Last weekend, I had the pleasure of watching 风声, Feng Sheng (English title: The Message), an espionage thriller based on a 2007 novel written by Chinese author Jia Mai, set in World War 2 Japanese-invaded China. Not only is the Japanese-controlled puppet government battling resistance from Chiang Kai-Shek, their officials are also being gruesomely assassinated by his spies, something very quickly, and very effectively, established at the beginning of the film.
Enters a lone Japanese commander who takes it upon himself to counter this “insurgency”. He identifies the assassinations to be coordinated by a spy codenamed “Magnum” who is getting intelligence from a mole planted in the puppet government. This mole also has a cool codename: ‘The Phantom”. Because spies always have cool names.
In order to smoke out this mole, Commander Takeda sets a trap by passing down a false message to be transmitted. When it becomes apparent that this message is passed on to the resistance as intelligence, Commander Takeda is then able to narrow down the suspects to the only five individuals to have came into contact with the false message:
- Jin Shenghuo, played by Ying Da, the portly bespectacled man director of the military office through which the message was relayed.
- Wu Zhiguo, played by Zhang Hanyu (also in The Founding of a Republic & Assembly), a veteran soldier who has survived three bullets and serves as captain of a commando unit.
- Gu Xiaomeng, played by Zhou Xun (also in Painted Skin), a lowly dispatcher responsible for sending and receiving morse code transmissions.
- Li Ningyu, played by Li Bingbing, a UPenn Wharton graduate and expert at codes, cyphers, and cryptology.
- Bai Xiaonian, played by Alec Su, the effeminate secretary of a certain Commander Zhang for whom the message was sent to.
Appropriately, Commander Takeda and his appropriately evil Chinese lackey, Wang Tianxiang, gather these five to a secluded and thoroughly spooky mansion (think “castle”) to sort out who’s who. What follows is essentially a small game of Mafia (replete with day and night cycles), as each individual must defend their innocence and help Takeda and Wang figure out which one of them is “The Phantom” before any of them are allowed to leave. Their rooms are bugged, they’re observed, and what begins with some questioning soon becomes horrifying torture with hopes of confession.
Overall, the movie aspires to and captures a certain ambiance best described as “film noir”, but it was inconsistent, sometimes even a bit contrived (look out for the singing in German). Both principal characters, the relationship between Guo Xiaomeng and Li Ningyu was also inescapably awkward. The film suggests that they are close friends — “sisters” even — but their on-screen interactions always felt distant and unconvincing in a way that may reinforce the theme of distrust in The Message but also made me wonder if there weren’t some weird lesbian overtones. Of course, that might say more about me than the director.
That all said (and they had to be said), the plot was definitely enjoyable and the movie certainly worth watching.
The Message is subtitled in English and they are decent though, as always, imperfect. Certain scenes such as Li Ningyu’s nude violation scene and some particularly gruesome torture scenes were edited out of the mainland China theatrical release because mainland Chinese people can’t handle boobies and too much violence.
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Roland Emmerich’s 2009 apocalyptic movie “2012″ has been praised and criticized for pandering to China and Chinese audiences…and why that’s egotistically ridiculous.
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Review of China’s star-studded epic chronicling the Chinese Civil War between Chiang’s Nationalists & Mao’s Communists. This film celebrates the PRC’s 60th anniversary.
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A review of the 2009 Chinese film on the Nanjing Massacre that proved to be shocking as expected, but not the propaganda film that many foreigners feared.
2012 Movie: Praising China & The Chinese? No, Not Really 
The Founding of a Republic Not Overwhelmed By Propaganda! 
Nanjing! Nanjing! Movie Excellent, Made Me Cry Like A Little Girl 
I saw in Hong Kong, where the movie must also have been “castrated” (i.e. edited). There were many incomprehensible parts. For example, with respect to the torture of Bai Xiaonian, I read later in a newspaper that he had been castrated. I could never have guessed that from seeing the movie. I wish they would release an unedited edition on DVD some day.
The movie was otherwise a test of perception skills. Here is the basic premise — the “castrated” movie for two hours already, so anything redundant has been deleted. Conversely, anything that remains is not redundant. So I was just picking up on those seemingly irrelevant details.
For example, why did Gu Xiaomeng spend such an inordinate amount of time sewing? There must have been a purpose.
As another example, Wu Zhiguo was rushed to the hospital emergency room to repair his wounds from the torture. As soon as he came to, he started to sing a folk song. The camera then spent several seconds to show an unidentified nurse exiting the room. Hmm … the only stimulus was that song! Go back to when that song was first heard on the castle verandah — hey, that took up several minutes of the movie! It all figures …
For me, the challenge in life has always been how to filter out the essential from the noise in life. A movie distilled down to the essentials is an interesting mental exercise, but it is just not life. In real life, nobody is going to distill it down for you.
Hey Roland,
Strange, I didn’t think he was castrated. All I recall was seeing them sharpening a single protruding spike on a bed of spikes and then a cut to a new scene. I thought he had been impaled upon that…er…anally, and I wasn’t the only one to think that.
I agree that the sewing and singing were fairly obvious cues as to what was happening. The movie was still fun.
Love your movie reviews, Kai! Keep them coming! I’m always hesitant to go to see some of these newer Chinese films (I’ve unfortunately become impatient (read: cheap) with film in my old age, so I’m never willing to shell out the RMB for what might be a dud. I guess it also doesn’t help that I’m still stuck in the 80s and 90s when it comes to Chinese cinema i.e. I like the goofy old Hong Kong movies they show on long bus trips more than anything I’ve seen post-2000.) Anyway, it’s nice to get a “preview” from a trusted source…thanks!
Cheers, AndyR. I totally understand the fear of paying good money to see a crappy film. Just remember, though, there’s always PPStream. ;)
I just saw the cast promoting this show on 康熙来了。 Sounds interesting. I just don’t want to see it.
I saw it in a theater last winter when it was on in Shanghai, I thought it was so-so, but I have to admit that is partly because I didn’t catch 100% of it (theaters have no subtitles !)
I would say the “F of a Republic” is better executed, overall more informative and entertaining. OK, it is not at all the same kind of movie I know, but I just say this for those who are wondering which one to watch.
Completely offtopic:
I like your comment “mainland Chinese can’t handle boobies”. Not only because of its double meaning, but mostly because it constitutes a major enigma for me: I always associated old sex censorship in Western countries with Christian morals, but what line in the Communist Bible forbids to show erotic scenes? Or perhaps a better question: how does banning boobs benefit the development and political stability of a country (since this is the ultimate goal of most CCP policies)?