Zhang Yimou remains a prolific filmmaker, even at the ripe old age of 70. We’re three years removed from his excellent double-identity thriller Shadow, and just last year he directed the solid spy drama Cliff Walkers. And already he’s back again, this time with another war movie based on a true story, Sharpshooter.
Set during the Korean War, Sharpshooter centers on a sniper from Korea who injured more than 200 American soldiers during 32 days of the war. The trailer doesn’t feature any English subtitles, but you don’t really need them to get the gist. Plus, this is Yimou we’re talking about here and every film he does is a big deal as far as I’m concerned.
Yimou is also known for his somewhat disastrous Hollywood epic The Great Wall, which isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. But some of his other films, such as Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Curse of the Golden Flower, helped bring the wuxia style of martial arts filmmaking to the mainstream.
Starring Chen Yongsheng, Zhang Yu, and Zhang Yi, Sharpshooter hits China on February 1st and hopefully will have a U.S. date soon.
