Chapter One:Some 3000 years ago in the future, when God, Goddess and men co-existed on this war-torn land...
The muddy hands of a child snatched at the grip of a dead soldier on a bun. The sun was burning; dead soldiers lay strewn about the field - the muddle after a great battle fought. The little girl, with hunger and desire far preceding her fear, took the bun in both hands as her stomach rumbled. She danced around in exhilarations for her find; gratitude glinting in her eyes. Alas! A rope trap caught her, flinging her body feet first into the air under the frail, bare tree. Upside down, black unwashed hair hanging, she faced a boy with thick stern eyebrows. He worn a heavily adorned, silver helmet fit for an old warrior or general, with a phoenix-figurine sitting out front. It obviously looked far too big, but the child beamed with pride.
Releasing her, the boy flatly demanded the bun, for he added, what belonged to the fallen enemy soldiers of his father belonged to him. For a moment, she held the bun closer to chest. Then a tinge of innocence shone in her eyes, as the much treasured bun was offered with outstretched arms. The rascal accepted it without approval. The air returned with a touch of warmth, as she gave a grin of admiration, gazed at the helmet of glory and shyly asked for a closer look. Facing a defenceless, fearful girl who seemed ever willing to please, the young master didn’t hesitate to hand the heavy helmet over while he focused on the bun.
With his attention away, she returned a scandalous gesture, sending him backward onto the cracked earth with a knock of the helmet on the face. Before he could even recover from the shock, she grabbed the bun, threw the helmet to ground, and took off into the distance.
She kept running as if the wind were after her hair, her feet, till she came upon a lake – a beautiful tear of eternal pureness on the face of earth. She hopped from one slippery, shimmering rock to another, beaming in anticipation of her mum’s praise for bringing food. With one huge leap, she watched, helpless, as the bun slipped from her palm, into the lake. With a tearful face, she stooped and watched the bun disappeared, sinking into the darkness of the lake with her heart.
Then a Goddess appeared, perhaps from a distance, airborne but the poor girl couldn’t have known. The Goddess of destiny wore silky white priestly robes with a spinning halo around a coiffure a few inches high. Her every move was in slow-mo, including her flowing robes and the halo, as if she was looking at the little girl from a different world and space.
The Goddess spoke words of great wisdom, of a prophecy that the girl was to face a destiny of never experiencing love, of seeing her true loves dying in her presence one after another, over and over again…
Afterthoughts:
A fantasy epic it is with its rich colours and special effects made for the cinematic experience and at times reminding me of Zhang Yimou's "Hero". However, unlike the latter, the plot sunk like quicksand, even though I was fascinated by its themes of love, destiny and a surreal orient. Another brownie point was handsomely won by Hiroyuki Sanada, the general here, and star of “The Twilight Samurai” and less renowned, as the husband in “Ring”. Every glance from his eyes and twitching on his princely face embodied the spirit of a warrior invincible in a thousand battles. When he was later defeated, and having lost the respect of his men, his crestfallen body language portrayed a man who had lost his once sky-high pride and confidence.
The most embarrassing moment for an Asian mixed with grave disbelief had Jang Dong Gun the slave speeding along some roofs of slates, flying Cecilia Cheung like a kite in a clear, blue sky. It seemed picture-perfect. Well, almost.
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