7:30 PM, 11th August, 2021
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EMBASSY OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
In the early 1930s, having recently completed their training in the Soviet Union, four Chinese agents parachute behind enemy lines into snowy, Japanese-occupied Manchuria. Their mission: to rescue an eyewitness who can expose Japan’s war crime atrocities to the world. Despite their best efforts to avoid detection, however, two of the team are apprehended almost immediately. This leaves only two agents to complete an increasingly dangerous mission, amid growing suspicion that there is a traitor within their organisation.
Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s first foray into the espionage genre is a lavish one, chock full of visually exhilarating action sequences, as one might expect from the man behind films like Hero and House of Flying Daggers. And although the labyrinthine narrative contains enough betrayals, double-crosses, and trench coat-wearing agents to perplex even John le Carré, you’re more likely to get swept away by the magnificent visuals on offer.