A Woman, A Gun, And A Noodle Shop

 This weekend we sat down and watched A Woman, A Gun, And A Noodle Shop which I had bought a while ago on Amazon but for some reason just kept putting off watching.  This film was directed by the acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou and released in 2009.  Yimou is famous for such works as Raise The Red Lantern, To Live, Shanghai Triad, and also directing the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olyimpics.  Yimou is best known for the shocking and over the top use of color and static shots in his cinematic works.

A Woman, A Gun, And A Noodle Shop, was adapted from John and Ethan Coen’s “Blood Simple”, which I watched for the first time a couple of weekends ago.   If I had to make the decision over again I would have watched Zhang Yimous version first, not because I think A Woman, A Gun, And A Noodle shop is superior, but the story was similar enough (More on that below), that I think I would have been able to focus more on what Zhang Yimou is famous for, and not on that fact that for the most part I just so recently watched this film.

The film stars Dahong Ni as Wang, the rich owner of a popular noodle shop, and Ni Yan his abused wife.  Wang is angry that his wife, whom he had bought 10 years ago has not been able to bear him a son and  takes it out on her daily with both physical and emotional abuse.

The wife meanwhile is having an affair with one of Wang’s employee’s which sets the stage for the Shakespearian plot that ensues.  As stated above this film was based on the Coen’s movie Blood Simply.  So much so, that except for being based in Feudal China instead of 1970s Texas it is pretty much the same movie.   I was once again awestruck by Yimous choice of colorful wide angle shots.  His cinematography skills really are second to none.   You are also treated to several very rare scenes were an ultra-wide angle lens is used, not just to get all the landscape in one shot, but as it’s intended purpose in still photography.  To get REALLY close to a particular subject,  including the background and exaggerating perspective.   I cannot remember a film that used a wide angel to that effect before.  The other main difference was this film seemed to be much brighter than the original.  Blood Simple in itself was shot just a tad brighter than the Noire genre that it was emulating.  Also the fact that Blood Simple was shot in color when most Noire films have been black and white set it apart.  Giving that to Yimou to play with and this film shines brighter still.

I agree with the IMDB user rating of 5.7, as it was a good film, the cinematography was excellent and definitely up to Zhang Yimous standards.  However I found the movie too similar to the work it was copying, there was nothing new here.  There was more comedy added, that’s for sure. However not enough to separate itself from the original.   Some critics wondered why a seasoned and already renowned cinematographer took on this project.  With no real new original material in the film it is easy to question when one might see this more as a film school project.   If I had to guess, I would say it was all about taking the little things that made the original stand out and carrying them just a little bit further and sometimes over the top. , both in style, color, and comedy.   If you have never seen the original by the Coen Brothers, by all means see this film.  If you have seen the original, than it’s up to you.   Enjoy a good story, by a great director.  Just don’t expect feeling like you have seen anything new.   It is however still better than the cinematic re-launches coming out of Hollywood recently.

Feel free to leave me a comment, letting me know what you thought of the film, or if this review has made you interested in seeing the film what you thought afterwards.