Full River Red

Zhang Yimou, a filmmaker of China’s Fifth Generation, loomed large in American art house theaters in the early 1990s. This came following the nomination of his third film, Ju Dou, for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and the release of his gorgeous fourth film, Raise the Red Lantern. For the next decade, Zhang continued to make fascinating, wonderful dramas – sometimes contemporary and sometimes period pieces. Then, in 2002, his focus shifted for a time to wuxia films with the release of Hero and its follow up films House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower. Since the release of Curse, his focus has shifted between the two styles, with smaller films like Under the Hawthorn Tree and larger epics like his first English-language film, The Great Wall. His popularity in the United States is unfortunately not what it once was, with several recent films getting small or no release here. Luckily, his most recent film, Full River Red, did receive a release this weekend. While it does not stand up against the best of his filmography, it is still a solid film – a period piece that is a mix of suspenseful court intrigue, comedy, and action.

The film is set in the mid-1100s, in the Southern Song dynasty. The Song hero General Yue Fei has died in recent years and Prime Minister Qin Hui (Lei Jiayin) is trying to make peace with the Jin Dynasty. In the early moments of the film, a Jin diplomat is found dead and Zhang Da (Shen Teng), a Song soldier known to have a shady past, is arrested for the crime. When brought before the Prime Minister, he claims to have heard about a secret letter brought by the Jin diplomat which will show that the man was there with bad intentions and will clear Zhang’s name. The Prime Minister gives him two hours to find this letter, providing Zhang with a token that will allow him to search anywhere, and also making him take his uncle, guard commander Sun Jun (Jackson Yee) along to supervise the investigation. Thus begins one of the more labyrinthine plots in recent memory. Multiple characters are introduced, including the dancing girl Zither (Wang Jiayi), believed to be the last person to see the diplomat alive; He Li (Zhang Yi) and Wu Yichun (Yue Yunpeng), two of the Prime Minister’s managers; and Liu Xi (Yu Ailei) and his daughter (Ren Sinuo), two peasants with a mysterious connection to Zhang Da. Double and triple crosses abound as the film makes its way to a fascinating ending centered around the poem which gives the film its title.

The greatest strength of Full River Red are the performances. The cast is asked to do a great deal as the story moves back and forth between some genuinely funny moments and a serious conspiratorial main story. Some of the best moments, including an impromptu tea service, are between Zhang, Sun, and the two managers He and Wu. These actors play well off of each other, with Jackson Yee’s unwavering seriousness providing great counterpoint to Shen Teng’s constant conniving and Zhang Yi’s haughty sense of self-importance. As the film continues to twist and turn, Shen also has some wonderful scenes with Wang Jiayi, including some of those which make up the film’s emotional core.

The script itself is also a strength. While the film does begin to feel its length by the end of the 160 minute run time, there was never a time when I was bored with what was going on. The ever-evolving plot machinations were intriguing, and the bursts of action and comedy provided nice counterpoints in a film often dense with discussion.

Some of Zhang’s directorial decisions were unfortunately the weak link here. The sumptuous color of Raise the Red Lantern, Hero, and Curse of the Golden Flower is replaced here by a drab, washed-out blue that looks heavily digitally processed. The film also follows a story pattern that includes a group of people talking in a room, followed by a sequence showing a group moving down corridors to a new location. These interstitial moments rarely, if ever, have dialogue and are set to anachronistic Chinese pop or hip-hop music. It’s an interesting choice which breaks up some talky moments well, but does feel repetitive by the end. Director Zhang is still getting great performances from his actors, but the film does not stand up visually to his earlier masterpieces, or even 2021’s Cliff Walkers, which took beautiful advantage of its snowy locations and was a visual feast as well as a fascinating story of intrigue. Overall, Full River Red is worth seeing for Zhang Yimou fans or those who enjoy a complex story, but it is not among the director’s best.

Full River Red is currently playing in limited theatrical release