If you ask me, the two greatest films to have come out
of the People's Republic of China are _Summer Palace_
and _Purple Butterfly_, both directed by Lou Ye.
_Saturday Fiction_ is almost as good; it is penned by
his long-time collaborator Yingli Ma (based on a couple
novels?) and may have been edited by Lou Ye himself,
although I have to check that. It competed at Venice
and must have had a large budget by this director's
standard; the cast is headlined by Gong Li as the
actress/secret agent, famous Taiwanese actor Mark
Chao as her theater director and lover, and Pascal
Greggory as the spymaster in the French Concession
in Shanghai on the eve of the Japanese attack on
earl Harbor. Gong Li, fluent in many different
languages in the film, is as good and as enigmatic
as she was in _2046_. She also has a surprising,
extended action sequence which is briskly shot and
choreographed. After the dozens of put-upon roles
she has taken up since her debut in _Ju Dou_, it is
a welcome change. The unlikely spy's soft seduction
skills -- towards both men and women -- are impressive
too, and those scenes really well shot (hand-held,
tactile; Christopher Doyle would have approved).

The film does not unfold in a straight-forward fashion,
with many scenes deliberately disguising whether they
are parts of the the stage play or are "true" fiction.
The film indeed has Lou's typical improvised feel, as
if saying spying is kind of like acting or dancing to
jazz! The hand-held camera work and sharp cuts are so
aggressive they can be dizzying until you get used to
it. The B&W photography and lighting, using almost
entirely "natural" light source (e.g., from lamps on
set), are amazing to see in this day and age. (The
cinematographer is not even listed in imdb, but is
apparently Zhen Jian, who has shot and edited Lou's
previous films.) The period production design looks
very impressive, although I have never been in Shanghai.
The Lyceum Theater and the Cathay Hotel central to
the film are genuine historical sites; not sure if
the film is actually shot there.

I think I like _Purple Butterfly_ slightly better. There
are even more factions and competing loyalties in this
film, and the resolution is oddly drawn out. However,
most Chinese directors seem to be afraid of silence,
afraid of a single actor in the frame, and Gong Li's
tour de force work at the end is truly worth watching
as a (somewhat unrealistic) showcase for the actress.

This is the best Chinese language film I have seen in
a long, long time. Lou Ye is the PRC's greatest director,
ever. He is mostly forgotten by Western critics now,
but _Saturday Fiction_ reminds us what he can do with
a serious budget and a few big name actors.