After Red cliff (赤壁), I’ve already gave up any history movies, especially those called as Epic. So I was actually dragged to see 鸿门宴 (White Vengeance) last Saturday. I’d planned to have a good sleep during the show---I just got off the plane and I was tired. However, this movie turned out to be all right, in fact, it even surprised me a little.

It’s difficult to cast a great history movie because the story, the people, the place have already deeply rooted in everyone’s mind. The creators, either went by the book and bored your to death with no spark of imaginations at all, or get carried away, ruined everything and made you want to curse.

For a Chinese, two many things have attached to these three words: 鸿门宴. Simply these three words could turn back time to thousand years before, let your blood running cold, lead you to feel the tension of a impending doom, and make you wanna sign at the twists of the fate. To make a film out of it like translate these three words into English. The dinner of Hongmen? Sounds like a joke. White Vengeance? Might work, but not good enough, perhaps nothing is good enough.

I can’t expect much more than this movie has produced. First, the director chose the characters right. Everything about 项羽，played by Shaofeng, Feng is larger than life, with his powerful body, arrogant eyes, his presence definitely consumed the screen. On the contrary, everything about 刘邦, played by Leon Lai, is low-key: poker face exposed nothing except a few seconds glimpse of his ambitions. And there is Hanyu zhang, Antony Wong, Andy On each brought the history characters alive. Especially 范增, played by Antony Wong, seemed reach out of the scream and grab the audience by the throat.

Second, the relationship. The complicated relationship between roles is the key to define a successful movie, well manipulated, it brings the dead back, pumps life into the characters and works magic. Poorly handled, it creates nightmare. What’s gripped the audiences attention in this movie is the relationship between the king and his soldiers ( or knights?).  项羽 and 范增 is beyond the king and his chancellor. On the appearance, their relationship is more like father and son and just this kind of relationship set the tone for 项’s success and final failure. At the first, 项’s complete trust and even a bit dependence on 范 lead him so close to the crown. However, 项羽is the king after all. A king doesn’t need someone to talk to him like a child, to remind him that he still needs to be grown-up. That’s why zhangliang could successfully sow dissension between them. Brilliant as Fan, still ended with such a tragedy. What an ironical joke the fate has played! At his dying bed, Fan still played a nice move and gave everyone a surprise.