Though shorn of 20 minutes for its U.S. debut, the film's wry comic portrait of the Japanese Occupation during WWII hasn't lost any of its incendiary brilliance, both as a political provocation and as a brusquely humane take on the horrors and absurdity of war.
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Jiang draws a great deal of humor from the situation, but the film inevitably explodes in terrible violence.
In its dry and forceful way, it delivers the same message as Jiri Menzel's "Closely Watched Trains" and Danis Tanovic's "No Man's Land." While acknowledging that war is hell, it goes further to suggest it is ludicrous.
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
New York PostV.A. Musetto
A wild ride that effortlessly combines devilish dark humor, slapstick comedy, extreme violence and bitter satire.
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Jiang's razor-sharp conclusions are less about the Japanese army or the Chinese government than about simple human nature.
50
VarietyDerek Elley
VarietyDerek Elley
Has all the classic faults of a picture not only directed by an actor but by an actor who is his own producer.
50
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Village VoiceDennis Lim
By the final shot, which assumes the viewpoint of a decapitated head, its appalled comedy has swelled, beyond outrage, to a pitch of punch-drunk hysteria.