. In fact, hasn't Hollywood modernises Shakespeare's stories themselves to make them relevant to younger generations? Hasn't the Koreans done well by making its own take of the "Dangerous Liasons", which Hollywood made almost twenty years ago, which it copied from the French anyway? At the end of the day, that's what art is all about. As Picasso said himself, great artists steal ideas whilst amateur artists reproduce originals! Highly recommended.

Though "Banquet" (2006) is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's famous drama "Hamlet," this Chinese film should be seen as another entry in "wuxia" genre, Chinese martial arts action films such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Actually some of the crew of Oscar-winning Ang Lee film came back - Tim (Timmy) Yip as art director, Tan Dun providing original music again, Woo-ping Yuen as action choreographer and of course, the film's star Zhang Ziyi.

The story is set in the war-torn era of China after the collapse of Tang Dynasty. After the strange death of the Emperor, his younger brother Li (You Ge) succeeds the throne and he plans to assassinate the son of late Emperor, Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu). To protect the life of Prince now living like a hermit, devoting himself to dancing (to whom, it is suggested, she was once romantically attracted), beautiful Empress Wan (Zhang Ziyi) consents to marry Li. But there is more to come after her decision, which culminates in the "banquet" of the title.

Zhang Ziyi plays Empress Wan, equivalent to Gertrude of Shakespeare's original drama, but unlike the original play, she is not the hero's mother. Though the film is inspired by "Hamlet," I am not sure this should be called adaptation because the role of Prince Wu Luan (= Hamlet) is considerably reduced while Empress Wan plays a major role in the meandering storyline which looks sometimes unfocused. Changes are welcome as long as the original's interesting storyline is kept intact. Here, despite some intriguing premises, it became weak and confusing.

There are martial arts fighting scenes choreographed by Woo-ping Yuen, but not many. The opening sequence is visually striking, but the fighting didn't impress me because, well, I don't see the point of killing innocent dancers in this violent and bloody way (one decapitation included). I don't think people act or fight like this even in the wuxia world. Another fight sequence is slightly better, but I believe Woo-ping Yuen did a finer job in "Fearless."

Many people would watch this film because of Zhang Ziyi, who is fantastic as always, but more impressive is Xun Zhou as Qing Nu (or Ophelia) whose strong performance as unrequited lover almost steals the show from Zhang Ziyi. That is a great feat in itself.

"Banquet" is a welcome addition to wuxia films, but if you ask me whether or not this is a great one, my answer would be, sorry, not exactly.

I think the main criticism of "The Banquet" seems to have been related to its pace, but I found it moved at a pace that suited its content; the brooding nature of the narrative and the development of character needs a gentler pace. People also seem to have been critical of Zhang Ziyi, questioning her casting (as a result of which the character of empress wan was made younger) and her ability to do justice to the role. Quite frankly, I think she's done herself a lot of favors in this role. The film's narrative is heavily influenced by Shakespeare's 'HAMLET', which stands it in good stead, but the story and characters have been sufficiently tweaked by writers, Qiu Gangjian and Sheng Heyu, and director, Feng Xiaogang, to dismiss any accusations of it being a simple adaptation. The basic premise is there, as is the sense that we are building to something akin to the bard's tragic, climactic finale.

Zhang Ziyi role as Empress Wan, she is simply stunning as a young woman, who's had her identity and lover taken from her, been thrust into the role of Empress and is now torn by the return of her first love and the power she's become accustomed to, a power that remains in her grasp, whilst she is Li's. Ge You is also great at conveying the menace, weakness and torment that, as he says, arises as result of "the tug between power and love": a murderer, a usurper and a man enchanted by the charms of his new Empress. Daniel Wu puts in yet another solid performance as the emotional young Prince; like Empress Wan, his Wu Luan is torn between his feelings (for Wan), the pain of his father's murder and his relationship with the daughter of General Yin, Qing (Zhou Xun). Alongside Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun is amazing; as Qing, she represents something that none of the other characters do: innocence and truth. this often isolates her within the imperial court and her devotion to Prince Qu Luan drives her through the hardship that it causes her.

It is at this point, that I feel compelled to wax lyrical about the film on a purely visual level. The set of the imperial palace is almost a character itself. It has been dressed with astounding detail and the absolute beauty of almost every frame of the film, in which it appears, is a remarkable achievement; from the Empress's chamber, the throne room, corridors and exteriors. Besides the sets, the costume design is also quite beautiful. the combined effect of the costumes, their inhabitants and the world which they inhabit, make "The Banquet" one of the most beautiful films I've watched.

Finally, a word on the action sequences; they are, after all, the work of Yuen wo-ping. There are three, relatively short sequences, all featuring Daniel Wu, alongside a larger sequence at the beginning of the film. They are all visually stunning but, while actually being quite bloody and violent, they are more balletic in their choreography and execution. Personally, I love them. Over all, I have to say that I'm a big fan of this film. Feng Xiaogang has taken Shakespeare's influence and crafted a solid drama that has as much style as it does substance. That's not to say that it doesn't have it's faults, there's a few parts of the narrative that aren't as strong as others and the ultimate scene of the film may raise a question or two but, with so many reviews choosing to dwell on any negative they can see, I thought I'd go the other way and be nice.

The Banquet is one of the best movies to come out in 2006. The movie is a huge Chinese production, like many of the movies that have come out of Hong Kong and China during the last few years. The story definitely will remind you of many Shakespeare plays, such as Hamlet or Titus. It's a story about revenge, passion, love, about the dark sides hidden within mena and women. It's about secret shemes, and about the power of passion and lust. The story, in a nutshell, is this - During the 10th Century, The China emporrer is murdered by his brother, who takes over the empire right away. However as we find out, the new emperror's intrest is not the huge China Empire, but his brother's beatiful and much younger wife. The empress, who despises her new "husband", uses her power over him for her own purposes. She wants to get rid of him, so that Lee-Wan, the prince (her step son, who is actually 4 years older than her), can become Emperror and she can become much more than the Emperror wife, but a Mother-Emperror. The new emperror is blindly in love with the young and beautiful queen, yet feels she still has feelings for the young prince and does his best to get rid of him, so there's no threat to his throne and more important - to his beautiful new wife. The new prince survives quite a few murder-attempts, and comes to the pallace to get his revenge. There he is caught in a love-triangle that features the beautiful queen and the Minster of War's young and innoccent daughter, who is madly in love with Lee-Wan, willing to die if she has to for him.

The movie is another Chinese masterpiece - the costums, the colours, the battle-scenes, the acting, the thrilling dialogues, the soundtrack... Everythig is on the highest level. While on a few points, the scrips fails to be consistent, it doesn't take a thing away from the movie or it's greatness. It's a strong viewing experience.

One of the biggest highlights of "The Banquet" (and it's not a surprise) is Ziyi Zhang, who plays the Young Queen. Zhang shows once again, that she's second to no other actress - whether it's her astonishing looks or her breathtaking acting! Throughout the movie, you get hypnotised by Zhang's amazing face and figure, as well as her performance. The range of emotions this actress displays is incredible. Just like "The House of Fying Daggers", this movie was MADE for Zhang, there's no doubt about that. I am sure that this was the only actress the producers had in their mind, when they made the movie. She is PERFECT for it, and she shows more depth than ever, looking more goegeous and sexy than ever. Unfortunately, other than a couple of minutes, we don't get so watch her incredible fighting skills, but hey - she plays a different role. No doubt, she IS the star of the movie, and she also is the deepest character, a women whose purposes and thoughts aren't easy to figure out untill the very end. It was nice to see Zhang play such a complicated character, and it's deffintetely the deepest character she's ever played. And, man oh man, does she look beautiful on every single scene she's on. Her facial expressions are breathtaking, and show the character's emotions so clearly!... I can't say enough about her acting and about the beauty of this woman. She's about 27, yet doesn't look a day over 18. She's incredibely sexy, and she doesn't have to expose flesh for it. It's her face, her voice, the way she moves her perfect body, and the amazing dresses she wears. I couldn't get enough of her appearence here (just like every other movie she's ever been in), and I trully think she's the greatest and most beautiful actress of our age.

I highly reccommend "The Banquet" to anyone who appreciates REAL cinema, who wants to see an artistic movie with amazing acting, and of course all Ziyi Zhang fans. IT's a masterpiece. I even went and saw it twice on the cinema, and the second time was even better for me, as I was able to spot a lot of details and concentrate of the scenes better. The music all throught the movie adds a lot too, Tan Dun's music has played a major role in helping the motion picture to jump to an awesome level of artistic achievement.

When I saw this movie I could not help myself but think that this may be a Chinese version of Shakespeare's "Hamlet". The only difference is that the young prince is not an Empress' son but her stepson. With that in mind, this film is a battle of the wits and fight for power. Innocents die along the way and there are no true winners in this game.

Costumes, manners, choreography and martial arts scenes add beauty to this production. This is Chinese empirial court at its best. Great spectacle.

I watched this movie 6 times within 1 month just because I like it so much. Zhang Ziyi's performance was so great. Music was good. Action was good. Sword fighting screen was good. I like everything about the movie.

I started viewing Chinese movies when THE EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, and, of course, HERO hit. This magnificent, majestic movie, THE BANQUET, just seals the deal. Every aspect is wonderful. It's ballet and opera and action and human nature exposed and all film elements raised to another level. Even Wm. S would be wowed. It's grace and elegance and impact. Even the wire work and CGI are organic. So impressive!

Hollywood, with its box-office-driven formula$ are so lost; hopefully this and other new Chinese releases will draw their attention away from the box- office business and back to the art. But I doubt it.

Many say this is the Chinese Millennium; it looks like the next 993 years are going to be theirs. And movie-lovers, ours too. See this movie and see what's ahead. Better yet, buy it and see something new and thrilling each viewing.

The Banquet sheds light on the Chinese Imperial Court as it finds itself in the midst of intense intrigue and scheming that threaten to tear the empire apart.
It's the tenth century AD and the emperor is dead. Instead of the throne going to the successor prince, the late emperor's brother assumes the throne and with it his late brother's wife (who happens to be the prince's stepmother). Among his first tasks as emperor, however, is to plot and bring about the murder of his nephew (and only major threat to his authority). All is not what it seems though in tenth century AD China...
The film combines romance, drama, intrigue, action, and adventure following in the footsteps of other great Chinese films of recent years.
Moreover, the fascinating culture and traditions of China are presented very well in the film, which in turn opens a window into the mysterious Orient.
The cast have carried out their performances very well, with their great talent and chemistry clearly showing, thus providing for an entertaining film
The plot, the setting, the dialogues, the music, the colors, the battle sequences, the costumes, and the cinematography are all excellent.
In conclusion, The Banquet is definitely worth watching along with some truly amazing Chinese films such as: A Battle of Wits, Seven Swords, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The House of Flying Daggers, The Promise, and Hero. 4.5 Stars