A Woman, a Gun, and a Noodle Shop (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

( Max score: 100 )

90

Film Synopsis:

It looks like a perfect plan: the affair will come to a cruel but satisfying end when a Chinese noodle shop owner plots to execute his unfaithful wife and her lover. But the lover has a lethal plan of his own in this violent tale of adultery and revenge based on the Coen Brother's debut classic Blood Simple.

My Take:

Wang is a gloomy and cunning noodle shop owner in a desert town in China. Feeling neglected, misunderstood and sometimes abused, Wang's wife has an affair with Li, one of Wang's employees. When a man peddling weapons of various comes to the noodle shop, Wang's wife buys a gun from him which Li suspects is for the purpose of killing her husband. Li is the timid sort and wants nothing to do with violence. He fears Wang and worries about him finding out about the affair. Every move they make, however, does not escape Wang's notice. He decides to bribe patrol officer Zhang to kill the illicit couple. The plan appears perfect or so he thinks

A woman, a gun, and a noodle shop is a remake of the 1985 directorial debut of Joel and Ethan Coen, Blood Simple. If I had to define its relationship to Blood Simple I guess I would call it hyperbole. This is a frenetically paced film that I found strangely comedic, visually engaging, and peculiarly provocative. It is told in two distinctive acts that couldn't be more thematically different with act two closely resembling the feel of Blood Simple. The preponderance of slapstick in the first act nearly led me to dismiss this as blindly absurd. It moves quickly though and it wasn't long before I warmed up to its unusually placed humor and likeable characters. Similar to Blood Simple, its hidden agendas, misunderstandings, and propensity for irony play out over the entire course of the film. When it was over I couldn't help but feel mildly perplexed but satisfied with A woman, a gun, and a noodle shop. Firstly it made me want to watch Blood Simple again (haven't seen it in quite a while) and secondly it is an oddly faithful and entertaining adaptation that is supported by stunning visuals that help make the experience a little better. I can't say with absolute certainty that prior experience with Blood Simple is necessary to gleaning the most from this adaptation but I think that those who have seen it may have a deeper appreciation for A woman, a gun, and a noodle shop.

Parental Guide:

The rating is for violence.

Audio: 86

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Video: 92

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A woman, a gun, and a noodle shop comes to Blu-ray Disc from Sony featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 27 Mbps and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 3.6 Mbps.

This is a reference quality Blu-ray offering from Sony that looks superb in high definition. The video is razor sharp with a slightly edgy but otherwise pristine quality that is visually stimulating. Detail rendering is nearly flawless with lucid visual acuity and fine articulation that brings forth lots of subtle detail in the images onscreen. Colors are rich and delineated with oversaturated primaries and warm tonality that make them pop nicely. The extensive palette of secondary hues that represent the period colors featured in the story, appear vivid and warm. Flesh tones are natural with varying degrees of complexional separation among the cast. Boldly applied contrast and consistent black levels provide excellent balance during bright scenes containing mixed content. Shadow detail is strong which brings out plenty of discernible texture in low/uneven lighting and dark backgrounds. The CGI based and green screen photography softened some shots but its effects are innate and fidelity remained unaffected.

The lossless soundtrack doesn't consistently engage the entire surround platform however it has moments where it energizes the room and reproduces the source elements with aplomb. Dialogue has definitive presence with refined vocal character and excellent room penetration. Dynamic range is very good which lends subtle distinction to low level sounds and gravity to broader ones. A large portion of the film has little need for this as dialogue, atmospheric ambience and musical enhancement is conveyed with little fanfare. However there are several sequences that engage the entire system to briefly produce entertaining and room filling sound that is measurable. This soundtrack isn't demonstration worthy but for a comedy it readily delivers a satisfying listening experience that didn't leave me disappointed.

** CIH screen users should note that the subtitles appear within the picture area.**

Bonus Features:

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• Creating A woman, a gun, and a noodle shop - 19 segments totaling approxmiately120 minutes (with play all option):
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  2. Styling the actors
     
  3. Workaholic director Zhang Yimou
     
  4. Casting the film
     
  5. Director Zhang Yimou discusses the look of the film
     
  6. Director Zhang Yimou discusses the script
     
  7. Actors who like to sing
     
  8. The filming starts
     
  9. Actors falling
     
  10. Actors joking around
      
  11. Behind the scenes antics
      
  12. In the make-up trailer
      
  13. Actors discussing their roles
      
  14. The actors discuss director Zhang Yimou
      
  15. Zhang Yimou directs the cast
      
  16. Actors features
      
  17. First day of shooting
      
  18. Time to dance
      
  19. Actors trying new things
      
  20. Actors in their roles
  
  
• (HD) Theatrical trailer
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• BD-Live enabled

Final Thoughts:

A woman, a gun, and a noodle shop is a Chinese remake of the 1985 Joel and Ethan Coen film, Blood Simple. The plotline is similar as its hidden agendas, misunderstandings, and propensity for irony play out over the entire course of the movie. This is a frenetically paced film that I found strangely comedic, visually engaging, and oddly provocative. When it was over I couldn't help but feel mildly perplexed but satisfied with the adaptation. It comes to Blu-ray Disc from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment featuring stunning high definition video quality and crystal clear lossless sound. The bonus supplements like the film are a bit peculiar but seem to convey the spirit of the film/filmmakers as captured from lots of behind the scenes footage and interviews. I can't say with absolute certainty that prior experience with the Coen Brother's Blood Simple is necessary to gleaning the most from this adaptation but I think that those who have seen it may have a deeper appreciation for A woman, a gun, and a noodle shop. Either way I recommend that you toss it in your rental queue and take it for a spin.