*The Message is part of CUEAFS's Udine Far East Film Festival 12 and East Winds: A Third Window Film Festival coverage. The review has been produced for CUEAFS and our partners Cine-Vue
Alternative title:Feng Sheng Written by Chen Kuofu; directed by Chen Kuofu and Gao Qunshu Starring Xiaoming Huang, Hanyu Zhang, Li BingBing and Xu Zhou
From directors Chen Kuofu and Gao Qunshu comes the thriller 'The Message', based on Jia Mai’s novel of the same name. The Hitchcock style thriller with an encapturing storyline in the spirit of Agatha Christie’s novels reminds of the popular Cluedo board game by being an impressive tale of espionage where mystery and intensity are the main ingredients of an inquest to discover the guilty persona among the suspects.
The plot tells the story of the events during the Sino-Japanese war under the Chinese puppet government, where five people are suspected of being involved in conspiracy for the Chinese resistance. After the Japanese intelligence captures a spy and channels of communication is revealed, incorrect information is transmitted to the Counter-Insurgency office in expectation this will lead to the discovery of the ‘broken link’. Japanese colonel Takeda is determined to find the infiltrating undercover through a process of elimination by putting the five people who came in contact with the message through a series of violent torturous interrogations in an attempt to discover who among them is the resistance agent Phantom.
From the very opening sequence of the film, the audience is thrown into a world of visual effects and breath-taking cinematography, much similar to the world envisaged in 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'. The world is submerged in the fantasy historical scene of the 1940s, which is achieved by the thoughtful use of the steampunk camera style to portray that particular era. In addition, the sophisticated storyline adds up to an intense experience in anticipation for the discovery of the truth. The pulsating musical score fits perfectly with the tone of the film and quite reminds of Hitchcocks’ films’ musical accompaniment – the powerful work of Bernand Herrmann – in this case, the masterpiece of Japanese composer Michiru Oshima.
As the characters are scripted in a way that reveals early on which suspect is the guilty spy, proven easily true by the continuous outgoing messages for help, despite the death of a few of the characters, the film transforms from a spy thriller to something a lot more surprising. Although the viewer might put the pieces of the puzzle together during the first hour of the film, the suspense of whether or not the Phantom will be successful in their attempt to send a rescuing message and with what means remains. Moreover, events get more complicated and pressure escalates, while the turning point of 'The Message' is condensed with meaningful ideology about the value of a human's life in the face of a greater cause – an ideal not unfamiliar to Chinese productions, similarly to 'Lust, Caution' where the main character sacrifices her life and honour for her country.
Xun Zhou is a wonderful actress that never seizes to prove her talents and delivers an absolutely convincing performance, through a weave of guilt and innocence and truly incredible power of will and bravery. Li BingBing, despite receiving much less of the screen time, also delivers a powerful performance with her portrayal of a woman torn between her loyalty and friendship, her fear for her own life and her desire to be a part of something greater. The two actresses interact great with one another and deliver some of the best scenes in the film by depicting their multi-layered, multi-facet relationship. Huang Xiaoming glues the film together being the one who delivers all the suspense and painful expectation of violence to the screen, depicting perfectly a Japanese warrior determined to gain his honour back through whatever means necessary.
'The Message' is not entirely a conspiracy thriller, nor it is a historical film, although it does hold in itself a depiction of a dark part of Chinese history. Violence is interwoven with the plot, sometimes rather graphic, but the film is not gory or horror-styled. As the end reveals the events and ideals behind the conspiracy, the audience is presented with an ultimate fundamental 'message' – the human connection in the quest for a greater cause is worth more than the insignificant human life and there is immeasurable nobility in sacrificing one's life for the good of their country.
