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Review

Chinese master Zhang puts his artful spin on a 1930s crime period piece with mixed results. At times entrancing at others simply tediously trance-enducing, the film follows the first several days in the apprenticeship of young Tang Shuisheng, a 14-year-old "country bumpkin" (as he is repeatedly called). Thanks to his uncle Liu's influence, Shuisheng is to be the personal servant of Bijou (Gong), the extravagant moll of triad boss Mr. Tang. The film meanders through its first half, suffering from an absolutely sonambulistic editing pace and getting dragged down by a series of overly long singing numbers in which Bijou entertains at the Boss' nightclub. The film finally finds a narrative pace as it explores Bijou's process of personal transformation. Still, the film ultimately fails to provide the crystal clear social commentary that is so evident in all of Zhang's other films, which might have been OK had it served up the action-packed crime drama that it might have. (Mandarin with English subtitles)