Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

cloudsponge Throughout, I felt that this movie had the sensibility of a comic book, but a comic book of genius. The visuals were ceaselessly stunning, every single scene change led to another beautiful surprise; both dramatically and with what we were allowed to gorge our eyes (and sometimes ears) on. Rather than call it "directing", or "photography," or "set design," I want to say that the artwork was breathtaking.What are movies but comic books with the added dimensions of movement and sound? Both largely tell their stories with visuals, and dialog or narration. Too often I am a stickler for believability in movies but I could not help cutting this movie a lot of slack. "Yes, that is just how a comic book might treat the story but with nowhere near the impact," I found myself thinking throughout...

gcd70 Although good in design and in content, Clara Law somehow fails to invoke emotion or response from her audience due to lack of character depth.The topics of betrayal and loyalty are confronted here, but neither are deeply explored by Law, who instead opts for visual grandeur in bloody battles and breathtaking backdrops. Andrew Lesnie's cinematography is an outstanding feast of colour and movement, with stunning scenery thrown in for good measure.Wu Hsin-kuo does convince us of the struggle within to forgive an free himself of his past, and his performance goes some way to lending the film focus and strength. In worthy support is Joan Chen, who makes the most of her rather meaningless character. More enjoyable is Michael Lee as an hundred year old abbot whose wit serves him well.Alas any true depth or searching, meaningful dialogue in Eddie Fong Ling-Ching an Lilian Lee's screenplay (based upon Lee's novella) is lost in Clara Law's all too grand approach which is visually stimulating yet intellectually void.Monday, April 28, 1997 - Hoyts Croydon

contronatura Though a little slow at times, Clara Law's Temptation of a Monk is a beautiful and well-acted epic, at times achieving a Kurosawa-esque level of stunning imagery and battle scenes. Joan Chen has two roles, one as a vibrant princess the other as a mysterious assassin. She is very good in both roles. This film is not perfect. The story ultimately doesn't go anywhere, for one. I must recommend it on the basis of its sheer beauty, however. And one battle scene in particular is terrifyingly beautiful. For fans of Kurosawa this is worth seeing. Others might grow restless, though.

RobertC Narrative structure has never been Clara Law's strong point; but she usually has some kind of conceptual development to tie her images together... this one tries to float like a dream; & ends up sinking like a stone. Watching it, one can't help wondering whether there was a three hour version either scripted or shot: all the elements for an intriguing take on individual responsibility seem to be in place; but none have been allowed to develop beyond the level of operatic manga. As Gertrude Stein observed (probably unkindly) of Oakland, there's no there there....Then again: perhaps Ms Law just fell in love with her (admittedly quite stunning) images....