So much average

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Film Review: "The Assassin" (2015)Cannes Film Festival 2015 in its 68h Edition presents "The Assassin" starring an utmost capable and talented actress Qi Shu directed by time-for-Research taking director Hsiao Hsien Hou to come in second just close to Jacques Audiard´s "Dheepan" winning the "Palme d'Or" and "The Lobster" starring Colin Farrell directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, as Hsiao-Hsien Hou directs his leading lady actress to visual perfection in the art of assassination in rural, ancient China where stealth mode had been more crucial then the full-frontal knife-slashing confrontion to provide the nemesis with a killing stroke.Cinemajesty Entertainments 2018

"The Assassin" is much better than most of the cliché, mindless, action movies produced in China. Of course, there are great films made in China such as John Woo's "Hard Boiled", "The Killer", and "Red Cliff Pt. 1 and 2", and Wong Kar Wai's "The Grandmaster"; these are just a few.One way that it stands out greatly is the cinematography. Every scene from start to finish is a visual ecstasy that enchants the audience, making them anxiously wait for a new surprisingly beautiful shot. The contrast is sharp but not in the repelling way a YouTube amateur action film is; it captures the light and dark perfectly. Hsiao-Hsen Hou shows her proficiency in contrast from the very beginning which is in black and white. The light and dark were balanced and gave depth to the scene. When the movie was displayed in full color, I was blown away. She adhered to the color wheel to combine opposing colors in the frame, adding color to the contoured contrast and creating a beautiful shot.The composition of the shots were also great. Hou used the set design and camera positioning to lead the audience's eye to the subject. I also appreciated the masterful long takes. A big problem with most movies is they cut too soon. A movie doesn't have to be like "Russian Ark" where the entire film is one take. If the camera stays where it is long enough, the audience will be able to find meaning from what the characters are feeling and what their surrounding environment is like; if that perspective changes, we start all over.This ties in with some complaints that "The Assassin" moves too slowly. There were times that I got tired, but I realized that maybe there's more to this scene where not a single character talks. Maybe if I observe the characters and environment carefully, I can get my own meaning out of it.The acting was great, and the characters were easy to understand even when they weren't speaking to each other. Also the set design was superb. All shots were realistic and on-site, the natural landscapes and man-made structures were magnificent, and it really immersed me into the film."The Assassin"'s writing is unconventional but well done, where much of the communication is through reading emotions. The characters don't say what they mean a lot of the time, but they communicate the truth from their unrelenting emotions caused by trying to deal with moral conflicts and dilemmas that they can't show to society. Many conflicts don't get resolved, characters are bound by societal demands, and the pain stays. One critique I can think of for this film is parts of the score. There was a fight scene that had a soundtrack that I thought was ill-fitting. It's probably because its composition was too complex for the time period and was paired with indigenous instruments meant for a simplistic, East Asian pace of music. This is only a minor concern and I didn't subtract an entire star just for this criticism.Overall it was a great movie: unconventional, experimental, beautiful, and emotionally realistic; "The Assassin" definitely stands out from others in the East Asian cinema, in the best way.

Long stretches of the cast looking at you in some way that must be seen as significant.I saw no significant.I wasn't sure what was happening, and soon did not care.Very long stretches of people doing nothing much.A lot of conversations that had no life in them.

Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Assassin" is a very introspective, metaphorical and philosophical wuxia movie that requests a lot of patience from its audience. It's more like a slow-paced historical drama than anything else. It's comparable to Wong Kar-wai's episodic, mysterious and sophisticated "Ashes of Time". Both movies received critical acclaim by intellectual movie critics but were mostly despised by regular audiences. Since the trailers aren't very helpful, potential viewers should read a handful of critics and make themselves familiar with other works of these particular directors in cases like "Ashes of Time" and "The Assassin" before watching such a film.There are less than a handful of fighting scenes and only a few secondary murder scenes in the movie despite its title and those scenes are not necessarily spectacularly executed.The movie doesn't have a lot of continuous dialogues but the few words that are spoken are meaningful and help the audience to understand the twisted story that unfolds slowly but surely. A lot of things are explained through facial expressions, still lives and symbols of nature which aren't always obvious to understand. The movie is so slow yet precise that it requests a lot of attention and maybe even multiple viewing to fully grasp its content. The acting performances seem restricted and wooden at first sight but turn out being extremely precise and talented since the characters are all very emotional behind a veil of traditional discipline. The challenging acting performances, the calm camera work, the colourful costumes, the accurate dialogues, the diversified landscapes and the atmospheric soundtrack all add to the guiding line of this unusual film which deals with characters who are restricted in their traditional laws, rules and values but who are longing for emotions, freedom and individual fulfilment. From this point of view, the movie is more than a simple period drama and has a modern message that suggests that individual liberty is a greater good than governmental conventions. It might not come as a surprise to you that this seemingly traditional movie was made by a director who has rather identified himself with Taiwanese culture, history and values. This film seems to offer much more than meets the eye.If you are willing to look beyond the slow mood in beautiful pictures, you will discover an inspired and profound movie which offers a lot of food for thought. If you are looking for memorable entertainment, you will definitely not like this movie. I admit that this film is hard to digest and I couldn't watch this kind of cinematic art on a regular base but I appreciated the movie's hidden messages or at least my own interpretation of the ambiguous content and its coherent yet unique style. It was the director's goal to make its audience think on its own and while two of my friends who watched this movie found it dull, pointless and pretentious, I accepted, elaborated on and ultimately enjoyed its challenges.