Storytelling with elegance, grace and power

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2003)

I saw this at the Palm Springs FIlm festival and was awestruck. Being a fan of Zhang's early work, I was surprised to learn he was attempting an action/kung-fu movie of this scope.
But I was blindsided by this film - it is a cinematic explosion of color and grace. Zhang has always used color in his storytelling to mean something more than just pretty pictures, and this movie demonstrates his masterful realization of allegory.
Add to that some fantastic and fanciful action, and this film is an example of truly great storytelling. Find this movie - rent it - buy it. You are in for a treat.