The Assassin

[GeneChing]

The Assassin: Asian Film Awards; Mad Max; Oscars.

[Jimbo]

I watched the first 45 minutes of it and decided to finish it another time. I can appreciate artistic sense, but this movie is SSLLLOOOOOOOOOWWW. I don't like it when films try too hard to be artistic by moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. It's an overly self-conscious, artsy-f@rtsy style of filmmaking. Long scenes of nothing happening is not an artistic statement, IMO, but a way of drawing out the time. I felt that the 45 minutes I did see could have easily fit into 15 or 20 minutes at the most. It really drags. Then when it seemed like something was about to happen, it cuts back to watching the grass grow.

I wasn't expecting a lot of action, but I do want a movie to move at a reasonable pace. I'm not a film festival critic, so I couldn't find any entertainment value so far. I also didn't care about any of the characters; nobody seems interesting enough to care about. Hopefully when I get back to finishing it, there will be something that redeems it for me. Beautiful scenery alone won't cut it.

[GeneChing]

Still all about the Assassin...

Asian Film Awards: 'The Assassin' Dominates with Eight Awards
7:30 PM PDT 3/17/2016 by Karen Chu


'The Assassin'
Courtesy of Wild Bunch

The Hou Hsiao-hsien-directed film won the biggest prizes including best film, best director, best actress for Shu Qi and best supporting actress for Zhou Yun.

Hou Hsiao-hsien's The Assassin dominated the 10th Asian Film Awards on Thursday, winning eight out of 15 categories.

The period thriller took top honors for film, director, actress (Shu Qi), supporting actress (Zhou Yun), cinematography, original music, production design and sound.

Hou was not at the award ceremony to accept the accolades in person; the best film and director awards were accepted by cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bing on the helmer's behalf.

South Korea's Lee Byung-hun was named best actor for his role of a political henchman in Inside Men, while Japan's Asano Tadanobu took home the best supporting actor prize for his work in Journey to the Shore.

The best newcomer award went to Jessie Li of Port of Call, the Hong Kong film that also earned best editing honors.

The Asian Film Awards, held at the Venetian Macao in Macau, gave out two lifetime achievement awards: one to Japan veteran actress Kiki Kirin (Chronicles of My Mother, An) and another to Hong Kong master of action choreography Yuen Woo-ping (The Matrix Trilogy, The Grandmaster).

Full list of winners:

Best film: The Assassin
Best director: Hou Hsiao-hsien, The Assassin
Best actor: Lee Byung-hun, Inside Men
Best actress: Shu Qi, The Assassin
Best supporting actor: Asano Tadanobu, Journey to the Shore
Best supporting actress: Zhou Yun, The Assassin
Best newcomer: Jessie Li, Port of Call
Best screenplay: Jia Zhangke, Mountains May Depart
Best editing: Port of Call
Best cinematography: The Assassin
Best original music: The Assassin
Best costume design: The Throne
Best production design: The Assassin
Best visual effects: Bajirao Mastani
Best sound: The Assassin

[PalmStriker]

I watched "The Assassin" a few nights ago as it has been released on Netflix Library. I just finished watching it for a second time tonight and I was able to put the puzzle pieces together as well as spend more time enjoying the movie now that I had acclimated to the formatting and pace of the film. Realism is at the forefront but entertaining the audience with a ChineseHollywood display of choreography is of no concern here. The martial skillsets play well in the film and compliment the intricacy of detail in the story line. I consider this movie to be a Masterpiece and not just in the audio-cinematic sense. It will sit well on the shelf with other film greats such as "The Horde", "The Yearling" , "Moby ****", 2001 "A Space Oddysey" and many others.