Battle of Wits

Year:2006
Director:Jacob Cheung Chi-Leung
Cast:Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Ahn Sung-Ki, Fan Bing-Bing, Nicky Wu, Wang Zhiwen, Choi Si-Won, Wu Ma, Chin Siu-Ho, Hung Tin-Chu
Description:
Andy Lau goes to war in A Battle of Wits, a
period action drama set during China's famed Warring
States Period. As history tells us, during that particular
period of time , China was split
into numerous states, each attempting to usurp and
conquer each other. The country would eventually be
unified under Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of
China, whose story was famously fictionalized in Zhang
Yimou's celebrated Hero. That film was a beautifully-told
epic that placed martial arts superheroes in China's
dusty but beautiful barren landscapes. Those same
dusty landscapes return for Battle of Wits,
but the martial arts superheroes are nowhere to be
seen. Battle of Wits eschews the big-budget
Asian Cinema trend, opting out of gorgeous costumes
and opulent art direction for grounded production
values that seem much more real. That's right: nobody
flies in Battle of Wits. Score one against
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
Battle of Wits
takes place during 370 BC, in the small city-state
of Liang, which finds itself threatened by the much
larger kingdom of Zhao. Liang only possesses a handful
of soldiers compared to Zhao's fast-approaching thousands,
who are led by their renowned general Xiang Yanzhang
. But Liang has an ace-in-the-hole:
a promise from the Mozi tribe to send help. The Mozi
are followers of Mohism, a Chinese philosophy that
actually existed way back when, but has since fallen
out of favor since the Qin Dynasty came into being.
The way the philosophy goes, it pushes a form of "Universal
Love" and moral righteousness, preaching against
offensive acts and wasting resources on personal extravagance
- basically everything that a normal king during the
time practices. As such, one would not expect Mozi
to help Liang's selfish and usually drunken King . But Mozi help does arrive, in the form of
Ge Li , who shows up alone at the Liang
gates wearing a hooded robe, which makes him curiously
resemble a Jedi Knight. He's just one man, but within
minutes he's convinced Liang's citizens to fight back,
if only to protect their lives from certain cruel
subjugation at Zhao's hands.
A master strategist
and somewhat of a pacifist, Ge Li obviously cannot
go the Seven Samurai route to kick Zhao ass,
and instead teaches Liang how to defend themselves.
Some people, including prince Liang Shi and Liang's Royal Tutor , are
initially suspicious of Ge Li, as he asks for complete
control of Liang's armies and total obedience in order
to carry out his plan. What he doesn't want is any
payment, or even cushy digs . This is a movie,
so everyone agrees to this deal, letting Ge Li control
their lives. As Ge Li, Andy Lau is charismatic and
righteous, though the superstar's trademark strut
is still conspicuous. He's initially distrusted by
some of the populace, but before too long they're
converted Ge Li fans. Ge Li does his part by being
humble and self-effacing, and struts all over the
dusty landscape like an Ancient Chinese superstar
that can do no wrong. Among those who cotton to Ge
Li's charms are chief archer Zi Yuan and
cavalry chief Yi Yue , who starts to
develop a romantic interest in Ge Li. Even Xiang Yanzhang
soon grows to respect Ge Li, because on the battlefield
Ge Li absolutely owns Zhao. Ge Li's brilliant defense
strategy leaves Zhao with no option but retreat, and
soon the whole city is in love Ge Li and his manly
facial hair. However, Ge Li's popularity with the
people is not well-liked by one person: the King of
Liang himself. Oops.
Battle of Wits
is essentially a tale of two halves. The first half
of the film depicts Ge Li's arrival, rising influence,
and initial clashes with Xiang Yanzhang's army. This
portion of the film unfolds like a cerebral action
film not unlike Seven Samurai, though it's
much less insightful. The film occasionally focuses
on a few lower-class individuals, affording us a cursory
glimpse of the common man's view of the Zhao vs. Liang
conflict. The politics and beliefs of the people are
called into question, as everyone in Liang must learn
to buy Ge Li's message of universal love, or reveal
themselves to be selfish and generally crappy. However,
the characters take a backseat to the action, which
is presented on a larger scale than your typical Asian
action films. There's pageantry missing, as the film
goes for more realistic, grounded action and absolutely
nothing in the way of punch/kick martial arts. This
is a siege film, with swords, steel, blood, bodies,
and the occasional wounded horse slammed together
into an ancient times throwdown. The sequences are
refreshing in their larger-than-normal scale, though
they lack a consistency in style. There are some perfunctory
sweeping shots, which reveal the use of passable,
though not superior CGI, but there's also some close-up
action which mars things. The action isn't always
easy to follow, and some of the nighttime action is
so grainy as to be distracting. Still, the first half
of the film manages to entertain and even enthrall.
The second half is where
the film's focus begins to waver. Once Ge Li has successfully
defended Liang a few times, Zhao begins to consider
retreat, which leads to a massive lull where people
start behaving foolishly and talking far too much.
Ge Li has proven himself as a capable, though somewhat
superhuman leader, given his propensity to always
be right about the enemy's actions. That aside, his
success leaves the Liang's real leader, the King,
somewhat in the lurch. With an assist from both the
shortsighted Royal Tutor and the jealous General Niu
, Ge Li's status quickly falls from from
local hero to royal pariah. Meanwhile, the film presents
large ethical debates on fairness in war, some of
which are not fully explored. Ge Li professes to be
honorable, and decries the mistreatment of surrendered
enemies. Still, one has to wonder how a pacifist feels
about being complicit in so much death. The concept
of Mohism and its "Universal Love" are given
much lip service in the film, but the practicality
of it is a hard sell. Pessimistically, it's a philosophy
doomed to failure because not everyone will buy in,
and a Mozi follower an easy scapegoat because their
humble nature allows it to happen. Greed and dishonor
can easily win the day. The price of being a follower
of Mozi? Just honor and virtue.
Is that what the film
is selling? Honor and virtue above all? Presumably
yes, as the characters who engage in honorless pragmatism
generally meet a poor fate. Then again, many of those
who do buy into the whole "Universal Love"
concept meet bad fates too, leading to the overriding
message that war basically sucks, and the people running
wars should really get a clue. These themes are timeless
and potent, but the film has a hard time taking advantage
of the complexity they offer. Mohism is portrayed
very positively in Battle of Wits, but it comes
off more like unchecked idealism than a belief system
that could actually work in a realistic setting. These
themes don't reach a definite point either, as the
ideological battles frequently get settled in anticlimactic
ways. Sometimes a conflict is settled with a conversation,
and not during a tide-changing battle, which isn't
that exciting. Once characters begin to act cartoonishly
, Battle of
Wits starts to get somewhat tiring. Blood, death,
betrayal, greed, unrequited love, honorable warriors,
dishonorable villains, crappy politicians, etc. -
it's all here, and it's all a bit messy.
Still, having so much
to chew on can sometimes be enough, and Battle
of Wits presents it well enough that it feels
worthwhile. The film never explores Mohism that deeply,
but it's enough to create interest, especially where
Ge Li is concerned. Ge Li is a larger-than-life cinema
hero whose nobility, intelligence, and righteousness
are laudable, and Andy Lau ably conveys the character's
honor, if not his humanity. Ahn Sung-Ki makes a charming
foil, and brings far more to his character than the
script really allows. The dusty, dirty setting gives
the film an engaging authenticity, and though the
action isn't outstanding, it considerably adds to
the film's pacing and excitement. Director Jacob Cheung
may not be able to assemble all of his lofty ideas
in Battle of Wits into one powerful thematic
whole, but he does deliver a solid, entertaining film
that's worth recommending. Frankly, if you consider
the entirety of Hong Kong Cinema's output in 2006,
Battle of Wits could even be called a must-see.
So go see it.