Zhang Yimou, one of the most celebrated directors of the 'Fifth Generation', with credits which include 'The Red Sorghum,' 'House of the Flying Daggers,' and 'Raise the Red Lantern' is an aficionado of Cohen Brothers movies. He specifically loves and wanted to do a remake of 'Blood Simple,' their debut film and impetus for their lasting careers. Big mistake. Don't tamper with perfection. 'A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop' is a pale shadow of the original in terms of plot twists, suspense, and overall mastery of the genre. Though the stories are basically the same -- nasty old man who owns a large establishment finds out his much younger wife is cheating on him with an employee. He bribes a crooked cop to kill them both. Nothing goes as planned -- Zhang's film is so 'Chinese' in flavor (as he intended) that the resemblance to the original wouldn't be noticed but for one small scene. Who could forget when the cop's hand is pinioned to the wall by the wife's knife as he reaches through a hole, rendering him vulnerable? Otherwise, there is little to recommend this new version. The acting by the very experienced cast is decidedly Peking opera-like, with broad slapstick movements, lots of yelling and stylized over acting. None of the characters in the film engender sympathy, each more flawed and unattractive than the other. The building of tension is slow and never reaches the desired intensity.
What's good about this film? The locale, a red and yellow striped desert, not of dunes, but stubby hills of hard packed sand, under the tumultuous sky, brooding with distant storms that never reach us, was eerie and beautiful. Still, the many lingering landscape shots eventually deadened my wonder and it seemed the desert drained of its color. The noodle tossing in the kitchen of this desert outpost restaurant was truly amazing. Did the actors playing the cooks learn this expert craft for the film? I'd think it would take years to perfect the motions. It put pizza dough spinning to shame, with much larger pies being flung higher and into much thinner membranes than pizza, later to be sliced into broad noodles and tossed into broth. I was also surprised by the wind activated whistle which warned of the coming police troop on horseback. This early whistle, held aloft like the colors of a fighting battalion, was a precursor to the siren. But why would the police want to warn people they were coming? It's not like they needed traffic to part for them. There wasn't another soul on the desert road for miles. Between the gun, brought into the mix by a Persian merchant and which exploded with the ferocity of fireworks, and the pizza-ish spinning, we are subtly reminded of the contributions of the Chinese to western culture. But this film is not one of them.
A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Sun Honglei, Xiao Shenyang, Yan Ni, Ni Dahong, Cheng Ye, MaoMao, Zhao Benshan
Writers: Xu Zhengchao, Shi Jianquan from the original film 'Blood Simple' by Joel and Ethan Cohen
Time: 95 min.
Rated: R
Opens September 10 at the Embarcadero in San Francisco
Comments