As others have already stated, this is a marvelous work by Wen Jiang. The setting was beautiful and the cinematography was outstanding. Western audiences may be unfamiliar with the Sino-Japanese conflict but elements of the story transcend that. I will re-watch it carefully but, on first viewing I could not figure out who "me", the kidnapper, was. There is a possible clue however. "me" points a Mauser pistol at Ma Dasan in the opening scene. Mausers were "en vogue" with many Chinese warlords of that era. Was this a coincidence or a subtle hint? Was "me" therefore Chinese? Why would a fellow Chinese person saddle Ma Dasan and his village with such a disastrous assignment?
Reviews
2 Reviews
The Most Beautiful
(1944)
Taikutsu na...
23 November 2007
This film is just a tedious attempt at morale boosting and not worthy of the assembled talent who produced it. The English subtitles were horrible. They appear to be translations of Chinese translations! The principal characters are all "assigned" Chinese names when they clearly refer to each other in the dialogue by their Japanese names. Kurosawa-san must have been recruited to aid the war effort which, by 1944, was obviously going badly but even his prodigious talent couldn't save this project. The acting is spotty as well. The main characters are credible but they are surrounded by a wooden supporting cast. Perhaps if the subtitles/translations were better, the film would have been more palatable- but I doubt it.
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