The Assassin (2015)

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Movie
German title The assassin
Original title 刺客 聶隱娘 (Cìkè Niè Yǐnniáng)
Country of production Taiwan ,
PR China ,
Hong Kong ,
France
original language Mandarin
Publishing year 2015
length 105 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien
script Hou Hsiao-Hsien,
Chu Tien-Wen ,
Hsieh Hai-Meng ,
Zhong Acheng
production Huang Wen-Ying ,
Liao Ching-Sung
music Lim Giong
camera Mark Lee Ping Bin
cut Huang Chih-Chia
occupation

The Assassin (dt .: "The Attack", original title: Chinese  刺客聶隱娘 , Cike never Yǐnniáng ) is a feature film by Hou Hsiao-Hsien from the year 2015 . It is loosely based on the martial arts story Nie Yinniang by Pei Xing , a core text of Chinese wuxia literature . The international co-production, for which the director also worked on the script, takes place in 9th century China at the time of the Tang Dynasty and focuses on a hit man (played by Shu Qi ). When she does not carry out an assignment out of compassion, the young warrior is sent back to her home country for probation. There she is supposed to kill the ruler of the northern province of Weibo Tian Ji'an ( Chang Chen ), to whom she was once promised.

Hous Film premiered on May 21, 2015 in competition at the 68th Cannes Film Festival . Praised by the specialist critics for elegant photography, the wuxia film was awarded the directing award there, which was followed by a number of other awards. The official theatrical release in the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong took place on August 27, 2015, in Taiwan one day later. The official cinema release in Germany was on June 30, 2016.

action

The sister of the emperor, Princess Jiacheng, is married to the ruler of the province of Weibo, which is striving for independence. Nie Yin-Niang, daughter of court clerk Nie Feng and court lady Nie Tan grew up at the court. Nie Yin-Niang and her cousin Tian Ji'an, Jiacheng's stepson, are promised each other at Jiacheng's instigation, and the two also feel a bond. When the emperor and his son die, the political situation changes and the connection is broken again. Tian is now marrying the daughter of the ruler of a neighboring province. Jiacheng then sends Nie to her twin sister, the Taoist nun Jiaxin, who Nie trains in martial arts in the highlands, in order to then use her as a hit man in matters that serve the interests of the imperial family. When Nie is tasked with killing a renegade governor, she hesitates when she finds the man sleeping with his son in his arms and, out of compassion, does not carry out her assignment. She is then sent by her teacher to her former home, Weibo, for an examination in order to assassinate Tian, ​​who has since risen to become the ruler of the province.

She never succeeds in gaining access to the Palace of Weibo, where she can move almost unhindered thanks to her exceptional camouflage abilities. She intentionally provokes clashes with palace guards and Tian, ​​whom she is combative. Tian realizes that Nie wants to show him who is threatened with death before she goes ahead with her plan. At the same time, Tian's lawful wife learns that his concubine Huji is expecting a child.

In the Regency Council, the right policy towards the imperial central government is fought over and over again. Tian banned him from Weibo out of displeasure with the adviser Tian Xing, who pleaded for moderation. Nie's father Nie Feng is commissioned to accompany Tian Xing into exile. They are attacked along the way. A mirror dealer who happened to pass by comes to their aid, but is also cornered before he is rescued by the niece who also arrives at the battle site. In a birch forest, Nie then meets a mysterious fighter with a red cloak and a gold mask. She never unmasked as Tian's wife, but she is injured in the fight. The mirror dealer takes care of Nie's wounds.

Back in the palace of Weibo, Nie saves the life of pregnant Huji, who was to be murdered on behalf of Tian's wife using the black magic of an old warlock. Tian, ​​who initially suspected the young warrior of being involved in the intrigue, never reports of Huji's pregnancy. The warlock is then killed by the palace archers. Angry Tian spares his scheming wife, who is protected by the eldest son. Never return to her teacher Jiaxin. She explains to her that she has spared her cousin in order not to throw Weibo into chaos with Tian's still underage sons as possible successors. Jiaxin criticizes her for being too soulful despite her incomparable martial arts. An attack from her can never counter.

Never decides to turn away from intrigues. She returns to the mirror dealer and thus keeps a promise made to him. He never accompanies him to the "land of Xinro".

reception

International and Chinese criticism

On the Rotten Tomatoes website , The Assassin currently (as of August 2019) has a rating of 80 percent, based on 121 English-language reviews and an average rating of 7.59 / 10. The conclusion of the site is: "The exciting pictures of 'The Assassin' are a new highlight for director Hsiao-hsien Hou, even if the pace at which 'The Assassin' is playing keeps some viewers at a distance”. On Metacritic , the film received a rating of 80 percent, based on 27 evaluated, "generally positive" reviews.

At the premiere of Hous directing at the 68th Cannes International Film Festival , The Assassin was considered a favorite for the Palme d'Or , the festival's main prize. The film received 3.5 out of a possible 4 stars in the international reviews of the British trade magazine Screen International and thus shared the top spot among all 19 competition entries together with Todd Hayne's historical drama Carol . In a purely French review of the website Le film français , the reception was more restrained and only 2 out of 14 critics (Philippe Rouyer, Positif ; Serge Kaganski, Les Inrockuptibles ) saw The Assassin as a palm tree favorite. The Chinese daily Global Times reported that The Assassin in Cannes was very well received by Chinese critics, while the foreign trade press had problems with the slow narrative and lack of plot.

The Assassin was released in Chinese and Hong Kong cinemas on August 27, 2015, and was the first film Hous to have a regular release in mainland China. According to a report by China Daily published a week after its theatrical release, the film divided Chinese audiences. While some viewers praised the beauty of the images, others felt disturbed by the slow pace of the film. Still others were bothered by the classic "Academy" format used deliberately by the director , which is why some cinema operators created posters that pointed out to the audience that Hous was intentional. Some viewers found it difficult to understand the old Chinese sentences uttered by the actors in the film with little dialogue. Many Chinese film critics suggested reading a script by The Assassin that is widely available on the Internet before watching the film in order to better understand the plot and relationships between the characters.

In a poll organized by China Daily at the end of December 2015 among nine Chinese critics, scholars and filmmakers, The Assassin was voted best Chinese film of the year, ahead of Cao Baoping's crime film Lie ri zhuo xin (English title: The Dead End ) and the relationship drama Shan he gu ren (Mountains May Depart) by Jia Zhangke .

In August 2016, The Assassin ranked 50th in a BBC poll of the 100 most important films of the 21st century . In December of the same year, the British film magazine Sight & Sound carried out a poll for the best film of 2015 among 168 international critics. The Assassin won the election ahead of Carol and Mad Max: Fury Road .

Awards

In 2015/16, The Assassin won 35 film and festival awards and was nominated for 73 more, including the following:

2015

2016

In addition, The Assassin was selected as an official Taiwanese nominee for an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category , but was not shortlisted.

literature

  • Xin, Pei et al. a .: Never Yinniang: Tang chuan qi jing xuan: wen bai dui zhao cha tu ben . Beijing: Zuo jia chu ban she, 2015. - ISBN 9787506382267 .
  • Hai-Meng, Hsieh u. a .: Nuages ​​mouvants: chronique sur la réalisation du film de Hou Hsiao-hsien "The Assassin" . Paris: L'Asiathèque - maison des langues du monde, 2016. - ISBN 9782360570782 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Assassin . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 160495 / K). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ Justin Chang : 'The Assassin': Hou Hsiao-hsien on the Making of His Martial-Arts Epic . In: Variety . October 21, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  3. ^ Roland Altenburger: 2.1 Social Policing and Gender Reversal: The Assassin Nie Yinniang . In: The Sword or the Needle: The Female Knight-errant (xia) in Traditional Chinese Narrative  (= Worlds of East Asia), Volume 15. Peter Lang, 2009, ISBN 978-3-0343-0036-0 , p. 57 .
  4. ↑ Busche, Andreas: Listen to her kill . In: spiegel.de, June 30, 2016 (accessed August 6, 2019).
  5. ↑ The Assassin . In: rottentomatoes.com (accessed August 2, 2019).
  6. ↑ The Assassin . In: metacritic.com (accessed August 2, 2019).
  7. ↑ Halligan, Fionnuala: Cannes: Screen's final Jury Grid topped by 'Carol', 'The Assassin' . In: screendaily.com, May 24, 2015 (accessed August 2, 2019).
  8. ↑ Cannes 2015: Tableau final des Etoiles de la critique In: lefilmfrancais.com, May 24, 2015 (accessed on August 2, 2019).
  9. ↑ Dynamic Duo . In: Global Times , May 25, 2015 (accessed via the Nexis Uni press database ).
  10. ↑ a b Fan, Xu: Hou's mainland movie debut splits viewers . In: chinadaily.com.cn, September 3, 2015 (accessed August 8, 2019).
  11. ↑ Xin, Gu: Yearender: Film critics' top 10 Chinese films of 2015 . In: chinadaily.com.cn, December 28, 2015 (accessed August 8, 2019).
  12. ↑ The 20 best films of 2015 . In: bfi.org, December 2, 2016 (accessed August 7, 2019).
  13. ↑ The Assassin (2015) Awards . In: imdb.com (accessed August 5, 2019).
  14. ↑ McNary, Dave: Taiwan Selects 'The Assassin' as Oscar Entry . In: variety.com, September 10, 2015 (accessed August 6, 2019).