lethargic direction ruin an otherwise compelling period story that star the wondrous zhang ziyi and in an excellent role a a woman who join an extremist group in 1928 china and just prior to the japanese invasion of manchuria and and reunite with a former lover who be now work for japan . every bit of drama and forward motion of the story be suck dry by director ye lou somnambulist directorial style . character stand still star at each other for long minute and say nothing and hand hold camera hold forever on face show interminable reaction way long than they need to and edits repeat the same reaction be triple redundancy . we know nothing about the character a the story begin and be give little new information a the story progress and only silence and static shot of lover who do not speak and who interaction through silent dance but share no apparent emotional intimacy . a very sleep inducing film .