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ein_myriaSaw "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" (狄仁杰之通天帝国) at the cinema tonight. It's basically a mystery set during fantastical Tang dynasty era, where China was at the height of its cultural and political eminence.
Here's a trailer with English subs...
Synopsis: When several officials internally combust under highly mysterious circumstances, Empress-incumbent Wu Zetian summons Detective Dee from his imprisonment to investigate. As she doesn't trust him (he spoke against her 8 years ago), she sends along her right hand, Shangguan Jing'er, to accompany him on his task.
If anybody was planning on watching it, I read some heavy duty femslash subtext action going on between Wu Zetian and her favorite courtier Shangguan Jing'er (she's the one who uses the whip in the trailer; there was a face caress that just lingered and some other stuff that happened that just made me go, "that's sooo gay." There were some pretty strange cut scenes though--makes me wonder if the version I watched was censored...
Overall, the movie had pretty high production values, what with several famous HK actors on the roll-call, top-notch wire-action sequences, and a B+ grade mystery that didn't give much away until the climax scene. The thinly veiled political message was a bit lame, but other than that, thought it was a fun kungfu movie.
Update (21/11/10): I just screencapped 2 of the show's scenes for their possible femslash subtext. Warning: spoilers below!
Scene 1
We meet the characters for the very first time in the royal palace. Shangguan Jing'er is serving her royal highness (HRH) dinner. HRH seems distracted with serious matters of state and it takes a bit for Shangguan Jing'er to gain her attention.
Scene 2
Shangguan Jing'er is hurt by assassins sent by Wu Zetian herself because she knows far too much. With the help of Detective Dee she manages to get back to the palace and appears before HRH one more time...
Wu Ze Tian says yes, but...
Notice how they are being surrounded by all her courtiers and lady-in-waiting. This is NOT a private room somewhere. I thought to myself, 'this is a really epic and romantic dying scene between two ambiguously gay people.' I looked around the movie theatre and it seemed that no one seemed to notice. Is it just me???
Update: For those who have yet to see Carina Lau's work (she plays Wu Zetian in this movie), gonz reminded me that Carina Lau also played a lesbian in a pretty good film called "Intimates" / "Ji Sor" (1997). That one is much more epic on the LGBT movie scale since it 1) actually had a beautifully written plot and 2) actually addressed the lesbian plotline. Great acting all around. If you've seen Carina Lau in that, you'll think that the scenes in this movie are even gayer than before! LOL
Update 7/6/11 - Further reading: Judge Dee. :)
Here's a trailer with English subs...
Synopsis: When several officials internally combust under highly mysterious circumstances, Empress-incumbent Wu Zetian summons Detective Dee from his imprisonment to investigate. As she doesn't trust him (he spoke against her 8 years ago), she sends along her right hand, Shangguan Jing'er, to accompany him on his task.
If anybody was planning on watching it, I read some heavy duty femslash subtext action going on between Wu Zetian and her favorite courtier Shangguan Jing'er (she's the one who uses the whip in the trailer; there was a face caress that just lingered and some other stuff that happened that just made me go, "that's sooo gay." There were some pretty strange cut scenes though--makes me wonder if the version I watched was censored...
Overall, the movie had pretty high production values, what with several famous HK actors on the roll-call, top-notch wire-action sequences, and a B+ grade mystery that didn't give much away until the climax scene. The thinly veiled political message was a bit lame, but other than that, thought it was a fun kungfu movie.
Update (21/11/10): I just screencapped 2 of the show's scenes for their possible femslash subtext. Warning: spoilers below!
Scene 1
We meet the characters for the very first time in the royal palace. Shangguan Jing'er is serving her royal highness (HRH) dinner. HRH seems distracted with serious matters of state and it takes a bit for Shangguan Jing'er to gain her attention.
Scene 2
Shangguan Jing'er is hurt by assassins sent by Wu Zetian herself because she knows far too much. With the help of Detective Dee she manages to get back to the palace and appears before HRH one more time...
Wu Ze Tian says yes, but...
Notice how they are being surrounded by all her courtiers and lady-in-waiting. This is NOT a private room somewhere. I thought to myself, 'this is a really epic and romantic dying scene between two ambiguously gay people.' I looked around the movie theatre and it seemed that no one seemed to notice. Is it just me???
Update: For those who have yet to see Carina Lau's work (she plays Wu Zetian in this movie), gonz reminded me that Carina Lau also played a lesbian in a pretty good film called "Intimates" / "Ji Sor" (1997). That one is much more epic on the LGBT movie scale since it 1) actually had a beautifully written plot and 2) actually addressed the lesbian plotline. Great acting all around. If you've seen Carina Lau in that, you'll think that the scenes in this movie are even gayer than before! LOL
Update 7/6/11 - Further reading: Judge Dee. :)
