Watch Shanghai Triad For Free

Please don't spend money on this.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

A country lad in brought to Shanghai to be a servant to a gangster's moll. There's not a whole lot to say about this movie, it's pretty standard stuff about evil corrupting and destroying everything it touches, et cetera. Li Gong's performance is good as always, and the sumptuous photography is a delight to behold, although the color palette appears muted on the DVD. The plot and Li's character take some interesting turns in the third act, but it's not quite enough up for the mundane build-up. Although it's not one of Zhang's best, especially from this period, it's perfectly watchable and sticks with you for a bit.

It was around the time that Zhang Yimou's "Yáo a yáo, yáo dào wàipó qiáo" ("Shanghai Triad" in English) came out that he was really becoming a notable director internationally, and this movie justifiably adds to that. The movie focuses on a Tang Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao), a boy who goes to Shanghai in the 1930s to work for his relative, who is also a major crime boss. Shuisheng is given the duty of attending to the boss's mistress Xiao Jinbao (Gong Li). She is a country person like Shuisheng is, although she calls him a country bumpkin. But over the course of the movie, it becomes clear to Shuisheng that Jinbao that things are not as calm as they look amongst the numerous characters.A lot is usually made about the movie's cinematography -- which received an Academy Award nomination -- and about Gong Li's glamorous role. While these two are significant, I think that the more significant issue is the role that 1930s Shanghai plays. No doubt the movie is implying that the conditions back then led to the communist revolution. But probably the main thing is how Shuisheng and Jinbao come to understand the falsity of the world that they inhabit.I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it's still worth seeing. It seems like Zhang's movies in the last ten years were more and more like epics, more exaggerated each time.

In some quarters, Shanghai Triad has been acclaimed both for its excellent cinematography and storyline. I'll go along with the accolades for cinematography but storyline I'm not so sure about. 'Triad' is seen through the eyes of Shuisheng, a boy from the country, who is brought to Shanghai by his Uncle Liu, both distantly related to #1 crime boss, Tang. Uncle Liu has arranged for the boy to act as a servant to Xiao Jingbao (Gong Li), a cabaret singer who happens to be Tang's mistress.All the action occurs within a week's time. It seems Shuisheng has bad luck as shortly after he's picked up by Uncle Liu, he witnesses a gang rub out by Tang's second in command, Song. It seems that Song felt that an associate of rival crime boss, Fat Yu, did not show enough respect. Tang tries to smooth things over with Fat Yu by making a courtesy call to his rival and they eventually end up playing a friendly game of mah jong.Meanwhile Shuisheng must endure catering to Xiao who arrogantly treats him like dirt, calling him a country bumpkin. Xiao is a popular singer at Tang's club but must be continually reminded not to sing a particular song that the boss despises. In fact, Xiao hates being Tang's mistress and trashes her own apartment, cursing the boss when he's out of earshot.Things move along slowly until Fat Yu's henchmen attack Tang at his home and seriously wound him. During the attempted assassination, Uncle Liu is murdered. The attack forces Tang to regroup and he and his posse, along with Xiao and Shuisheng relocate to an isolated island off the coast of Shanghai. There, Xiao softens up and befriends a peasant woman and her young daughter. She also gives Shuisheng some coins and hopes that one day he can go off on his own and open up his own business.Finally, things come to a head when Shuisheng overhears a muted conversation by thugs hired by Song who plans to murder his boss. Shisheng bursts into a cabin and informs Tang of the plot but it seems that the boss already knows Song has planned to murder him. Song is soon dispatched along with Xiao who is blamed for having an affair with Song. Xiao pleads with Tang to spare the peasant woman's life but he tells her that she knows too much and must be disposed of. The peasant woman's daughter will be taken into captivity and raised to be Tang's new mistress. Meanwhile, Shuisheng tries to attack Tong, enraged that Xiao has been put to death. Tang teaches Shuisheng "a lesson" by hanging him upside down on the boat and the coins that Xiao gave him fall into the water. Shuisheng will not be opening up any businesses of his own anytime in the foreseeable future!As you can see, there isn't a whole lot of plot to sink your teeth into here. Triad is slow-moving and simply doesn't have a lot of surprises. On the plus side, there's no Hollywood happy-ending as all the protagonists meet an untimely end, either dead or in captivity. The unsentimental ending is meant to illustrate the nature of pre-Communist, urban Chinese society in the 30s, replete with amoral, brutal gangsters such as Tang and self-centered materialists like Xiao, who tragically fails to wake up until it's too late.Shanghai Triad is worth watching mainly for the cinematography and overall style and atmosphere. If you're looking for an in-depth character study, you will not find it here. 'Triad' emulates American gangster pictures but unlike some of the better American efforts, its characters don't have enough idiosyncrasies to draw you in (that includes the mostly mute Shuisheng, who says very little during a good part of the film). 'Triad' is definitely worth watching at least once, but I'd have to think hard about watching it twice.

The big plus here is in the visual department It is gorgeously filmed with deep, rich colors.The story isn't that much. You keep excepting it to get better. It holds that promise but doesn't deliver until the ending, which has a neat no-nonsense twist. I really liked and admired that ending and wish more movies had realistic finishes like this.Gong Li, who stars in here, plays a character that is interesting for the first half of the film but her spoiled-brat routine gets annoying after awhile. The main gangster, however, is an interesting guy throughout.I've watched this twice and, frankly, expected more both times.