Synopsis
of the battle of Red Cliff by Joe
De Matteo
Right from the pages of Romance of the Three
Kingdoms, the 600-year old tradition. This
famous battle in the wars of the Three Kingdoms at
Chìbì, north of Wulin.
Information about the famous
battle:
This battle is also known as the Battle of
Chibi. It took place in the year 208, the
period of the Three Kingdoms in China. The
allied forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, the
southern warlords, fought Cao Cao, the
northern warlord. Cao attempt to conquer the
land south of the Yangtze River in order to
re-unify China was thwarted.
Many things about this battle are clouded by time;
tradition, fictionalization and history are at odds.
The numbers of the combatants, for instance, swing
wildly depending on the account, though the defeated
Cao's forces greatly out numbered those of Liu Bei
and Sun Quan's. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
it is said that Cao had 830,000 men, while
historical accounts number his force at 120,000. The
estimates for the southern force counts between
50,000 and 70, 000. Amazing odds.
With John Woo in the director's chair, we can be
assured that the most fantastic aspects of history,
tradition, and fiction will be presented to us.
"In or out, let's get crack'n," said some-one of the
Sharks in West Side Story. You'll forgive me
if I don't remember. I haven't seen that film
since it's release in 1961, though I had listened to
the "record" (as in vinyl) enough times to memorize
most of the words of some of the songs and banter,
and these lines I feel appropriate to quote here
today.
Cho Yun Fat in/out, Tony
Leung Chiu Wai (Internal Affairs, which was remade
as The Departed) in/out. Hey. Come on.
I'm dieing to see this film, or two part epic, as it
is now being called. Both of the fine actors
were cast and in the mix, then in and out they go;
changing characters. I mean. This was
supposed to be a great reunion of the men that made
the gunplay drama classic
Hard-Boiled.
May
2007 by Joe De Matteo
At a reported $75 million, John Woo's The Battle
of Red Cliff will be the most expensive film
ever produced in China.
After some contract problems, Chow Yun Fat will be a
part of this great project, which still has no
release date. As far as locations go, this is
the scheduled list: Beijing, China; Chiang Kai-shek
Memorial Hall Park, Taipei, Taiwan; Hebei, China
Joe De
Matteo
hi, I just found this video clip of The
Kingdoms; The Battle of Red Cliffs, it's fun, enjoy:
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