It's taken some time to post about Ye Yan, a.k.a. The Banquet. I suppose it's because the film was really quite extraordinary. I like to watch films while doing something else--preparing handouts for class, requesting books from the library, messing around with my iPod. With The Banquet, that proved to be impossible. And it wasn't that it was subtitled.
The cinematography was extraordinary. Every scene--every setting--was carefully and beautifully planned out in stunning detail.
The plot was magnificent. There are all sorts of spoilers out there (I'll try not to provide any here), but the film is fairly close to Hamlet itself--but with some intriguing departures.
All that, and the film isn't even in a genre I particularly enjoy. It's Wuxia--Hong Kong Action / Kung Fu / Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon type stuff. You'll find lots of slow-motion, ballet-like swordplay (with its attendant stabbing and chopping off heads. Brutal stuff, but presented in a beautiful way (which may make it all the more disturbing). That's the main reason I haven't asked Amanda to watch this with me.
The Shakespeare Retold's modernization of Much Ado About Nothing, on the other hand, I foisted on her immediately. It, too, takes really interesting liberties with Shakespeare's plot. But that one pleased us both immensely.
All in all, if you can handle multiple gruesome deaths (well, it is based on Hamlet after all!), watch The Banquet--if you can get your hands on it.
And I hope you can.
ds
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