The Warlords

A general whose army has been destroyed comes out alive from among the dead and meets two bandits. The three swear themselves brothers, fold their men into the imperial army and go to war against the Taiping rebellion. The more they win, the more useless the oath between them becomes. The subject is not war but a brotherhood oath collapsing at the first serious decision. In the besieged city the question of what to do with the soldiers who surrender arrives, and the three answer differently; the film never recovers after that scene. The form is muddy and crowded. The battles are shot as scrimmage rather than choreography; swords catch, men fall on one another, and death looks ugly. The source is a real nineteenth-century assassination: the killing of a commander who had risen to a governorship. Chang Cheh filmed the same case in 1973; this production tells it from a far bleaker position. It won a string of prizes at the Hong Kong Film Awards including best film and best director. Jet Li plays the general, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro the two bandits. Peter Chan directs. Who it is for: viewers who like historical war films and epics that end badly. Who it is not for: anyone expecting clean fight choreography; the combat here is ugly on purpose.