Battle Of Wits [2007] [DVD]

I wasn't expecting much as the film has had little publicity, I was amazed at the scope and vision of the film. It is a real attempt to create a film about war and strategy which many Chinese war books talk about but rarely translates to the screen.
The tormented hero, the drunken selfish unforgiving King and the overpowering enemy, brilliant. I sat for the two hours straight through; it was very satisfying on many levels. I particularly liked the screen when the hero is invited to a game of strategy sitting on a hill between the two armies.
Great fun and something substantial to think about too, and at the price I bought it here for great value too.

I really like this film.

It uses special effects, but to help with the story telling rather than just create pretty effects: to be honest I'm getting a little bored of some eastern films where inclusion of choreographed mid-air flights seem to have higher precedence to story telling.

More importantly: the story has a start, middle, and end; characters are three dimensional; and the plot kept me gripped.

The story plays like a good fantasy novel to me. In that vein, I think it is similar to The Warrior [DVD] [2001] which I also thoroughly enjoyed. Perhaps that explains the diversity of reviews it is getting here. If you bought this film expecting a martial arts film then I think you may well be disappointed. If on the other you are looking for a cinematic telling of a fantasy novel type story, then I think you'll enjoy this film.

In fact, I think film producers looking to turn fantasy novels into film should take a good look at 'Battle of Wits' and 'The Warrior', as I think they are excellent examples of how to do this with the story to the fore (rather than the special effects).

Like almost all the Chinese historical action dramas of recent years, Battle of Wits is sumptuously shot in gorgeous, riveting colour. The battle scenes are intense and (almost always) compelling, and the plot, based on a Japanese novel of the same name, is surprisingly complex, eschewing the grand sweeps of House of Flying Daggers, Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

However, the English subtitles are absolutely appalling, frequently failing to make much sense in English, and the cutting together of scenes is over-rapid and reflects video standards of thirty years ago, not the flawless visual brilliance we have come to expect from this kind of film.

I suspect this film was originally intended to be longer. It's especially at the beginning that shots are over-edited and cut together like a series of vignettes, with little continuity or explanation. As the film goes on, things settle down (or perhaps you just get used to it), although there are still plenty of unexplained moments which may or may not make sense in Chinese, but really don't through the subtitles. On the other hand, many of the subtitles are redundant, telling us what we are seeing on the screen (though this is what the characters are doing), when the glorious camera work is sufficient.

Why four stars, then? Despite all this, this is a really enjoyable film to watch, with a philosophic undercurrent (Mohism) which will be entirely new to most Westerners, although it was important in the time the film is set in. If you want to get a picture of what it's about, it's a sort of Last of the Mohicans meets Seven Samurai, although in a fully Chinese setting which is much more subtle, and carries a strong sense of history.

If you have already watched Hero, House Of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and are willing to broaden your horizons, this is a rewarding film, although darker in tone.