The Vindicator
十三猎杀
China, 2020, colour, 2.35:1, 92 mins.
Director: Li Bin 李斌.
Rating: 5/10.
Martial-arts pursuit drama, set during the Sino-Japanese War, makes good use of modest resources.
STORY
Gaojia’ao village, somewhere in southern China, during the Sino-Japanese War. CPC secret agent Gao Lang (Gu Shangwei) searches for his colleague Ye Wushuang (Tang Yan), who has vital information about the enemy. Though heavily pregnant, she is on the run, after her husband was killed by the Japanese. Gao Lang traces her to his home village of Gaojiao’ao, where he was known when young as Dahuwa (“tiger-killing baby”) for his martial-arts skills. After returning from a hunt with the villagers, the whole comunity has a feast, in which Ye Wushuang takes part. Next day a 12-strong Japanese squad, led by Ishihara Hiroichiro (Shibuya Tenma), arrives and arrests Ye Wushuang; afterwards they massacre the villagers. Only Gao Lang manages to escape alive, despite the efforts of the squad’s sniper, Muto Ei (Zeng Ang), who takes real delight in his work. Ishihara Hiroichiro orders his men to treat Ye Wushuang well, as she is a valuable bargaining-chip and must be delivered alive to headquarters. Gao Lang, whose job is to find and protect Ye Wushuang, pursues the squad, picking them off one by one as they make their way through the mountainous, forested landscape.
REVIEW
On the surface a schlocky action drama showcasing martial artist Gu Shangwei 谷尚蔚 (Bloody Destiny 拳霸风云, 2015), The Vindicator 十三猎杀 is a surprisingly engaging pursuit movie set during the Sino-Japanese War that makes clever use of a modest budget and is consistently well-shot and cut. It’s the first commercial outing by young Qingdao-born film-maker Li Bin 李斌, 27, who already has three more or less experimental indie productions under his belt: The Buddha, the Red Shoes and the Kite 佛像，红舞鞋与风筝 (2014) – self-described as a tribute to the early films of Hong Kong’s Wang Jiawei 王家卫 [Wong Kar-wai] – Seven Days After My Death 我死后的七天 (2016) and Eat My Father for Dinner 晚餐吃了爸爸 (2017), in all of which he also played the lead role. One of the few new Mainland films (as opposed to old favourites and foreign movies) released since cinemas started to re-open in low-risk areas from 20 Jul, it clocked up RMB7 million at the box office, a respectable amount given its indie status and the general circumstances.
The back-of-a-coaster script is just an excuse for a barebones tale in which a CPC secret agent pursues a 12-strong Japanese squad and its determined leader through the hills and forests after they’ve massacred a whole village and made off with a heavily pregnant spy who has some vital information (never disclosed). Gu is no actor but he’s not called upon to be one, as he superhumanly picks off the Japanese and finally executes the squad’s singleminded leader (Japan’s Shibuya Tenma 涩谷天马, Ip Man 叶问, 2008) and sadistic sniper (China’s Zeng Ang 曾昂, Luojing Mountain 落经山, 2013). As the kidnapped spy, 36-year-old actress Tang Yan 汤嬿 (Assembly 集结号, 2007) suffers stoically but like Gu has little to say. Character development is all devoted to the Japanese squad (played by a mixture of Japanese and Chinese actors), with one conflicted soldier (Takagi Teiyu 高木贞佑) included for good measure.
Widescreen photography by Deng Lei 邓磊 makes good use of the remote locations (including aerial shots), cutting is especially good in maintaining tension and surprise, and the bloody action is staged okay. The Chinese title literally means “Thirteen Hunt and Kill”, which is basically the whole plot.
CREDITS
Presented by Very Film & TV Culture Media Wenzhou (CN), Beijing Weewant Pictures (CN).
Script: Luo Bin, Zhang Yang, Piao Qi. Photography: Deng Lei. Editing: Si Fangyu, Li Lin. Music: Ren Yajing, Liu Cong. Art direction: Shao Jianhao. Styling: Oh Ga-ang. Sound: Jiang Kuan, Wu Yue, Li Yan. Action: Gu Shangwei, Du Jinghuai. Executive direction: Li Jiaxing, Sun Jinbao.
Cast: Gu Shangwei (Gao Lang/Dahuwa), Tang Yan (Ye Wushuang), Shibuya Tenma (Ishihara Hiroichiro, squad commander), Zeng Ang (Muto Ei, sniper), Takagi Teiyu (Oto Masataka/Runny Egg, conflicted soldier), Oyanagi Shinichiro (Amao Eiji), Kashukura Yuta (Aomoto Kazuo), Kiji Masashige (Ono Koichi), Qian Lei (Tada Shun), Meng Zhichao (Honda Kumataro), Zhao Yifan (Takahashi Miyoshi), Li Wenqi (Okanuno Nagakage), Zhang Junyi (Shimogi Hiroshi), Fan Tao (Goto Fumio), Shang Kai (Hoshino Naoki), Mao Fangtao, Yang Sichen, Jiang Yu, Li Guangzhe.
Release: China, 2 Aug 2020.