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| THE ASSASSIN. Starring - Zhang Feng Yi - Mok Sui Chung - Rosamund Kwan - Jimmy Wang Yu. Director - Chung Sui Hung. 1993. In the world of killers there can only be one, and that one is Tong Chop, so named because of his ability to cleave anything into chunky sized morsels. But he wasn’t always a killer in the employ of the evil eunuch Mi. He was once a lovely young man with a penchant for flowers and romance. That is until he is abruptly taken from his beloved Yiu and sentenced to some intolerable pain, which includes firstly having his eyelids stitched together and secondly enjoying a thoroughly good thrashing at the hands of eunuch Mi’s henchmen, every good movie has them. This all serves a purpose though as Tong eventually finds himself personal assassin to the evil eunuch, cleaving his way through all of Mi’s enemies he stumbles across a useful ally, Wong Kau. Unfortunately Wong’s ambition is far bigger than his hair and sword and soon the friendship will be put to the ultimate test. Chop, chop, choppety chop!!! Friendship, betrayal, revenge! That about sums the story up. Simple I know but it allows director Chung Siu-Hung to concentrate on more serious matters, like making this movie one of the most brutal martial arts spectacles you will ever see. You are left under no illusions as to what to expect as we see our hero Tong Chop have his eyelids stitched together within the first few minutes, graphic and unnecessary I know but all the more fun for it. Tong Chop has quite a way with that sword of his also, not satisfied with the usual slash hack your dead manoeuvres he instead prefers to chop viscously in every conceivable direction leaving his foes resembling the aftermath of a moulinex mixer. It isn’t just mindless swinging of the sword neither, each stroke is deliberate and calculated and Chung Siu-Hung focuses on this with his incredibly satisfying utilisation of slow motion giving each fight that extra special feel. Wong Kar Wai attempted a similar visual style with Ashes of time but unlike The assassin it was art for arts sake and failed miserably. Apart from the odd cheesy moment this movie is nigh on perfect in every respect. I can live with the fact that the evil eunuch Mi has a huge wooden strap on, and I can also put up with the fact that Ros Kwan doesn’t get naked in this movie neither. It did make me wonder why she was cast at all though; barley amounting to several minutes out of the entire duration it seems a waste of her beauty and talent. But that is by the by as The assassin grabs you by the balls and doesn’t let go. Only one movie has managed this amount of style and brutality since and that is Tsui Harks ‘The blade’ and it is blatantly obvious that his inspiration came from here. Don’t piss about renting this film, just buy it, you won’t be sorry! 10**********stars. |
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