Red Cliff (2009) - Review by Dhruvi Modi

History of the Film

The film is an adaptation of a popular Chinese narration by the name of “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”. Decades after the battle of Red Cliff occurred Luo Guan Zhong, from the Ming Dynasty wrote a narrative on the battle. The narrative was said to be historically accurate with a hint of myth and certain parts were exaggerated to engage the audience. The Director did the exact same. He made an adaptation of the popular narrative and added certain scenes and points to further engage the audience. The director made two versions of the film. The first version was made for a Chinese audience which is familiar with the story and so the film was made to extend the two-hour mark. The film was greatly appreciated by the Chinese audience that an American version of the film was made. The American version was shorter in length and there was more focus on the plot rather than character development.[1] The cast on the film was very well selected. The actors were not only good but represented the characters of the story geographically. The director has casted mostly Chinese actors for major roles along with minor background roles. The costumes of the film were elegant yet simple traditional robes. And there was attention towards hair and make-up. The make-up and hair were simple, thus recreating the look of ancient China during the Three Kingdoms period. Overall, the film had great cinematography and was produced in China with an almost all Chinese cast. This film had a huge impact in giving recognition to the Chinese film industry and to Chinese history. Because before the film, westerners were only familiar with stories like Pearl Harbor and Troy.

Historical Analysis of the Film Red Cliff

Depending on who one would ask, the film is historically accurate and no accurate at the same time. Since the film is based off of a popular narrative from Ming Dynasty China, it itself is considered a part of Chinese history. The narrative is also a depiction of Chinese history that was orally passed down and written. The narration was a mixture of facts and myths. The film regardless is still presented historically accurate for the most part. The costumes, the hairstyles and the geographical locations along with the selection of actors is all done to be historically accurate. Certain details like the over representation of Sun Shangxiang’s role in planning and executing the war, was not historically accurate. Women of that time period did not engage in warfare the was Sun Shangxiang was seen to participate in it. There were also the over exaggerations of certain incidents. Kongming might have stole the arrows from Cao Cao but the way the film recreated the incident was exaggerated. The overall plot for the American version of the film was historically accurate since it had the key plot and message of the war, but certain parts of the war were emphasised to attract a larger audience. In terms of the weapons and the strategies used in the film, they all correspond to the narratives of the original story from the writings of Luo Guan Zhong. The fight scenes were extremely detailed which also makes one question the accuracy of the fight scenes. But the fight scenes were accurate and the additional details were used to further draw attention to the seriousness of the scene.

[1] Beth Accomando, “ Red Cliff: Interview with John Woo,” Wired, October 18, 2009, https://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/oct/18/red-cliff-interview-john-woo/.