King of Chess (1992)

Historical melodrama mixed with goofy comedy

Although seemingly co-directed by Yim Ho, King of Chess has Tsui Hark written all over it, with Hark taking full control later in production leading Ho to disown the movie entirely, the end result mixes their styles but Hark's is way more prevalent than Ho's historical melodrama. The decidedly goofy comedic beats and experimental editing feel out of place for a movie like this, dealing directly with the uneasy history of Mainland China under Mao - Hark's movies often take a more symbolic or allegoric stance on the matter, so makes for a nice stylistic discrepancy in his filmography. However, the cross-cutting narrative between Mao's China and 90s Taiwan draws up some interesting results of paralleling struggles and combined with Lo Ta-yu's infectious synth-driven musical score leads to a movie never quite in focus and equal parts infuriating as it is charming in a way only Tsui Hark can deliver.

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