First, let me qualify my review by pointing out that the Kingsway Theatre upstairs projector was horribly off on the colour and saturation, giving the movie a horrible yellow cast to everything. The blacks were blue, the whites yellow and the highlights blown out. This movie was probably a lot better viewed in decent colour. The movie ran at what seemed to be an intentionally slow pace (except for the fight scenes), allowing you to fully digest the significance of each remark, grimace or smile. There was a certain languid beauty to this pace, but it became a little tiresome and over indulgent over time. It was probably intended to replicate the pace of that period in China where things in royal courts probably were done extremely slowly and extremely carefully. Unfortunately, in a 2015 movie it just feels draggy. Nevertheless, there was an exquisite quality to the movie and the thought process. The main actor struggles to fulfill her tasks as set out, due to what one must assume is her irrepressible humanity. Perhaps with a working projector it would have been better, but it seemed to need more than than the esoteric plot it evidenced.
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