The greatest movie ever made..!

Sadly Over-hyped

Purely Joyful Movie!

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Assassin (Mandarin Chinese: Niè Yinniáng) (2002) Fluttering, crackling, Bubbling, glowing, sashaying, Resplendent costumes, Cinematography and Set design are breathtaking. Auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien Made a visual masterpiece, Sadly, not much else. Painfully slow, confusing. Felt nothing for characters. Somonka is a form of poetry that is essentially two tanka poems, the second stanza a response to the first. Each stanza follows a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern. Traditionally, each is a love letter. This form usually demands two authors, but it is possible to have a poet take on two personas. My somonka will be a love/hate letter to a film? #Somonka #PoemReview

I love martial arts movies. Always have. And there are some great ones out there: Hero, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers etc The Assassin can not in any way be classed as a great movie - only because of the ridiculous slow pace. There's slow, and then there's this. It's cringeworthy how slow it is in places. I even, on occasion, counted the number of seconds when nothing happens and it came to 5-10 seconds, when nothing, literally nothing happens. The viewer is left frustrated. I can understand that a slow pace is common in 'arthouse' movies, but even then there is usually something happening even if there is no dialogue. Frustrating, pointless, and an empty experience. Watch something else...

I watched this movie with a few friends. We had no idea what to expect. Unfortunately we were intensely bored and disappointed. It's an insufferably boring "film" that pans across disparate elements that never seem to tie together at all.It took far too long. It made little sense and was intensely boring. The most interesting element was the old man with the white beard getting shot with crossbows. Aside from that there was far too much attempted, meaningless symbolism.For much of the film, especially in many of the later scenes of the movie, I really did not know who the characters were or what they were trying to accomplish. The film would introduce random characters with no explanation as to who they were or who they were interacting with. Then whisk them out again never to be seen again. They may as well have not been there. In fact they shouldn't have been since they served no purpose for the story and cluttered the scenes.Avoid it.

The Assassin is promoted as a martial arts film, which is extremely misleading, as we see very few fight scenes. Shu Qi is the lead as a female killer, Nie Yinniang, in seventh century China. She was given to a nun as a small child, and after some unseen battle training returns to her birth place to kill corrupt political and military leaders. Qui is stunning and the cinematography breathtaking; first in black and white with shadows, an obvious Citizen Kane influence, to magnificent color shots of pastel looking silk finery and opulent palaces. The problem is the slow pace and somewhat confusing story line. Viewed as a visual piece, it succeeds, but I would have preferred a more clear cut theme. I will still recommend The Assassin for the beautiful Shu Qi, and the richness of the scenery.