The film is directed by Yimou Zhang. If that name is not fimilar it should be. He is the director behind 2002's Hero, 2004's House of Flying Daggers and 2006's Curse of the Golden Flower. These films are all in the vain of the first major Chinese movie to make a huge impact on American audiences Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. While I enjoy CTHD the most, all of these movies present a vision through eloquent design and execution behind the camera. The Chinese acting style however doesn't always translate well.
As I was saying "A Woman..." follows the story of Blood Simple. Like almost all Coen Bros films it is about a person that comes in contact with a bundle of money and get's a situation they don't have the skill set to get out of. Only this time the story is set centuries ago in China. The basic plot is an adulterous womans husband hires a man to kill his wife's suitor. The hitman then turns on the husband. The boyfriend is then drug into this triangle of deception, lies and murder.
Blood Simple is a minimalist surreal noir. "A Woman" doesn't really connect with it's more surreal moments. The biggest issue I had with the film came from trying to make the connections between the two movies. I feel like "A Woman" rushed scenes that it should have stayed with longer and lingered on scenes that didn't really add anything to the film.
Like all recent Chinese films the costumes were magnificent. The colors were brilliant yellows, greens and blues. All this set dressing only made the backdrop even more desolate. In Blood Simple it is the Texas deserts and small towns. In this film it is calico stripped mountains and hills of China. When the movie was over I was glad I had seen it, but I am in no hurry to rush out and catch it again like I was with CTHD. I give this movie a 2.5/5 stars. Check out the link below for the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMGBQDpfLnc
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