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Shanghai (2010)

R   |    |  Crime, Drama, Mystery

Shanghai (2010) Poster

A '40s period piece which revolves around an American expat who returns to Shanghai in the months before Pearl Harbor due to the death of his friend.

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36 Metascore

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  • Shanghai (2010)
  • Shanghai (2010)
  • Shanghai (2010)
  • Li Gong in Shanghai (2010)
  • Shanghai (2010)
  • Li Gong and John Cusack in Shanghai (2010)

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User Reviews
29 January 2011 | thomvic
8
| Captures a period well, great performances too
This movie captures that period of 30's Shanghai quite well. Well I wouldn't be the best person to judge considering I know little about that time, but from what I had seen in this film, it was very intriguing.

This espionage/war film gets your attention. The plot is not too complicated, has a nice pace, good performances and an international cast. John Cusack is decent in this role, Gong Li is gorgeous as ever and her English seems to have improved. She captures the screen with her grace and beauty, but also a believable performance. Chow Yun Fat is equally as good. Ken Watanabe - a good performance though he really needs to work more on making his accent understandable as I still have a little trouble with him, but nevertheless makes a good icy character.

The last act creates the suspense very well, though I'll have to admit, though I found the ending dramatic and decent, it might have been more interesting if they actually filmed what happened instead of doing the voice-over, but hey I guess budget constraints and time can get in the way, so I'm alright with it I suppose.

This is a visual feast. It is good to see many actors of different nationalities blend in for what is a cross country story. Japan/China/Germany. Franka Potente has a role here too, which I enjoyed as well.

The only problem with the film, though it wasn't it's fault, was that the version I watched did not have English subtitles when they were talking in Chinese. At first, I thought that this was part of the movie, as you weren't meant to understand it, but there are important scenes near the end where I had no clue what they were saying. It didn't mean I didn't get the rest of the plot or what was happening, but that could have given me a bit more to work with and more juice as well. Oh well, it's not their fault.

This is an enjoyable movie, and it captures that sense of mystery, mistrust, betrayal and fear that you experience during an espionage/war film. Though this isn't essentially a war film in that it's main focus is about blowing up people etc, it is about the struggle of invasion and the effects of it. Recommended.

I hope it gets a wider release in the US and here in Australia because it is a good film.

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The brainchild of Mike Medavoy, who was born in Shanghai in 1941, and who developed the story through his Phoenix Pictures shingle. The project was subsequently bought by Harvey Weinstein, while still at Miramax. It took eight years to get it made.

Quotes

Paul Soames: The heart is never neutral.

Goofs

Part of the plot of the film revolves around the Type 91 torpedo, and the fact that it was given to the Imperial Japanese Navy by the Germans. Although the Type 91 was a real and highly effective aerial torpedo in use by the IJN during World War II - it was used with devastating effect at Pearl Harbour - it was not a German design. It was developed by the Japanese themselves back in 1931, and went through various modifications and improvements until its use in World War II, including the addition of wooden stabilising fins for use in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbour. It also doesn't make much sense for the Japanese to only get the weapon two months before launching their attack, because that would have given no time for further development and modification for Japanese torpedo bombers, or for training pilots in its use. Historically, there actually was a real exchange of aerial torpedo technology between Germany and Japan, but it was in the opposite direction and only in 1942. The Germans had no good aerial torpedoes of their own, having previously bought ones from Italy. The Japanese sent some examples of the Type 91 to Germany via submarine, where the German version entered service designated as 'Lufttorpedo LT 850'.

Soundtracks

Wartime Romance
Written by Adam Saunders and Mark Cousins
Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music

Storyline

Plot Summary

Genres

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Details

Release Date:

2 October 2015

Language

English, Mandarin, Japanese, German

Country of Origin

China, USA

Filming Locations

Bangkok, Thailand

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$26,604 (USA) (4 October 2015)

Gross:

$44,689 (USA) (11 October 2015)

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