This week I’ve been to China–sort of.

In The Assassin (2015, Taiwan) it’s China around the seventh century.

In this story, the Chinese dynasty wants to maintain power over rebellious provinces. Nie Yinniang is an assassin for the dynasty.

A bird often symbolizes freedom, but Nie Yinniang is torn between assassin’s duties and personal connections to those she is assigned to assassinate.

Yinniang was forced into assassin work. She is a victim of circumstance; an elaborate backstory describes what precipitated to make her an assassin.

She is acting against her will and throughout the movie she often stops short of killing those powerful people she is told to kill.

The symbol of a bird is at the core of The Assassin.

Occasionally, the camera lingers on the metaphor of the bird; of how a bird is free, but is sometimes captured and left in a cage. It is like Yinniang is in that cage, but she longs to be free.

We would sympathize and agree that she should be free from something that is against her will.

This is independence from the dynasty that forced her into the work in the first place.

The film also asks the question, why can’t kingdoms, nations, etc. live in peace?

It says the power to control causes conflict, but here are times you got to walk away and let go.

It’s a film about independence, but what is it like as film?

The Assassin is more a meditation on freedom and independence than a martial arts action film.

There is little action, and when there is, it isn’t strong. Not for the action-minded.

Beautifully crafted, The Assassin is visually striking, with costumes and set decoration contributing to the overall look of the film.

While slow going, it is nevertheless an interesting story in its own right.

Its main contribution, I think, is its cultural importance.

Certainly The Assassin is a pleasant change of pace from other movie excursions.

Warnings—violence

Notes: Subtitled in English, Starring: Qi Shu (Nie Yinniang), Chen Chang (Tian Ji’an),

Hsiao-Hsien Hou (Director)