Detective Dee and the secret of the phantom flames

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Movie
German title Detective Dee and the secret of the phantom flames
Original title 狄仁杰 之 通天 帝国 / Di Renjie: Tongtian diguo
Country of production People's Republic of China ,
Hong Kong
original language Mandarin
Publishing year 2010
length 122 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Tsui Hark
script Chen Kuo-fu
production Peggy Lee,
Nansun Shi ,
Tsui Hark
music Peter Kam
camera Chi-Ying Chan
cut Chi-Wai Yau
occupation
synchronization

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame ( Chinese  狄仁傑之通天帝國 , Pinyin Di Renjie zhī Tongtian Diguo ) is a Chinese Mystery - wuxia film by Tsui Hark from the year 2010. The fictional story is based on the historical figure of Di Renjie , a officials of the Tang dynasty . This, played by Andy Lau , is commissioned by Empress Wu Zetian ( Carina Lau ) to solve a mysterious series of murders.

The film grossed $ 51.7 million and won six awards at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards , including Best Director and Best Actress (Carina Lau); At the 2010 Venice International Film Festival , the film was also nominated for the Golden Lion . A prequel , Detective Dee and the Curse of the Sea Monster , was released on September 28, 2013, again directed by Tsui and starring Carina Lau; here Mark Chao played the young detective Dee. Another prequel, Detective Dee and the Legend of the Four Heavenly Kings , was released in 2018 .

action

In 689 in the Tang Dynasty , Wu Zetian is on the verge of being crowned the first empress of China, despite the opposition of the court nobility. To mark the occasion, she commissioned the construction of a giant Buddha statue near her palace in Luoyang . An incident occurs during advanced construction work: A representative of the court suddenly burns to death during an inspection of the construction site. Pei Donglai and his Supreme Court supervisor begin investigating the case and first become aware of foreman Shatuo, who was captured after participating in a rebellion against Wu Zetian, but is now allowed to demonstrate his skills in planning the structure. The investigators leave the construction site again without any special knowledge and soon afterwards Donglai's superior also goes up in flames.

On the advice of the holy stag, a magical creature of the mysterious high priest, Wu Zetian orders the respected Di Renjie, imprisoned years ago after the rebellion, to be brought out of prison to investigate the murder cases. Her confidante Jing'er is sent to the prison with this assignment, but where she ambush hired assassins who are apparently after Di Renjie. Di and Jing'er are able to repel the attack without finding out the identity of the murderer. While Di can now officially investigate for the imperial court again, Jing'er should be at his service and keep an eye on him. When she tries to seduce the detective, the two are attacked again by strangers and can barely escape. Thereupon, Prince Li, a political opponent of Wu Zetian, tries to win Di over to the planned rebellion, but he refuses. During the later examination of the two cremated corpses, Di realizes that the victims were killed with a poison that was flammable in sunlight.

Donglai actively supports Di in the further investigation. When Di meets Shatuo, who is an old friend and colleague from the time of the first rebellion, the latter gives him the hint that the poison could come from fire beetles; But only "donkey" Wang knows about them on the underground black market. Di goes to the black market with Donglai and Jing'er and tracks down Wang, only to be immediately attacked by a mysterious figure who is apparently after Wang's life. After a chase through the branching cave system of the black market, Di is able to bring Wang to safety; Donglai and Jing'er continue to pursue the attacker (s), as the former suspects the high priest to be behind, but the latter wants to prove the opposite. But they fail to catch anyone. Wang later confesses under pressure that as an imperial doctor he once brought the fire beetles to court for medical purposes; However, after he recognized the danger they posed, he destroyed them to the best of his knowledge, made himself unrecognizable with the aid of acupuncture and fled underground.

By giving Di back the dragon sword that was taken from him before his captivity, Prince Li tries again to win him over to his imminent rebellion. However, he fails and shortly afterwards he is murdered by an arrow shot, which also causes him to go up in flames. The suspicion is directed towards the high priest and his inaccessible temple, to which Wu Zetian expressly forbids him access. Meanwhile, Donglai comes closer to the motive for the murder of the first officer, as he discovers a series of drawings in the burnt-out house; but on the way back he is attacked by strangers and finally overwhelmed. Despite the warnings, Di has penetrated the temple and is now revealing the true identity of the high priest: It is Wu Zetian's close confidante Jing'er who makes herself unrecognizable with acupuncture. With the invention of this figure, Wu Zetian strengthened their tyranny. A bitter fight ensues between Di and the high priest / Jing'er, at the end of which Di has to admit defeat. When Jing'er is unwittingly fatally wounded by a hidden device used by the hit man, Di sends her back to the court on horseback, where she dies in Wu Zetian's arms.

The captured Donglai burns when Di discovers him. But he can still give the detective the decisive clue about the inspector's drawings. Di returns to the Buddha statue and can unmask the mastermind behind the events: It is his old friend Shatuo, whose hatred of the ruler grew in captivity. He changed the blueprint of the statue so that it can be deliberately collapsed and buried the imperial palace in the process. He had the two men who discovered it murdered with fire beetle poison. It was also planned that Prince Li should lead his army after the successful collapse of the city and take over rule; however, he fell out with Shatuo and was also murdered. A bitter battle ensues between Di and Shatuo and his men, who are already busy initiating the collapse of the statue. At the last moment, Di can change the angle of fall, which means that the statue will just miss the palace, but is bitten by several fire beetles. When Shatuo tries to ride into the palace and use the general confusion to kill Wu Zetian with his own hands, Di succeeds in knocking him off his horse, with his fire beetles biting him as well and burning him in the sun.

Riding in the shade, Di can get to the palace unscathed and save Wu Zetian from the ruins of the statue. He also warns them about Prince Li's army, which is still gathered outside the city. The empress promises Di not to instigate any further intrigues like the high priest and to return power to the Tang dynasty after her term of office. He refuses a position at the imperial court and retires to Wang on the black market, where he is protected from the deadly rays of the sun.

Production and publication

Tsui Hark says he has always been fascinated by the figure of Wu Zetian, the only empress of China. The director co-produced the film with his wife (for Film Workshop ); In addition, the Chinese company Huayi Brothers was involved in the production and responsible for the distribution. The film started shooting in May 2009, the shooting took place in the Hengdian World Studios in Zhejiang, China, the budget was US $ 20 million. Sammo Hung was responsible for the fight choreographies, in addition to Andy Lau and Carina Lau, other actors were cast as Li Bingbing , Deng Chao and Tony Leung Ka-Fai .

Detective Dee was released in the People's Republic of China on September 29 and in Hong Kong a day later on September 30, 2010; in the USA it celebrated its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2010. In Germany, the film was released for the first time on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 25, 2011 by Koch Media ; It had its TV premiere on January 27, 2014 on Arte .

synchronization

The German dubbing comes from Antares Film in Berlin, the dialogue was directed by Heinz Freitag .

role actor German speaker
Detective Dee Andy Lau Dennis Schmidt-Foss
Wu Zetian Carina Lau Sanam Afrashteh
Pei Donglai Deng Chao Konrad Bösherz
Shangguan Jing'er Li Bingbing Anne Helm

reception

The film received mostly positive reviews.

For AO Scott of the New York Times , Detective Dee is "a crazy, almost coherent spectacle of intrigue, color and movement, grounded by the charisma of the actors" that is "funny but not cheesy, grandiose but not overly dark" . The film is “not only a showcase for effects”, but also offers “enough feeling and tension to grab the attention of the audience”; the "hint of a political allegory" also gives "food for thought". However, all of this is not enough for a "great film". Deborah Young criticized the characters' lack of depth in the Hollywood Reporter , but positively emphasized the "breathtaking sets and effects". The film is "an appealing combination of classic Chinese martial arts and puzzle solving, peppered with modern production design and CGI ". In Variety , Justin Chang recognized an "imaginative clash between Chinese history and Agatha Christie ". The “lavishly designed historical crime thriller” works well for a long time, until it ends up getting tangled up in “an excess of wrong tracks and CGI”. In addition to the actors, Chang praised the production design and costumes; the “extravagant visual elements” would distract from a “complex, but increasingly cumbersome plot”.

Richard Corliss called Detective Dee in Time magazine a “masterpiece” that was not only a spectacle, but could also come up with a “tender, tragic love story and deadly political machinations”. Tsui Hark gave individual scenes "elegance and anger" and transferred his own genius for tricks and deception to the main characters of the film. The stunts are "in the best Hong Kong tradition". Judging by “the narrative cunning, the lavish equipment and the graceful martial arts”, the film reaches the level of A Touch of Zen . Roger Ebert awarded three and a half out of four stars to the film, which has a lot ahead of the “big Hollywood blockbusters”: “the stylish costumes, the decorative folklore furnishings and the rich backdrops”. Although the CGI lacks older, hand-made action, a "flowing grace" cannot be denied. With a “disciplined” camera work, the film succeeds in creating “elegant and almost classic” image compositions.

Awards

price category Nominee result
Hong Kong Film Awards 2011 Best movie Nominated
Best director Tsui Hark Won
Best Actress Carina Lau Won
Best supporting actor Tony Leung Nominated
Deng Chao Nominated
Best camera Chan Chi-Ying, Parkie Chan Nominated
Best cut Yau Chi-wai Nominated
Best art direction James Choo Won
Best costumes / makeup Bruce Yu Won
Best action choreography Sammo Hung Nominated
Best soundtrack Peter Kam Nominated
Best sound design Wang Dangrong, Zhao Nan Won
Best special effects Lee Yong-gi, Nam Sang-woo Won
Golden Horse Awards 2010 Best Art Direction James Choo Nominated
Best costumes / makeup Bruce Yu Nominated
Best action choreography Sammo Hung Nominated
Best sound effects Wang Dangrong, Zhao Nan Nominated
Best special effects Lee Yong-gi, Nam Sang-woo Won
Asian Film Award 2011 Best production design Choo Sung-bong Nominated
Best special effects Phil Jones Nominated
Best costumes Bruce Yu Nominated
Golden Trailer Awards 2012 Best foreign action trailer Antonio James Productions Nominated

Web links

supporting documents

  1. Release certificate for Detective Dee and the secret of the phantom flames . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , February 2011 (PDF; test number: 126 591 V).
  2. Venezia 67. In: labiennale.org. July 29, 2010. Retrieved July 29, 2010 .
  3. Korea Star: Actor Kim Bum to star in Tsui Hark's movie 'Detective Dee: The Prequel'. In: Ph.omg.yahoo.com. August 17, 2012, accessed July 8, 2013 .
  4. Hong Gil-dong: Actor Kim Bum back in Hark Tsui's new film. The Korea Herald, August 17, 2012, accessed July 8, 2013 .
  5. Kim Bum Cast in Upcoming Hong Kong Action Thriller Film. Soompi, August 16, 2012, accessed July 8, 2013 .
  6. 安 蔚: Cast list of Tsui Hark's 'Di Renjie' revealed. In: China.org.cn. August 3, 2012, accessed July 8, 2013 .
  7. ^ A b Anne Thompson: Tsui Hark Talks Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Goes 3-D. In: Indiewire.com. Penske Business Media, September 6, 2011, accessed August 6, 2017 .
  8. Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame. Toronto International Film Festival 2010, archived from the original on September 12, 2010 ; accessed on August 1, 2017 .
  9. Detective Dee and the Secret of the Phantom Flames. In: Filmdienst.de . Retrieved August 6, 2017 .
  10. Detective Dee and the secret of the phantom flames in the German dubbing files
  11. ^ AO Scott : A Grand-Scale Adventure Filled With Household Names You Don't Know . In: The New York Times . September 2, 2011, ISSN  0362-4331 , p. C6 ( nytimes.com [accessed August 2, 2017]): "Witty but not campy, grand without being unduly somber, it is a crazy, almost-coherent riot of intrigue, color and kineticism anchored by the charisma of its cast. ... Mr. Tsui's film isn't merely a showcase of effects, though. There is enough emotion and suspense to hold your attention and an intimation of political allegory to give you something to think about. Not that there's enough of any of that to make it a great movie ... "
  12. Deborah Young: Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame - Film Review. In: Hollywoodreporter.com . October 14, 2010, accessed on August 3, 2017 (English): "an appealing combo of classic Chinese martial arts and mystery unraveling wedded to modern production design and CGI work ... a little character development and an adult emotion or two crammed between jaw- dropping set pieces would have been appreciated "
  13. Justin Chang: Review: 'Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame'. In: Variety.com . September 16, 2010, accessed on August 3, 2017 (English): "An inventive marriage of ancient China and Agatha Christie," Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame "is a lavishly overwrought historical whodunit set around the controversial coronation of the country's first empress. A string of hideously baroque murders and various imperial intrigues keep Tsui Hark's costume drama-actioner percolating most of the way, though it eventually bogs down in a surfeit of red herrings and CGI… “Detective Dee” is a riot of visual imagination. Every widescreen frame of Chan Chi-ying and Chan Chor-keung's lensing is packed with resplendent detail, from the ornate set work by production designer James Chiu and art director Wu Zhen to the richly tailored costumes by Bruce Yu. Such outre visual touches provide some distraction from a narrative that grows more intricate yet also more laborious as it progresses… Performances are well handled, especially by Andy Lau, Carina Lau and Li, whose characters form a sort of emotional triangle. "
  14. ^ Richard Corliss: Detective Dee: A Masterpiece from a Hong Kong Cinema Swami. In: TIME.com . August 31, 2011, accessed on August 3, 2017 (English): "If you see the movie on DVD you'll often want to scan backward to study certain scenes for the subtle pulses of their elegance and fury. The director's trickster genius is shared by the main characters… Most of them are surely capable of stunts in the great Hong Kong tradition… But the movie is not just spectacle; It's got a tender, ultimately tragic love story and enough deadly political scheming to fill a Gaddafi playbook. Indeed, in its narrative cunning, luscious production design and martial-arts balletics, Detective Dee is up there with the first great kung-fu art film, King Hu's 1969 A Touch of Zen . "
  15. ^ Roger Ebert : Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame Movie Review (2011). In: Rogerebert.com. September 21, 2011, accessed on August 3, 2017 (English): "On the basis of its scale, energy and magical events, this is the Hong Kong equivalent of a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. But it transcends them with the stylization of the costumes, the panoply of the folklore, the richness of the setting, and the fact that none of the characters (allegedly) have superpowers… The result lacks the exhilaration of watching Jackie Chan climb a wall or leap onto a truck in real time, but there's an undeniable fluid grace… His camera is also disciplined; his wide-screen compositions are elegant and almost classical, given the tumult on the screen. "
  16. Detective Dee leads Hong Kong Film Awards. In: China Daily . February 10, 2011, accessed August 6, 2017 .
  17. Karen Chu: 'Gallants,' 'Detective Dee' the Big Winners at Hong Kong Film Awards. In: HollywoodReporter.com. April 18, 2011, accessed August 6, 2017 .
  18. ^ Nominees & Winners 2010. Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, accessed August 6, 2017 .
  19. ^ Dean Napolitano: 'Confessions' Leads AFA Nominations. In: The Wall Street Journal . January 21, 2011, accessed August 6, 2017 .
  20. 13th annual Golden Trailer Awards nominations. In: Variety.com. May 30, 2012, accessed August 6, 2017 .