★★★★★ Tremendous mistake that this epic movie, of battles, swords and joyous splendor of colors and banners has not been released here. Woo’s genius for showing action and, at the same time, giving us a perfect emotional landscape of each of his characters explodes in each of the frames, also designed for the wide screen. The landscapes are protagonists: this is not a decorative description of wuxia (the genre of epic and historical martial arts) but an authentic story where the thin precipice (the “Red Cliff” of the title) is the protagonist at the same level as the political intrigues that lead to the fight. There is a lot of heroism and action, but these things are never “cloying” or too much: exuberance in this case is a necessary element of the staging. Woo, who is still filming, has not lost his hand, although our screens have lost track of him.
