Shanghai Triad Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Shanghai Triad Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 13, 2011

Nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Zhang Yimou's "Shanghai Triad" (1995) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Panorama. Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features included with this release. In Mandarin, with optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Gong Li as the sexy Bijou

Fourteen-year-old peasant Shuisheng (Xiaoxiao Wang) is sent to Shanghai to work as a servant in the massive home of the city’s most prominent drug lord, Boss Tang (Li Baotian, Ju Dou). The young boy is welcomed by his Uncle Leu, who immediately begins teaching him how to behave.

Uncle Liu and Shuisheng also visit Shanghai’s hottest night club. This is the place where the stunningly beautiful singer Bijou (Gong Li, Raise the Red Lantern, To Live), who has replaced Boss Tang’s wife, spends most of her time. As the night progresses, it becomes obvious that Shuisheng is something of a present for her from Boss Tang.

Shortly after his training ends, Shuisheng witnesses a deadly attack -- many of Boss Tang’s loyal men, including Uncle Liu, are killed by rival gang members. Shocked and devastated, Shuisheng vows to avenge Uncle Lui’s death when he grows up.

Meanwhile, Boss Tang’s top men urge him to leave Shanghai until they find out exactly who is behind the attack and then deal with him. Escorted by Shuisheng, Bijou and a few loyal assassins, he retreats to an unnamed island.

Zhang Yimou’s Shanghai Triad takes place over the course of an eight-day period and most of the events that are chronicled in it are seen through the eyes of the young Shuisheng. It is billed as a gangster drama, but it actually feels more like a conservative coming-of-age film.

The focus of attention is primarily on the relationship between Shiusheng and Bijou. As the film progresses it is made clear that Bijou has become the most powerful woman in Shanghai but the price she has had to pay has irreversibly damaged her life. The various conversations she has with Shuisheng on the island reveal exactly how.

For the better part of the film, however, Shuisheng is in a world of his own. He responds only when Bijou and Boss Tang order him to do something specific. As a result, the atmosphere is always quite sterile, lacking the warmth and intimacy one would rightfully expect once Bijou bares her soul before him.

There a couple of excellent twists in the film that are used to effectively redirect its narrative. All of them are very well timed and not easy to predict. The secondary characters are evenly distributed between them.

Li is undoubtedly the star of the film. It is difficult to like the character she plays but not impossible to sympathize with her. She is a skilled seductress who has earned her status but lost her freedom; given the environment she lives in -- a corrupt society of inequality -- she has simply chosen to be a manipulator instead of being manipulated.

Veteran cinematographer Lu Yue’s (Red Cliff I & II, Aftershock) lensing is brilliant. The entire film overflows with very soft reds, yellows and blues that give it a wonderful dreamy look. The footage from the big night club reminds about Hollywood’s classic crime films in which gangsters and prostitutes always look elegant.

*In 1995, Shanghai Triad was nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or Award and won the Technical Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. A year later, the film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography (Lu Yue).

Shanghai Triad Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.86:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Zhang Yimou's Shanghai Triad arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Panorama.

I wonder if the high-definition transfer for this Blu-ray release was provided by Studio Canal. Their logo is all over the Blu-ray case, in the beginning and at the end of the film as well. Shanghai Triad, however, is yet to be released on Blu-ray in France.

Despite a couple of minor scratches and specks popping up here and there, the high-definition transfer is very strong. I compared a number of different scenes with the R1 DVD Sony Pictures Classics released way back in 2000 and the gap in quality is enormous. Not only does this release address the heavy macroblocking and edge-enhancement that plague the R1 DVD release, but color reproduction also gets a tremendous boost - and this a very important upgrade as the film's unique color-scheme is arguably its most valuable technical asset. Clarity and contrast levels are also dramatically improved. For example, the blue sequence where Bijou wanders around the island looks fuzzy and blocky on the R1 DVD; here this specific fragment from the film looks warm and clear, and feels incredibly atmospheric. Additionally, when Uncle Liu and Shuisheng visit Boss Tang's night club to see Bijou performing, the light red tint now also looks remarkably healthy. This being said, there are a few scenes where light edge-enhancement is trying to creep in, but it never affects the integrity of the presentation. I did not see any traces of heavy noise reduction - generally speaking, film grain is intact and well resolved. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. All in all, I am very pleased with the presentation. Shanghai Triad is a film I wanted to upgrade because I always felt that the R1 DVD was quite problematic (the beautiful Temptress Moon also needs a serious upgrade), and this Blu-ray delivers the type of treatment I was hoping to see. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Shanghai Triad Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Mandarin LPCM 2.0. For the record, Panorama have provided optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature.

The Mandarin LPCM 2.0 track is excellent. It has a very strong dynamic amplitude and fantastic fidelity, and I am quite happy that it wasn't upmixed. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Zhang Guangtian's music score either. Lastly, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or dropouts to report in this review. Despite a few small syntax errors, the English translation is very good.

Shanghai Triad Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are absolutely no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc.

Shanghai Triad Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A film of enormous beauty and elegance, Shanghai Triad has received a solid treatment by Hong Kong-based distributors Panorama. I must admit, however, that I am slightly disappointed that there are absolutely no supplemental features on their Blu-ray disc. Still, those of you who follow Asian cinema closely should not miss this release. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.