Review for Shanghai (2010) (Region 2 - Dutch DVD)

Shanghai (2010) is a fairly interesting (primarily for its subject matter and visual aesthetic), albeit often cliched, film. There is a decent amount of action and tension throughout the course of the narrative, which should keep one satisfied. The plot deliberately appears somewhat disjointed; here one must remember that the film is told through Paul Soames' (John Cusack) perspective, and that he is essentially trying to piece things together, in order to discover who murdered his friend, and why. Thus, Shanghai does feel like a puzzle which Paul (as well as ourselves) is trying to solve. In this respect, generically, the film could appropriately be classed as a mystery film.

Mikael Hafstrom's film focuses on ambiguous relationships in 40s Shanghai, as characters often conceal significant information from those who are also in pursuit of answers. Moreover, the tension within the film's social milieu is clearly delineated from the outset of the film, and as we observe throughout the film, characters are often wary about who they can trust. This notion of tension within 40s Shanghai becomes apparent shortly after the film's opening sequence, when an Asian man dressed in blue clothing, tries fleeing from Japanese authorities, but is subsequently gunned down in unsympathetic fashion. We are then informed, that the man was part of the resistance, against the Japanese who were occupying the major cities in China during the time (as the film's introductory text tells us). 

Much of the film's tone is accentuated through its visual and thematic (trust, betrayal,conspiracy, crime, etc) style, which quite often make one feel as if they are perhaps watching a cinematic film-noir homage. Shanghai's photography does well to recreate the aura of the cosmopolitan city at the time of Japanese occupation, through the depiction and framing of magnificent bars and casinos, the murky side-streets, the spacious interiors of lavish households, the large crowds of anxious civilians waiting to board overcrowded trains departing Shanghai, et al. 

The performances from the cast are very good, and this does indeed include John Cusack. Gong Li is as beautiful as ever and in many ways, her character (Anna Lan-Ting) embodies the distinctive traits of a femme-fatale, though evidently, we learn that she is intrinsically compassionate. Ken Watanabe's performance as Japanese Captain Tanaka is solid and it is his stern mannerisms which effectively depict the authoritarian nature of his character. Chow Yun-Fat's character, Anthony Lan-Ting (on-screen husband of Gong Li), has the least screen time from the four, but it is not too difficult to understand why he was envisioned for that specific role. Anthony Lan-Ting is the head of the Chinese Triads (Chow Yun-Fat often played gangsters/hitmen that would often resort to heavy violence to fulfil personal ambitions) and the scenes (sadly, there aren't too many) where he is gunning down enemies, could well be perceived as a tribute to some of his previous roles within the Hong Kong action cinema of the 80s and early 90s.

Video
Presented anamorphically in its original 2.35 : 1 aspect ratio, this Dutch DVD (PAL)release boasts a clean transfer that is sharp and handles the film's colour palette well. Furthermore, I was pleased to observe that there was an absence of compression artifacting on the DVD.

Sound
An English Dolby 5.1 mix is included on this DVD (the only audio track), and it certainly makes good use of the 5.1 setup, especially during some of the film's action sequences. The dialogue is generally always clear, as are the musical accompaniments which seldom appear throughout the film. 

Extras
The only "special features" on this Dutch DVD of Shanghai, are interactive menus and scene access. So I guess, the use of the word "special" here, is quite clearly superficial. This film has not been released on DVD in the UK, in fact Shanghai was not even released theatrically in this country (I am not quite sure why, especially given the film's decent production values, strong cast and fairly impressive recreation of Japanese-occupied 40s Shanghai ). Unfortunately the only way this DVD can be purchased (I believe the film has also received Blu-ray treatment in some countries) is online, with amazon and ebay being your most likely bet to find the  Region 2 (PAL) Dutch DVD release .

Overall
Shanghai is a good film, which does well to recreate the ambience of 1940s Shanghai and essentially use this as the backdrop for the narrative which is largely character-driven. The plot contains a few surprises and the performances are largely commendable, in a film which is stylistically akin to many of Hollywood's film-noirs of the 40s and 50s. However, in spite of these factors, I did feel that the film was cliched in some ways, but not nearly enough to detract from some of the film's positives. Whilst it does not seem the type of film which would do exceptionally well at the Box Office, I am perplexed as to why Shanghai has not yet been released in the UK. My guess is that there are issues with distribution rights, financiers etc.

It remains to be seen whether this film will get a DVD release at some point in the near future, but for now, for those with region 2 DVD players, the Dutch DVD of Shanghai is available to purchase online from a few sites, namely amazon (UK & US) and ebay.