Shanghai Triad (1995)

Gangster politics in gorgeous color

This could be an American gangster movie except that it is so beautiful. Well, that and the fact that it takes place in Shanghai in the 1930s. Gong Li plays Xiao Jingbao ("Bijou") the moll, a self-centered, vain, mean, slutty songstress kept by the "Boss" (Baotian Li) of Shanghai's underworld. As usual with director Zhang Yimou every set is gorgeous and artfully planned, the story compelling, and the human psychology veracious.

We see the events through the eyes of Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao) a 14-year-old boy from the country who, because he is a member of the trusted Tang family, is brought to the city to be a servant to Bijou. She treats him and everybody else like dirt while she plays the Boss for a fool. We can guess that her comeuppance will be severe. Oh, but HOW severe? In this Zhang Yimou goes beyond what one has seen in American gangster movies and gives us something from Machiavelli and Genghis Kahn.

The film is a little slow in parts and Gong Li plays her role so well that she is most disagreeable--that is, until what I might call the "turn." This occurs when she is forced to go with the Boss to the country after a rival has attempted to kill him. Bijou is bored. There is nothing for her to do so she goes to the house of a country widow named Cuihua (Baoying Jiang) with a nine year old daughter Ah Jiao (Yang Qianquan) to lord it over her and to amuse herself with these country bumpkins. But the surprise is that in the process she is returned to her childhood when she herself was a country bumpkin. Zhang Yimou plays this part of the film masterfully as we slowly realize that Bijou is jealous of Cuihua and her poor but idyllic life. But that is something she can never admit to herself as she spies on Cuihua with her lover. One almost gets the sense that Bijou would like to be in Cuihua's place with that crude country lover.

At one point Bijou makes Cuihua loan her some of her peasant clothes and then takes delight in wearing them. We can see that Bijou is in denial about how much of a slave to the master she really is and how unsatisfying is the life of a kept woman regardless of how well kept. She realizes that her life is empty. And now we see a certain generosity of spirit: she gives the boy some silver coins; she tells the boss to spare the woman, but it is too late. Because you talked to her she knows too much, he says. He adds, you see, it is your fault again.

This film sits well with the current communist government of China despite or perhaps partly because the Boss with his small round eyeglasses looks a little like a Chinese Trotsky. But more importantly Zhang Yimou's depiction of the criminal decadence of China in the 30s before the rise of communism is exactly what Maoists like to see. Communism freed the Chinese from all that, is perhaps the idea.

This is not the only film of Zhang Yimou's to play to communist sensibilities. His Raise the Red Lantern (1991) also shows in a different way the moral corruption of what might be called the ancient regime. But Zhang Yimou can be forgiven for playing to the powers that be because he does it with subtle irony and for a purpose, the purpose being to give himself the celebrity and an international reputation so that he is able to make films that might in some way criticize the communist state while he maintains a position of loyalty to that state. Working from within, it might be said. We see this in his To Live (Huozhe) from 1994 in which the hardships under communism are not euphemized. To be more exact it might be said that Zhang Yimou sees the excesses of Mao's regime but realizes that Mao was a stage through which China had to pass; and at any rate, who would want to go back to the time of the capitalist gangsters?

The airy, white tops of the reeds wave in the breeze. The colors are straw and the cottage on the island is neat and holds out against the rain. Inside Cuihua cooks and weaves a basket. She is content. Bijou, in her red dress and her red lips, wearing her jewelry and her superior manner, is not. She recalls the mulberry trees of her childhood and how she would climb the trees and eat the tree-ripened fruit. All the riches in the world cannot bring back those days, nor can she return to them.

She would like to take nine year old Ah Jiao with her back to Shanghai. Ironically Ah Jiao in her innocence wants to be like "Miss," which is Bijou's "title." Ironically, however, it is the Boss who takes the little girl back so that she can grow into the next Bijou.

The ending of the film is as brutal as anything you might expect to see, and yet there is a kind of poetic justice in what happens. In part. Zhang Yimou is always about politics, even though the politics are sometimes "just" domestic politics, as in Raise the Red Lantern. But he does the politics in a way that leaves no doubt: justice or what comes to pass is shaped by those who hold the power, whether it is the power of the state, or the power of the gangster boss, or the power of the master of the house, not by those who do not hold power. And that is the trenchant reality behind the great beauty of any Zhang Yimou film.
June 2, 2008

Thrilling and Edge of Your Seat Gangland Drama

I have read the opinion of the New Yorker and find it sadly wanting in credibility. This is a great movie with a strong plot depicting love, treachery, new horizons, personal growth, and come uppance. I recommend it without reservation. This is a masterpiece and within its fabric there are many weaves which represent a believable plot. May 6, 2008

A majuscule film and probably the most relevant of that year!

A country bumpkin cousin in the 1930s, is called to Shanghai to wait on the mobster's girlfriend. And we suspect, a very hazardous love affair will emerge inside this violent underworld of power, corruption and falseness, where nothing lasts forever.

One of the most visceral and complex films of this brilliant director, one of the top ten of the world.
December 27, 2007

An excellent film with a couple of weak spots.

This film is not in any way a typical gangster film in the American sense; it is a subtle, intricate drama of human relationships that develop around a highly nefarious criminal syndicate. Gong Li, as always, is fabulous. The story is believable, effective, and has some wonderful twists.

My only hesitation is that I found the central character of the young boy, and the framing of the film through "his eyes" as forced to the point of being grating. He is an unengaging, unendearing child. It seems like a ploy to elicit audience sympathy and engagement, and is wholly unnecessary. The wasted energy on this element of the story should have been focused elsewhere.

Still, a fascinating film that leaves an impression. September 6, 2005

Good setting and atmosphere of 1930s Shanghai violence

This 1995 Chinese film is set in the flamboyant gangster era of the 1930s in Shanghai. We see it through the eyes of a 14 year old boy who is a distant relative of the gang leader and comes from the country to work as a servant to the gangster's mistress played by the beautiful Gong Li. She's arrogant, harsh and demanding and it's easy to dislike her.

There's a gang war going on and suddenly the boss, his mistress and the boy have to go into hiding on a small island where they can't be found. The only inhabitants are a widow and her young 9-year old daughter who is endearing to everyone. But there is no escaping the violence around them. Soon, everyone is caught up in it. The inevitable ending is sad and disturbing.

Acting is universally good, especially the roles played by the boy, Wang Xiaoxiao. He's wide eyed with wonder and very believable. The director is Yimou Zhang. I've seen several of his films and they are all good, but this somehow misses the mark. It was well done well but I was uneasy throughout and found it dragged a bit. Shanghai Triad is successful inasmuch as it depicted a time and place and atmosphere. I recommend it for its style and introduction to Chinese film. However, I save my higher recommendations for some his other films such as Raise the Red Lantern, House of Flying Daggers and Hero.
March 26, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...