gavin6942 A provincial boy related to a Shanghai crime family is recruited by his uncle into cosmopolitan Shanghai in the 1930s to be a servant to a gang lord's mistress.Roger Ebert provided a counterpoint to the film's general praise, arguing that the choice of the boy as the film's main protagonist ultimately hurt the film, and that Shanghai Triad was probably "the last, and certainly the least, of the collaborations between the Chinese director Zhang Yimou and the gifted actress Gong Li" (though Gong would again work with Zhang in 2006's Curse of the Golden Flower). Even Ebert however, conceded that the film's technical credits were well done, calling Zhang one of the "best visual stylists of current cinema." I don't know if I would be as harsh as Ebert. I do think the cinematography is the film's strong point, much more than the plot itself. But I take no issue with the boy being the protagonist. That seems to make more sense if you want to keep the gangster film fresh.

J_Charles I've been a big fan of Zhang Yimou since seeing "Raise the Red Lantern" and later, "Hero". His artistic work with the camera is a wonder to behold and sometimes, the tale he can tell with his visuals surpasses the written dialogue and storyline.In this movie's case, the same can be said, but for a different reason. The storyline is threadbare, not a whole lot happens until the very end. Instead, the first 75 minutes is spent looking at and analyzing every detail of the main protagonists. Gong Li has the role of Xiao Jingbao, a nightclub singer and mistress of Tang, one of the biggest triad bosses in Shanghai. Her servant boy Shuisheng gets a lot of screen time because in essence, this tale is told from his perspective. But instead of dwelling on the storyline, he spends most of the movie staring bewildered at the people around him.The eventual ending hints at some intrigue as you see the gangsters double-crossing each other but that payoff doesn't really play itself out. It's more just a quick summary to end the movie and leave with a sad note that this story will be repeating itself yet again with more mob bosses and more poor girls being brought into this underworld because of their beauty and innocence.It's hard to get into a character driven movie when all the main characters have so little to like about them. Gong Li plays the role as a spoiled brat who despite her best intentions, ends up making things worse. The boy is too incompetent to really like. And the triad boss doesn't show off any cunning or ingenuity until the very end.Overall, it's a nice film to look at but so little happens and the characters didn't capture my interest.Sorry Zhang - 5/10

Desertman84 Shanghai Triad is a Chinese film directed by Zhang Yimou.It stars Gong Li together with Li Baotian and Wang Xiaoxiao. The film is set in the criminal underworld of Shanghai.In the story,country boy Shuisheng is brought to Shanghai by his uncle who wants the boy to become a member of the powerful gang ruled by manipulative Tang.Shanghai Triad takes place over the course of seven days in the 1930s.The story begins as a fourteen-year-old boy, Tang Shuisheng has just arrived in Shanghai from the countryside. He is met at the docks by his uncle, Liu, who has sent for Shuisheng to work as a servant for a Triad Boss, also named Tang and a distant relative. Before he meets his new employers, however, he is taken to a warehouse where two rival groups of Triads carry out an opium deal that goes wrong, leaving one of the rival members dead.Shuisheng will serve Tang's capricious mistress Bijou, a nightclub singer whom the boss proclaimed "the Queen of Shanghai." When the boy's uncle and the gang's several other members die during a rival gang's unsuccessful attempt on Tang's life, the latter retreats to a remote small island, taking both Bijou and Shuisheng with him and thinking of revenge. Shanghai Triad is a coming-of-age film about a boy that gets exposed to the mob or Triad.It tells us how he gets initiated into the gangster's violent ways.Aside from that,it also tells us how an outsider gets disillusioned to the ways and means of the gangsters in the case of Bijou.The acting was superb especially from Gong Li and Wang Xiaoxiao.Both provided interesting characters.The direction was outstanding and excellent as well from Zhang Yimou.This is could have been a classic film but it falls short to be one for its screenplay shifted its focus more into Gong Li's character rather than that of Wang Xiaoxiao (for commercial purposes I suppose for she was a big Chinese star and the director's relationship with her) when its focus should be more of the young boy rather than the Triad boss' mistress.But nevertheless,it has the capacity to entertain.

trpdean This is a fine movie - wonderfully acted, beautifully shot, quite simple. Without being heavy-handed, one comes to sense the presence of real evil that tempts and corrupts and destroys. It's a little slow at times because the story is so simple - yet the slowness and simplicity does allow the messages of the movie to hit home. Something else I like is that the protagonist boy is not made to be cute or winning - he just is who he is - largely an observer but sometimes acting with generosity and sometimes with contempt. Much has been said by others about the beautiful cinematography and that's certainly true - but I'm also struck by the amazing work of those who constructed or chose the sets, costumes, background characters - they were quite memorable. What a star in Gong Li, and what a director!I don't agree with those who contrast this with American movies - surely we feel the same evil in watching either version of Scarface or The Petrified Forest or The Road to Perdition. In fact, I would say this movie is most like The Road to Perdition of any I've seen - not in its story particularly but in its tone, its simplicity, its contrasts of character, its cinematography. This is also a good movie for those who say they don't like foreign movies - you'll like this one.