The Warlords – Tau ming chong (2007)

Directed by: Peter Chan, Wai Man Yip | 118 minutes | action, drama, war, adventure, romance, history | Actors: Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Jinglei Xu, Bao-ming Gu, Xiaodong Guo, Zhaoqi Shi, Kuirong Wang, Yachao Wang, Bo Zhou

Jet Li shocked his fans when he announced to the world in 2006 that ‘Fearless’ would be his last Wu Shu martial arts film, but fans needn’t have despaired. Li still shows his teeth in kick-ass action scenes, if not necessarily the traditional kung fu fighting techniques. The movie ‘War’, starring Jason Statham, put Li firmly into the action genre, and the historical epic ‘The Warlords’ is further proof that he hasn’t forgotten his tricks. This last film also shows to a certain extent his dramatic qualities as an actor, which were previously visible in ‘Fearless’, and also in ‘Hero’.

‘The Warlords’ proves to be a perfect film for Li to broaden his horizons while not being far removed from the genre, era, and setting in which he often operated before. More importantly, the film itself is very successful, for both Li fans and the average movie buff. ‘The Warlords’ is simultaneously realistic and spectacular, grand and intimate, and also stimulating in terms of content.

Jet Li plays General Pang, who as a (former) commander of the Qing army is left disillusioned as the only survivor of his army after a brother army deserted him. He’s the central character that has to engage the viewer and take them on their journey through the story, and it’s an interesting journey. He starts out as a victim and a kind of taciturn hero and in that capacity (of course) he soon wins the sympathy of the viewer. But the spectator’s bond with Pang is not an easy one. He appears to be very principled and righteous when, after a victory with a new army, halfway through the film, he sternly addresses his soldiers and even wants to sentence them to death for assaulting the women of a village they have taken. He gives an inspiring speech about how as a young man he once saw a man get beaten just because he was poor and he swore he would never let this happen in his later “career”. But when Pang’s successes increase and he can even become governor of the important stronghold of Nanking, his principles and his blood brother oath become slightly endowed with his methods. As a viewer, you want to go along with him in his justifications – that ultimately his actions are victims necessary for a lasting peace – but it really feels significantly wrong when he and his brothers have just taken the big city of Suzhou and there the unarmed prisoners and civilians — who were soldiers at first — shot by his archers when they all beg for bread in the courtyard. For this bread is necessary as provisions for the soldiers who have to take the next big city, is the rationalization of Pang, and cannot be squandered on the citizens. Yet apparently it is also difficult for him, because he undergoes everything with a grim face and tearful eyes.

The film is beautifully shot, in a desaturated, almost black and white color palette, with nice overview shots of the battlefield confrontations, nicely interspersed with close shots of faces to convey the impact on the characters. The battles are excitingly portrayed and compelling in their set-up. It is very exciting and emotional to see Pang’s first, meager army of eight hundred men, with only archers for firepower, take on a 5,000-man army armed with many carbines. Pang’s strategy is to have his archers, who must get closer to the opposing army in order to hit target, follow a frontline of foot soldiers rushing towards the enemy army, who largely serve as human shields against the carabiners, in order as quickly as possible. open fire without resistance. It’s thrilling, dramatic cinema, from the moment of discussing this tactic, where the vanguard soldiers surrender and sacrifice themselves wholeheartedly – though after some terrified glances – for this battle, to the moments in the battle where Pang finds himself on an enemy throws cannons and turns them towards his opponents just in time.

In addition to the interesting substantive aspects in terms of political considerations and means that should justify the goal, ‘The Warlords’ also has more intimate dramatic components. The heart of the film is primarily formed by the brotherhood between Pang, Zhao (Andy Lau), and Zhang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), intensely and credibly designed by the various actors. This brotherhood should transcend all armies and alliances, but will come under pressure later on. In addition, there is a romantic element present in ‘The Warlords’, in the form of the presence of Lian (Jinglei Xiu), who has a love triangle with Pang and Zhao. It’s a nice addition, but the least effective of the film. The makers sometimes seem, also in the choice of the soundtrack, which is dominated by a melancholic cello in the romantic parts, to go for an atmosphere like in ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, but as emotionally catchy and tragic as in that last film. it won’t be in ‘The Warlords’ unfortunately. However, this does not detract from the strength of the film as a whole, which mainly relies on the tense bond of the three men and the inner conflicts and outer actions of the great General Pang, who knows how to communicate with Jet Li in a compelling way. the viewer. ‘The Warlords’ has already, quite rightly, won a lot of prizes in Asia and could count on a lot of enthusiasm from the public. With the DVD and Blu-ray releases in the Netherlands, the film will undoubtedly be able to count on similar reactions. The film is an asset to the genre and a nice addition to the resume of superstar Jet Li.