A different way of telling a story

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This was an interesting Hong Kong film I saw once when I was a kid, starring Zhang Yimou as am immortal Terracotta soldier, Meng Tianfang, who awakens in the 1930s and meets Lili Chu, the reincarnated woman of his love, Winter. Tianfang had been entombed in the statue of the soldier for hundreds of years before he awakens.The lovely Gong Li plays two roles, Lili Chu and Winter. There is drama, romance tears, laughter and intriguing costumes choices for the cast of characters. This movie definitely brings the legendary ancient China's Terracotta Soldiers to life - entertaining to watch.Grade B

If you've only seen Gong Li's big epics, this movie will come as quite a startling surprise... but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Everyone needs a change of pace from time to time and this film definitely falls into that group.This is definitely not the Gong Li that most westerners know but there is something about Gong Li's dual turn as a naive, ancient court lady and her haughty 1930s two-bit actress reincarnation that will definitely prompt a double-take. It's almost like two different movies rolled into one: the first an ancient love drama, the second twentieth century silliness with some intriguing costume choices. There are tears and laughter, almost like Gong Li was trying to poke fun at herself.Watched with the right type of expectations, this fantasy filled movie is reasonably enjoyable purely escapist fare.