"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Saturday, October 21, 2017

A Little TLC(w): The Silent War (2012)



Since this Tony Leung Chiu-wai movie just happens to be a mid-century period piece about war and spies, it’s understandable if I see the similarities to Lust, Caution, having watched that film so recently.  But while there are definite parallels, not least of which is Leung’s role as a major character in both, the two films are actually quite different.  This one bears a closer narrative resemblance to films like Enigma or The Imitation Game.

When the espionage organization 701 discovers that the enemy has changed the frequencies of all their coded communication channels, top agent Zhang Xue-ning is sent to recruit an expert to find the new ones.  She’s initially after an apparently-genius piano tuner, but she quickly discovers that the real talent lies with He Bing, his blind assistant.  Recognizing the value in He Bing’s finely-tuned sense of hearing, she brings him in.  Both fight on their own fronts, with He Bing first locating enemy channels and then copying their coded communications, while Zhang Xue-ning acts on his intel in the field.

I usually enjoy spy stories, and I frequently love backroom war movies about codebreakers, so this movie is right up my alley.  The plot gets a little stale in places, and the whole thing has a strong “approved by China” feel to it, but overall, it’s a neat story with some engaging characters at the center.  I’m not familiar with Xun Zhou, who plays Zhang Xue-ning, but she’s great.  This is a woman with nerves of steel who does her job very well, and I love that she’s an accomplished spy in 1949 and no one is getting bent out of shape about her being a woman.  Considering how much of the movie is spent on people huddled around radios tapping out Morse code, it still manages to make the more low-key action fairly exciting.

He Bing marks the third time I’ve seen Leung play a blind character, and I don’t even think it’s only three.  Since this is also the most recently-made of those three films – 2012, whereas Ashes of Time, the first, was made in 1994 – it gets the most side-eye from me about having an able-bodied actor playing a disabled character.  Yes, I know, it still happens constantly, and here in the States, able-bodied actors are still wracking up Oscar wins for this practice, but even if a lot of people still don’t know better, we’re way past the point where they should.

So, we know my feelings on that.  What about the character himself?  He Bing is a little hard to pin down at first.  Obviously, he’s an auditory whiz, performing all sorts of Daredevil-esque feats with the aid of his super-hearing, which is silly.  However, he’s also kind of a pain in Zhang Xue-ning’s ass, which I like.  He’s not really a “jerk with a heart of gold” type, more just a bit of a smartmouth who doesn’t take all that well to having a handler.  He proves a handful for Zhang Xue-ning early on, although he later proves himself quite dedicated, both to the work they’re doing and to her in general.  The two spark nicely together, maintaining a lively back-and-forth with undertones of something tenderer behind the banter.

Recommend?

In General – I might.  If you like stories about spies and/or codes, it makes for a good time, even if it doesn’t break much new ground.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – Maybe.  I like the sort of in-between-ness of He Bing’s personality, that he can be earnest, devoted, irritating, and cocky all in the same scene without being primarily characterized as any one of them overall.

Warnings

Violence, some language, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.

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