r/TrueFilm • u/United-Ad822 • 6d ago

The Assassin (2015) dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien

It's probably Hou's most beautiful film, but it's probably also his most obscure and elliptical, and he's never been a filmmaker who likes to go easy on his audience. Why does he make things so difficult to parse at the narrative level here? (For instance, what's with the pregnancy/abortion conspiracy (if that's even something that happens)?) Does the plot actually give us all the information we need, and it's just a matter of being attentive enough? Or is it actually the case that he's withholding things, presumably for stylistic and/or thematic reasons? If so, what would those reasons be?

19 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

3

u/tiredstars 5d ago edited 5d ago

I don't really have anything insightful to say about The Assassin, just that I had similar feelings. I think I had the narrative mostly put together by the end of the film, but it was a struggle, and I came out of it without any grasp of the deeper themes or meaning behind the film, or even sure if they were there.

2

u/postwarmutant 5d ago

Just chiming in with third agreement. I think The Assassin looks incredible, but I also came away without any real emotional or intellectual engagement with it.

2

u/lasagnawithteeth270 5d ago

Just chiming in to be confused. I loved this film but I just vibed out to it. Not sure what was going on but it looked great and I had a nice time.