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All the world may be a stage, but not everyone is a great playwright
Set in Shanghai during the days just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Saturday Fiction attempted to be a noirish spy thriller. My experience with the film was trying to follow a muddled mess of a story with little character development. Even the glorious Gong Li could not overcome the film’s problems.
Famous actress Jean Yu returns to Shanghai after spending time away in Hong Kong and globe-trotting. Her ex-lover, Tan Na, is directing a play based on their romance and has asked her to star in it with him. Jean stays in the Cathay Hotel situated in the French Concession. The hotel is filled with spies and soldiers, all skulking about, seeking intell on their enemy. Jean’s ex-husband is being held captive and is loathed by Chinese and Japanese alike. She’s there to help him escape and gather information for her foster father, the enigmatic bookseller, Frederic Hubert. A Japanese officer brings a new code book to town which garners a great deal of interest. Coincidentally enough, Jean is the spitting image of his late wife. Hmmmm…..
Gong Li made the most of her role as the “box of secrets”. She truly is mesmerizing to watch, even with this lame plot. Mark Chao was largely extraneous to the film though the age gap didn’t bother me. I could easily see how they would be attracted to each other. The stage play snippets only served to interrupt the flow and pace of the story which became very frustrating. Also, that was a crazy extravagant set. During the scene they showed repeatedly, the two actors whispered their lines to each other with music blaring in the background. Microphones weren’t used during plays in 1940 so no one in the audience would have heard a word spoken.
I didn’t like Lou Ye’s style in this film…at all. He overutilized extreme close-ups, blurred images, and a shaky camera following each tiny movement. Let Gong Li’s expressive face tell her story! Characters were given no backstory, development, and/or motivation. I honestly didn’t care who lived or died. For older viewers the Cathay Hotel was reminiscent of Casablanca with spies lurking about everywhere. Or for younger viewers, John Wick’s Continental if Winston and Charon listened in on all the phone calls. When the final 30 minutes were approaching, I begged the film to give me satisfactory answers. It did present a long shootout that at least helped determine which side people were on depending who they were shooting at. Even that didn’t provide definitive resolutions and revelations.
Saturday Fiction starred a great cast, was set during a tumultuous time in the glamorous “Solitary Island”, and had enough intrigue to make a dozen films. Yet due to problematic pacing and narrative issues, the film was strangely disappointing. Having said that, if you are a fan of Lou Ye’s shaky style and penchant for blending fantasy with reality, this might be one to check out. I can see where there is an audience for it, it just wasn’t for me.
22 July 2026
Trigger warnings: Sexual assault. Smoking.
Famous actress Jean Yu returns to Shanghai after spending time away in Hong Kong and globe-trotting. Her ex-lover, Tan Na, is directing a play based on their romance and has asked her to star in it with him. Jean stays in the Cathay Hotel situated in the French Concession. The hotel is filled with spies and soldiers, all skulking about, seeking intell on their enemy. Jean’s ex-husband is being held captive and is loathed by Chinese and Japanese alike. She’s there to help him escape and gather information for her foster father, the enigmatic bookseller, Frederic Hubert. A Japanese officer brings a new code book to town which garners a great deal of interest. Coincidentally enough, Jean is the spitting image of his late wife. Hmmmm…..
Gong Li made the most of her role as the “box of secrets”. She truly is mesmerizing to watch, even with this lame plot. Mark Chao was largely extraneous to the film though the age gap didn’t bother me. I could easily see how they would be attracted to each other. The stage play snippets only served to interrupt the flow and pace of the story which became very frustrating. Also, that was a crazy extravagant set. During the scene they showed repeatedly, the two actors whispered their lines to each other with music blaring in the background. Microphones weren’t used during plays in 1940 so no one in the audience would have heard a word spoken.
I didn’t like Lou Ye’s style in this film…at all. He overutilized extreme close-ups, blurred images, and a shaky camera following each tiny movement. Let Gong Li’s expressive face tell her story! Characters were given no backstory, development, and/or motivation. I honestly didn’t care who lived or died. For older viewers the Cathay Hotel was reminiscent of Casablanca with spies lurking about everywhere. Or for younger viewers, John Wick’s Continental if Winston and Charon listened in on all the phone calls. When the final 30 minutes were approaching, I begged the film to give me satisfactory answers. It did present a long shootout that at least helped determine which side people were on depending who they were shooting at. Even that didn’t provide definitive resolutions and revelations.
Saturday Fiction starred a great cast, was set during a tumultuous time in the glamorous “Solitary Island”, and had enough intrigue to make a dozen films. Yet due to problematic pacing and narrative issues, the film was strangely disappointing. Having said that, if you are a fan of Lou Ye’s shaky style and penchant for blending fantasy with reality, this might be one to check out. I can see where there is an audience for it, it just wasn’t for me.
22 July 2026
Trigger warnings: Sexual assault. Smoking.
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