Every pan and snap zoom and dissolve is exact, every whorl of smoke and wind-thrown swath of leaves pulled from a dream and placed methodically before our eyes.
80
Village VoiceSimon Abrams
Village VoiceSimon Abrams
Legends of the Mountain’s narrative fuse may be long, but Hu knows exactly when to light it and when to snuff it out.
All these attractions are a necessary balm given that Ho turns out to be a deeply uninvolving character (Mr. Shih mostly smiles, grimaces or looks amazed), a wan placeholder for a character in a narratively thin film that runs over three very leisurely hours.