A beautiful and intriguing film......

Rating: 8/10 (7 August 2005)

This is a wonderful film.
First and foremost it is a work of visual art. Every scene is made to be as appealing to the eye as possible. There are shots from the film that one could frame and hang in a gallery. It is a pleasure to just watch.
Secondly, the movie is about political intrigue. "Who is nameless?" "What are his motives?" "Did he really kill the most dangerous assassins in the land?" These are the questions the movie asks. The story is quite good. It has no clear good or bad guy, and flips around the perspective several times. The story is one of the best in Chinese action films, and stands up against even more story-driven films.
Overall there is little wrong with this movie. Most westerners would disagree with "The individual doesn't matter" way of thinking, and it certainly does smack slightly of communism. However, it is a foreign film, and they see things differently. The only other complaint I have is a minor one. Some of the scenes are a touch indulgent. They last longer than necessary and are just prolonging nothing. But that is a matter of taste not quality.