Saturday, December 21, 2013

劍雨 (Reign of Assassins) (2010)

Fans of the wuxia (武俠) genre will love "Reign of Assassins" which does not lack those superb fight scenes and sword play.

When a revered monk died, his remains were sought for its mystical powers. It is said that whoever possesses the halved body will gain extraordinary power and shall rule the martial arts world. Drizzle (細雨, played by Michelle Yeoh) and her companions in Dark Stone (黑石) assassin group were sent out to murder Prime Minister Zhang and steal the body.

After the incident, Drizzle meets Wisdom, an enlightened monk who tried to persuade her to change for the better. The two fight and the monk dies but not without making Drizzle see his visions for her. Drizzle decides to have a face surgery and live the life of a common woman.


Drizzle, now known as Ah Jing meets Ah Sheng, a messenger, who tries to court her. Confused and still guilty of her dark past, Drizzle seeks the help of another Buddhist monk. An enigmatic conversation ensues but Drizzle leaves enlightened and marries Ah Sheng.

阿靜: 人生可以重新來過嗎?

師父: 去! 死者乃為生者開眼. 過去心不得, 現在心不可得, 未來心不可得.

   
         未來已成現在, 現在已成過去,隨心而去吧! 看 能得否?

Just when Drizzle's life seems so ordinary, the Dark Stone gang moves again and finds out what became of Drizzle. She is recruited once again but in the end, the Dark Stone members fight one another. The plot is not that simple though as who would have thought that Drizzle's husband Ah Sheng who seemingly does not know anything about fighting, is actually Zhang Renfeng, son of Prime Minister Zhang and thought to be dead. In a painful confrontation, Drizzle asks Ah Sheng if he ever loved her and he said it was impossible. With tears in her eyes, Drizzle accepts and decides to pursue vengeance for Ah Sheng's murdered family. She fights her last battle with the Eunuch, also head of the Dark Stone gang, and wins but was injured. When Ah Sheng recovers from fake paralysis, he carries her in his arms and they seem to live happily ever after.

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I think this could very well be the perfect movie to watch since lately the past has been haunting me and telling me what a jerk I was, always shrugging off people and disregarding feelings. Looking back, I had a reputation for being brutally cruel to those who would try to court me. I think I'm now paying for my past crimes as heartbreaker. (LOL!) Not that I'm worried. In fact, it gave me lots of personal space, something I would definitely find hard to give up once I find the one I have been looking for.

Anyway, just where does " 劍雨" come in? Well the movie presents optimism for a troubled person in need of redemption through reformation. It's hard to swallow one's pride and accept one's mistakes but one's gotta do what one must to achieve peace and attain enlightenment.

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