The Assassin

                     

Hou Hsiao-Hsien's The Assassin garnered kudos from the usual suspects primarily due to its visual splendor. It is a gorgeous film, further cementing his reputation as one of the world's preeminent directors. What struck me most was how well the film's visual style mirrored the arc of the titular character's development. 

When we first see the assassin, she speedily dispatches one of her father's slayers and seems hellbent on exacting her revenge upon her clan's foes. However, she recoils from killing one of her targets because he is playing with his child. Hou's camera eyes the noble families much like the assassin: stalking from a distance, the target partially obscured by blinds, silk fabric, flowers, candles, and the like. There is one astonishing moment when the assassin appears as if by magic behind rows of screens and curtains; a phantom materializing.

After casing her intended victims, the assassin comes to believe that more harm than good will come from dispatching them. She confronts her Mom, the film's Lady Macbeth, and renounces violence. Truth is found by her hiding in the darkness as she spies on her targets and is brought to light on the heights with her mother as the fog rolls in. The best film I've seen since Maps to the Stars. (3/4/16)