The Banquet follows in the path blazed by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers, and it can be broken down into three parts: 4/10 Hamlet, 4/10 Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and 2/10 House of Flying Daggers. The narrative closely follows the bard's classic tale of kingdom politics, but it is wrapped around a setting that takes advantage of its eastern flavor; it is also mired in melodrama and sorrow, much like House of Flying Daggers. And, although I was not thoroughly engaged throughout the entire film, I did find myself enjoying it far more than what seems to be the consensus. It is a drop-dead gorgeous film, and contains some great performances. While the narrative does keep moving, the film suffers from poor pacing and an anti-climatic ending of epic proportions.
The Banquet kicks off with its best action scene. The first fifteen or so minutes of the film are truly stunning, and I was actually quite shocked at the violence on hand. Yuen Wo Ping definitely took a cue from Lau Kar Leung's work on Seven Swords, because the action in The Banquet is bloody - very bloody. The initial action sequence contains dozens of bloody sword swipes, an amazing decapitation, crimson-red geysers of death, and enough sword-piercing to alert the Freud in all of us. This visceral action set piece transpires in a unique location, and the filmmakers do a wonderful job of utilizing the set to great effect. The action feels fierce, looks brutal, and is, at the same time, full of the beautiful ballet-like sense of movement typical to Wo Ping's style.
If only the film could have continued to push forward with this kind of energy, because after this initial set-up, things start to slow, eventually reaching a somber tone and glacial pace. It is almost as if the film's climax comes at the beginning, and then we are left with a long denuemont detailing the consequences of this action. The film never again reaches the level of energy and pizazz captured in its opening sequences, nor does it ever attempt to. Sure, peppered throughout the remaining two-hours are a small handful of decent to great action sequences, but they never feel as immediate, or kinetic, as the first. This is not to say that the remaining films is all bad though, because it is actually quite good - it just feels like a massive let down after the initial promise of greatness.
To balance out the problems of pacing, The Banquet offers copious amounts of eye candy and some great performances. The eye candy comes in three flavors: the sets, the costumes, and Zhang Ziyi. Throughout the film, I was once again reminded why I think Zhang Ziyi is one of the finest actresses working today. Not only is she stunningly beautiful, but her charisma just oozes from the screen. As the Empress, Zhang Ziyi plays with the emotions of her subjects, and runs the gambit from being a sympathetic victim to a total bitch, all without missing a beat.
Daniel Wu also turns in a surprisingly good performance. I have often though of Wu as the Hong Kong Keanu Reaves - he is usually below average, but can sometimes be pretty good if the film is tailored around his abilities, or lack there of. In The Banquet, Wu lets it all go, and is quite believable as a tormented young man, hell bent on revenge and stymied by confused emotions. The sets and costumes used are stunning as well. With lavish great-halls, giant stone carvings, gold and red tinted backdrops, and lights that dance in the cavernous shadows of the candle lit halls, everything in this film is a sight to behold. Even the costumes worn by the huge crowd of extras are radiant, and with each and every scene, the film never fails to offer up a visual treat.
While the film was not as engaging and entertaining as the opening sequence led me to believe, I still enjoyed myself throughout. The narrative was far too political for me to fully embrace, and the pacing did its best to lose my interest. However, I was so captivated by the pageantry of it all, and remained curious to see what extraordinary sight would befall my eyes next, that I often forgot that I wasn't being thoroughly entertained. Daniel Wu's character mentions why, as a performance artist in the film, he wears a mask - it is to hide the false emotions expressed on his face, so he must rely on the real emotions shown in every movement of his body. As a film, I think The Banquet wears a mask, and does in fact perform with its entire body, while it dazzles the eyes with candy to draw the audience's attention away from the less than gripping narrative.
