Since China’s Fifth Generation directors burst onto screens with Yellow Earth (1984) Raise the Red Lantern (1991) and Farewell my Concubine (1993), China has produced a number of international hits such as Hero (2002) and The Curse of the Golden Flower(2006). Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Taiwan director Ang Lee and others have promoted a global interest in Chinese ‘wuxia’ or epic history and martial arts films. It’s still impressive when a Chinese film fills the huge auditorium of Odeon 1 in Leicester Square on a wet October evening, as happened at the recent London Film Festival.

Confident direction and a gritty realism enhance a tale set in the late Qing Dynasty, when Taiping rebels occupy the southern cities of Suzhou and Nanjing. Three mercenaries, sworn ‘blood brothers’, ally their men with government forces under the command of the infamous General Ho, happy to rest his own troops and then take the credit for recapturing the cities. Jet Li as battle-hardened Pang Qing Yun, Andy Lau as the brave but naïve Zhao Er-hu and Takeshi Kanashiro as young Jiang Wu-Yang, put in superb performances. Adding to their other problems, the trio are up against the political chicanery of the wily Qing bureaucrats.

Realistically staged fight scenes are the main focus, varying from single combat encounters to mountain ambushes and full-scale attacks. However, more thoughtful scenes are included, and one of the more moving set pieces takes place in Suzhou after Er-hu has negotiated with General Ho to spare the lives of 4,000 soldiers. With food supplies short, Qing Yun decides they must be sacrificed. A dramatic collage of shots shows the chained-up Er-hu, thrashing and screaming, Qing Yun's implacable face and Jiang’s sorrow, as soldiers on the battlements direct their bows toward the captives in the courtyard below. Peter Chan has stated that he wanted to show an affectionate relationship between men. This pivotal scene highlights the difficulty of command and shows the rift between the two senior 'brothers’. It is a precursor to a tragic end.

The soundtrack throughout adds suspense and excitement as well as lyrical support to the subsidiary love story. The director’s previous film, Comrades, almost a Love Story (1996), about the relationships of two mainland character, was a great popular success. Here the romantic sub-plot, about Qing Yun being in love with Er-hu’s wife, is overshadowed by the men’s relationships. Beautiful Xu Jinglei has few scenes and little to do in the under-written role of Er-hu’s wife, the only flaw in an otherwise exciting and convincing epic.

It’s no surprise that The Warlords was loaded with honours at the 27th Hong Kong Film Festival. The London Film Festival audience certainly enjoyed it.



‘The Warlords’ was chosen for the London Film Festival, October 15th -30th 2008 and will soon be on general release.

See the review on the Dimsum website:
http://www.dimsum.co.uk/culture/the-warlords-tau-ming-chong.html