A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop (2009): The owner of a Chinese noodle shop's scheme to murder his adulterous wife and her lover goes awry. (5.8)
Director: Yimou Zhang
Stars: Dahong Ni, Ni Yan and Xiao Shen-Yang
Language: Mandarin (w/ English subtitles)
Until the opening credits, I didn't know this was a remake of "Blood Simple," an early Coen brothers movie. (no matter) And, this is a tragic/dark comedy with blundering stereotypical characters. That's what makes the movie work. Even though I don't understand Mandarin, the minimal dialog, the translations, and most importantly the situations were sufficient for me to find the hilarity. I should probably stop saying this about Yimou Zhang's movies, but the cinematography was incredible. The desert scenes, the use of contrasting costumes, the use of color filters and wide-angle lenses, beauty of sunrise/sunset on mountain scenes, ... great camera work. Loved the whole thing. This remake shows that a simple story idea can transcend cultures and times. My Rating: 7.5
