The Robbe Chinese Film 2009
Cast And Crew
* Movie: The Robbers
* Chinese: 苦竹林 (Ku Zhu Lin)
* Director: Shupeng Yang
* Writer:
* Producer:
* Cinematographer:
* World Premiere: October 10, 2009 (Pusan Int. Film Fest.)
* Release Date: November 20, 2009
* Runtime:
* Language: Mandarin
* Country: China
Cast
* Jun Hu
* Jiang Wu
* Lichun Lee
Set during China’s Tang Dynasty, two robbers enter the a seemingly tranquil village where they encounter a beautiful woman, a group of soldiers, and a village leader scheming to kill the two men.
A pair of amoral thieves end up defending a tiny village they initially came to pilfer in “The Robbers,” a rambunctious black comedy in period duds that plays like a Chinese riff on “Seven Samurai.” More ironic than knockabout in its humor, and packing an earthy punch in its action sequences, this is an intelligent crowdpleaser with some limited commercial potential beyond East Asia, especially if platformed at Western fests.
In his second feature, self-trained filmmaker Yang Shupeng (aka Leon Yang) delivers on the promise shown in his 2007 WWII drama, “The Cold Flame,” especially in his handling of actors and mood. Yang’s offhandedly witty script — whose flavor was not fully reflected in the subtitles on the print caught — is brought vividly to life by leads Hu Jun and Jiang Wu, whose screen chemistry holds the movie together.Clever editing manages to pack a lot into the tight running time without any feeling of haste, and an excellent score (part orchestral, part Beijing Opera-like) binds the film’s several moods together. Shooting in an actual (redressed) village in Zhejiang province, helmer Yang gets the most out of the landscape in a down-and-dirty way, as well as plenty of physical oomph in the battles with the soldiery.
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BUSAN, South Korea — A Tang Dynasty village is the setting for Yang Shupeng’s “The Robbers,” a confused and mostly pointless action-comedy-drama about two professional thieves unwittingly coming to the defense of a community being harassed by soldiers. Almost anything from Mainland China is a hot property these days, and the presence of star Hu Jun (”Red Cliff,” “Lan Yu”) could help sell it to art house markets. For the most part, however, this is festival stuff, and not nearly arty enough for some. Anyone looking for the second coming of “Hero” is advised to look elsewhere.
Xue Shi San (Hu Jun) and Chen Liu (Jiang Wu) are partners in crime who show up at Ma Qi’s home asking for water. They claim they’re passing hunters but eventually show their true thieving colors. As they’re about to make off with some booty, a squad of soldiers passes through, and in a bid to save Ma’s daughter Luo Niang, from rape, the duo fight them off. Now wanted men, Xue and Chen try to get away but are recaptured in order to be turned over to the next group of soldiers. There are more escape attempts and more debating within the town council such as it is before it’s discovered there is indeed honor among thieves, and Xue and Chen lead the villagers in their own defense-which fails miserably.
“The Robbers” swings between comedy, drama, action and romance (Chen falls in love with Luo Niang and tells the story in flashback), never quite settling on any one for any stretch of time. The result is a scattered, disjointed narrative that is unable to pull viewers in, peopled with flat, one-dimensional characters that are hard to empathize with. Many of the themes Yang explores are common to Chinese cinema (loyalty, brotherhood, wealth above all else) and so expectations aren’t shaken up on that front. But if Yang has another message it doesn’t really come through.
The fight choreography, the cinematography, and the performances all lean toward bland. Hu has been better, and the supporting cast has little more than sketches to work from. And the constant mention of the grandness of the Tang never amounts to much. Nothing about “The Robbers” is incompetent — it’s just average.
