Red Cliff, also known as Chibi (), is a 2008–09 internationally co-produced epic war film produced and directed by John Woo. Based on the Battle of Red Cliffs (208–209 AD) and the events at the end of the Han dynasty and immediately prior to the Three Kingdoms period in Imperial China, it was Woo's first major film since 2003's Paycheck and his first Chinese-language feature film since 1992's Hard Boiled. The film stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai, with a supporting cast of Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Zhao Wei, Hu Jun, and Lin Chi-ling.
In China and much of Asia, Red Cliff was released in two parts, totaling nearly five hours in length (288 minutes). The first part (146 minutes) premiered in Beijing on 2 July 2008 and the second (142 minutes) was released in China on 7 January 2009. Outside Asia, a cut-down single 148 minute version was released in 2009. However, the full-length two-part version was released on home media in the United Kingdom on 5 October 2009, and in the United States and Canada on 23 March 2010.
The first part grossed over US$127 million internationally, and broke the Chinese box office record previously held by Titanic in mainland China.
Synopsis John Woo said in an interview with David Stratton that the film is only 50 per cent based on history. Woo decided to write the story to incorporate modern perspectives and his own feelings for a more worldly acceptance. According to Woo, historical accuracy was less important than how the audience felt about the battle.
Part I The film is set in China in 208 AD towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Cao, the warlord who controls the figurehead Emperor Xian, leads the imperial army on a campaign to eliminate the southern warlords Sun Quan and Liu Bei, whom he denounces as rebels. After the emperor reluctantly approves the campaign, Cao Cao's mighty army swiftly conquers Jing Province. Cao Cao and Liu Bei's forces clash at the Battle of Changban. During the battle, Liu Bei's sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei lead their men to protect the retreating civilians and hold off Cao Cao's cavalry. Meanwhile, Zhao Yun, one of Liu Bei's warriors, fights bravely to save his lord's family but only succeeds in rescuing Liu Bei's infant son.
Following the battle, Liu Bei's adviser Zhuge Liang goes on a diplomatic mission to Jiangdong to form an alliance between his lord and Sun Quan against Cao Cao. Sun Quan is initially in a dilemma on whether to surrender or fight, but ultimately makes up his mind to go to war with Cao Cao after listening to Zhuge Liang and going on a tiger hunt with Zhou Yu, the frontline commander of his forces, and his sister, Lady Sun. Meanwhile, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, two naval officers from Jing Province, pledge allegiance to Cao Cao, who puts them in command of his massive fleet.
After the hasty formation of the Sun–Liu alliance, the forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan call for a meeting to formulate a plan to counter Cao Cao's army, which is rapidly advancing towards their base at Red Cliff via land and water routes. Lady Sun leads some riders to lure Cao Cao's vanguard force into the allies' Eight Trigrams Formation and defeat the enemy after a fierce battle. Unfazed by the loss of a small vanguard force, Cao Cao leads the bulk of his forces to the riverbank directly across Red Cliff and makes camp there. While the allies throw a banquet to celebrate their victory, Lady Sun leaves on a mission to spy on Cao Cao's camp, maintaining contact with Zhuge Liang by sending messages via pigeon.
Part II Lady Sun, who has infiltrated Cao Cao's camp, secretly notes down its details and sends them to Zhuge Liang. Meanwhile, Cao Cao stages cuju games to boost his troops' morale. Sun Shangxiang befriends Sun Shucai, a soldier highly skilled at cuju. Soon after, Cao Cao's army is affected by a plague of typhoid fever that kills some soldiers. Cao Cao orders the corpses to be sent on floating rafts to the allies' camp in the hope of spreading the plague to his enemies. The allies' morale is affected when some unsuspecting soldiers let the plague in. Eventually, a disheartened Liu Bei leaves with his forces while Zhuge Liang stays behind to assist Sun Quan. Cao Cao is overjoyed when he hears that the Sun–Liu alliance has collapsed. At the same time, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun propose interlocking the battleships with iron beams to minimise rocking when sailing on the river and reduce the chances of the troops falling seasick.
Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang make plans to eliminate Cai Mao and Zhang Yun and produce 100,000 arrows respectively. They agree that whoever fails to complete his mission will be executed. Zhuge Liang's strategy of letting the enemy shoot 20 boats covered in straw brings in over 100,000 arrows from the enemy and makes Cao Cao doubt the loyalty of Cai Mao and Zhang Yun. On the other hand, Cao Cao sends Jiang Gan to persuade Zhou Yu to surrender, but Zhou Yu tricks Jiang Gan into believing that Cai Mao and Zhang Yun are planning to assassinate Cao Cao. Both Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu's respective plans complement each other when Cao Cao is convinced, despite having earlier doubts about Jiang Gan's report, that Cai Mao and Zhang Yun are planning to assassinate him by deliberately "donating" arrows to the enemy. Despite Cao Cao realising his folly, it comes too late and the two officers are executed.
Lady Sun returns from Cao Cao's camp with a map of the enemy formation. Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang decide to attack Cao Cao's navy with fire after predicting that a special climatic condition will soon cause the winds to blow from the southeast – a direction to their advantage. Before the battle, Sun Quan's forces feast on tangyuan to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Meanwhile, Zhou Yu's wife, Xiaoqiao, heads towards Cao Cao's camp alone secretly in the hope of persuading Cao Cao to end the war. She fails to convince Cao Cao and decides to distract him with an elaborate tea ceremony to buy time for her side.
The battle begins when the southeast wind starts blowing in the middle of the night. Sun Quan's forces launch their attack on Cao Cao's navy by ramming smaller boats that are set aflame into the larger enemy battleships. Meanwhile, Liu Bei's forces, whose departure from the alliance turns out to be a ruse, start attacking Cao Cao's forts on land. By dawn, Cao Cao's entire navy has been destroyed. The allies launch another offensive on Cao Cao's ground army and succeed in breaking through using the testudo formation despite suffering heavy casualties.
Although Cao Cao is besieged in his main camp, he manages to hold Zhou Yu at sword point after ambushing him with the help of Cao Hong. Xiahou Jun also shows up with Xiaoqiao as a hostage and threatens to kill her if the allies do not surrender. However, Zhao Yun manages to reverse the situation by rescuing Xiaoqiao with a surprise attack, while Sun Quan fires an arrow that grazes the top of Cao Cao's head and cuts his topknot loose. Cao Cao is now at the mercy of the allies, but they spare his life and leave. In the final scene, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang have a final conversation before the latter walks away with the newborn foal Mengmeng.
Abridged version For the non-Asian releases, the film was shortened from 288 minutes to 148 minutes and was released in some countries under the title Battle of Red Cliff. An opening narration in English provides the historical background, whereas in the Asian release, a more brief description of the context of the political situation appears in scrolling form ten minutes into the film. Notable cuts include the background and motivations behind Zhuge Liang's plan to obtain 100,000 arrows, including the threat to his life, and the early parts of Lady Sun's friendship with Sun Shucai (but the scene where she mourns his death is not cut). The tiger hunting scene is also cut from the non-Asian releases.
Cast
Production
Conception In a 1994 interview with Transpacific magazine, Woo stated that his dream was to direct a version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, citing his goal of wanting to bring Chinese people together and diminish political infighting.
Casting Ken Watanabe was originally selected for the role of Cao Cao. According to a report, some Chinese fans voiced objections over the choice as they felt that it was inappropriate for a Japanese actor to portray an important Chinese historical figure. The report claimed that the protests influenced the decision of director John Woo, who eventually chose Zhang Fengyi for the role. Tang, A. "Choice of Kaneshiro as Zhuge Liang criticized" , Chinese Business View, 2007-03-09. Retrieved on 2007-04-04.
Chow Yun-fat was originally selected for the role of Zhou Yu and had even earlier been considered for the role of Liu Bei. He pulled out on 13 April 2007, just as shooting began. Chow explained that he received a revised script a week earlier and was not given sufficient time to prepare, but producer Terence Chang disputed this, saying that he could not work with Chow because the film's Hollywood insurer opposed 73 clauses in Chow's contract.Lee, M. Chow Yun-Fat drops out of Red Cliff, Associated Press, 2007-04-17. Retrieved on 2007-04-17. After just 2 days, Chow was replaced by Tony Leung, who had previously turned down the role of Zhuge Liang.Frater, P. & Coonan, C. "Leung rejoins 'Red Cliff'", Variety, 2007-04-19. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.McCurry, J. "Chinese epic loses the plot as actors quit £40m project", The Guardian, 2007-04-20. Retrieved on 2007-04-20. Although he was exhausted after filming Lust, Caution;Unknown. "Tony Leung leaps off Red Cliff", The Guardian, 2007-03-22. Retrieved 2007-04-04. Leung offered to help because of his 20-year friendship with Woo.
Filming Principal photography commenced in mid-April 2007. Zhang, Z. "Red Cliff to begin shooting mid-April" , Xinmin Evening News, 2007-04-04. Retrieved on 2007-04-04. Shooting was held at a film studio in Beijing, as well as in Hebei province, where naval warfare was staged at two working reservoirs. Zheng, Z. "Shooting locations of Red Cliff revealed" , Sina Entertainment, 2007-04-04. Retrieved on 2007-04-04.
On 9 June 2008, a stuntman was killed in a freak fire accident that also left six others injured.
The digital visual effects in Red Cliff II were produced by Modus FX, The Orphanage, Frantic Films, Red FX and Prime Focus.
Woo said that this film differed from other films based on The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, including story-based dramas and Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, because it "brings out more humane stories tangled with the characters' psychology and life events.""." Joongang Daily. 2 July 2008. Retrieved on 13 January 2012.
Release Production is helmed by Lion Rock Entertainment and China Film Group Corporation.Frater, P. "Woo wages 'Battle'", Variety, 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2007-04-06. Distributors were fast to clinch the deal before shooting even began. Distributors include Chengtian Entertainment (China), CMC Entertainment / 20th Century Fox Taiwan Branch (Taiwan), Mei Ah Entertainment (Hong Kong), Avex Group/Toho-Towa Co. (Japan), Showbox (South Korea), the Los Angeles-based Summit Entertainment (international), and Magnolia Pictures (United States).Elley, Derek "Red Cliff" , Variety. Retrieved on 2009-03-02
Home media The full-length two-part version was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 5 October 2009, and in the United States and Canada on 23 March 2010.
In the United Kingdom, it was 2012's fifth most-watched foreign-language film on television with 280,000 viewers on Channel 4, and the year's most-watched Asian film (above the Indian film My Name is Khan).
Critical reception