Shanghaied at the Egyptian
Today, despite being a beautiful autumn day in the Emerald City, I spent part of indoors, taking advantage of my SIFF membership to catch the movie Shanghai at the Egyptian. It's a period-piece war-drama murder-mystery spy thriller… with more than a tinge of noir. In other words, it's an Old Movie. And it more was than one - it was originally released in China in 2010.
What's puzzling is the fact that this film has quite the international cast - John Cusack is our star and our narrator, but he's joined by Chow Yun-Fat, Ken Watanabe, and (a somewhat anachronistically coiffured) Gong Li. They're joined by a strong supporting cast from at least six countries - Franke Potente and Hugh Bonneville are supporting players…
The story involves a naval intelligence officer trying to solve the death of a friend and fellow officer amidst international intrigue in Shanghai in late 1941, involving Chinese gangsters and the Japanese military. And since it's noir, it's hard to tell who's screwing who. And there's an old-fashioned love triangle at the heart of it.
Yes, it's something of an old-fashioned movie, but in a good way. And it certainly didn't deserve to sit on a shelf for 5 years before premiering in the U.S. I think people should go see this while it's playing because it's a good movie.
What's puzzling is the fact that this film has quite the international cast - John Cusack is our star and our narrator, but he's joined by Chow Yun-Fat, Ken Watanabe, and (a somewhat anachronistically coiffured) Gong Li. They're joined by a strong supporting cast from at least six countries - Franke Potente and Hugh Bonneville are supporting players…
The story involves a naval intelligence officer trying to solve the death of a friend and fellow officer amidst international intrigue in Shanghai in late 1941, involving Chinese gangsters and the Japanese military. And since it's noir, it's hard to tell who's screwing who. And there's an old-fashioned love triangle at the heart of it.
Yes, it's something of an old-fashioned movie, but in a good way. And it certainly didn't deserve to sit on a shelf for 5 years before premiering in the U.S. I think people should go see this while it's playing because it's a good movie.