The Blade

This movie is raw as fuck. Bones are snapped, limbs are rended horrifically, the rain crashes down into the blood without ever being able to clean it. There are a number of utterly astonishing moments of violence in this film, and that's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things I love in film. Let's talk about choreography and staging. There's an incredibly delicate relation between the two things in this movie. It's always hectic, many of the shots emphasizing the chaos of combat with densely packed and rapidly paced struggles between a small number of combatants. And there's even a strong relationship between the staging and the choreography, with certain environments contributing to the chaos of these shots, while others allow us to finally get some clear context on what's happening. But the other thing the staging accomplishes is the creation of a long series of unbelievable shots and images. This film is often downright impressionistic with its construction of scenes. And then there's the thematic side of things. This film is often described as a nihilistic film, but actually, I don't think that I would agree. The narrator of the film, Ling, begins the film by telling us that she doesn't know what the "inner circle" is, but she lays out a bewildering account of this as something like the principle according to which the price for one thing existing or ending must be paid elsewhere. She says "...the price of all deeds committed within the inner circle must be paid." Throughout the film, she continually returns to this idea to elaborate on it, contemplate it, without ever fully understanding what she means, or what her father meant by it. But in the end, it seems as if the inner circle means that, even across generations, the loser always finds a way to get revenge against the one who took advantage of them. I think there's something about this which could be nihilistic, since the inner circle never stops. But just as Ling's arc has to do with trying to understand the inner circle, I think Ding-on's arc has to do with learning that justice is not an entirely arbitrary, relative matter. I think his understanding of his father's mission to fight for peace with the blade is the core reason why his story takes the turn it does, and it's connected to this concept of the inner circle. Contra one other review here, I also wouldn't say that this film is devoid of spirituality, but that's an entire other subject I don't have time to delve into. (I say this in part because I don't think existentialism or nihilism are even remotely devoid of "spirituality.") All that, and there's a stupid, horny girl narrating the whole thing. (Side note: if you think Ling is a terrible person, I don't know if I can really trust you. She makes rash decisions without thinking, and like anyone ruled by their desires she thinks some insane things, but her only real character flaw is being naive.) "I always wanted to love. But now I can't even tell what I like."