- 2010
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 35 m
SummaryWang is a miserable yet cunning noodle shop owner in a desert town in China. Feeling neglected, Wang’s wife secretly goes out with Li, one of his employees. A timid man, Li reluctantly keeps the gun the landlady bought for ‘killing her husband later’. However, not a single move they make escapes the boss’s notice, and he decides to bribe patrol o...
Directed By:Yimou Zhang
Written By:Zhengchao Xu, Jianquan Shi, Xiaofeng Zhou, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop
Metascore
Mixed or Average
57
User score
Generally Favorable
6.1
My Score
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Metascore
Mixed or Average
57
46% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
43% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
11% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Dec 17, 2010
88
Almost feels as if it is two different films. One is the opening 20 minutes or so, in which most of the screwball comedy takes place. The other comes when Yimou gets on with the real story. That's where the payoff comes in.
80
Taken on its own fun-over-philosophy terms, this is an exercise in tone-shifting virtuosity.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.1
33% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
50% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
17% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Feb 6, 2011
8
Beautifully filmed, expertly told, and compelling to watch. This is Zhang Yimou's attempt at black comedy in the style Coen Brothers and it succeeds on all levels. This is comparable to the original. Worth checking both out.
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Dec 4, 2022
6
An interesting but hard to rate movie. It is a mixture of thriller and screwball comedy. For itself it is a nice, calm story with good character dynamics. What does not help is that it was marketed as “A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop” in my country and the new movie from the “Hero” and “House of the flying Daggers” director Zhang Yimou. With this a lot of people expect something similar. So watching it was a disappointment first but the unique story that feels like theater compensated this for a bit. The story is about a group of people that work in a remote noodle shop in a dessert (I assume a road stop on a trade route). The story starts with the wife of the owner buying a gun. This starts a series of events that I wont spoil. Like I said it is a calm and nice story. For some this slow build is a negative and I reluctantly agree for a bit. It is more focused on the characters, their interactions and caused (story) developments. The original title “A simple noodle story” is more fitting. It sounds too negative. I enjoyed a lot but I am not sure if I can recommend it. The actors/characters saved the movie. The whole cast fully delivered and kept me interested into the events. Without this good performance I would rate this movie lower. Overall this is a nice movie to relax and enjoy a smaller event. I think this can be as much a positive surprise as a negative experience. I give a 6/10 as I liked the characters and story.
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70
The result of Zhang's experimental theater will be a rich brew for some, weak tea for others - a divide that will largely depend on your taste for a blend that is lighter on the subtext and heavier on the slapstick.
60
As "Blood Simple" fans should expect, Noodle Shop is a comedy of presumed deaths and unexpected revivals, with some victims flat out refusing to stay in their shallow graves.
50
The result is an uneasy mix of Coen-style laughs (particularly evident in the big comic close-ups) and Zhang's majestic imagery (in one shot the couple's divorce papers shatter into a burst of confetti).
50
Those with a higher tolerance for bumptious jestering-from a yipping and mincing Xiao, or Cheng Ye as a bucktoothed jelly-belly-may, however, cry Masterpiece. They are instructed to seek out the longer Chinese cut, which apparently packs in more such interminable shtick, broad as the Yangtze.
25
I wish I could say that the film is half as intriguing as it sounds, but A Woman, a Gun... lacks the Coen brothers' precision, their diabolical game-board cleverness. It's a remake in shaggy outline only.
Oct 25, 2010
4
I haven't seen "Blood Simple" since it came out in 1985, but I remember it being clever, violent and exhilarating. This Chinese version by brilliant director Yimou Zhang ("Hero," "House of Flying Daggers) has none of the Coen Brothers' original zing. The plot revolves around betrayal, greed and murder, but most of it moves at a slow, silent pace. The attempts at physical humor are simply silly and the violence is underwhelming. Except for the surrounding hillsides, even the visuals aren't special.
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Sep 17, 2010
3
What were they thinking? This remake has a bizarre mismatch of tone, half film noir and half 3 Stooges. It captures the atmospheric noir tones of the original, Blood Simple, very well, but then wrecks it with burlesque slapstick antics that instantly become annoying. This goes on throughout the movie, even when the plot is supposed to generate nail-biting tension. Maybe it was a laff riot in China, but it definitely doesn't work here in America. As a final insult, there are some overbearing special effects near the end that just made me groan. If there was any tension, this would have destroyed it, too. On the plus side, the film is gorgeous. The scenery, sets, and costumes of medieval China are all stunning and authentic looking (as far as I know). The cinematography is wonderful. All the more reason to be disappointed with the result. This movie made me realize once again how brilliant the Coen Brothers original was. Skip this, rent Blood Simple instead.
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Production Company:
- Xin Huamian Film
- Film Partner International
Release Date:Sep 3, 2010
Duration:1 h 35 m
Rating:R
Tagline:Smart, Funny and Enormously Entertaining!
Awards
Weibo Awards Ceremony
• 3 Nominations
Berlin International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Iron Elephant Film Awards
• 1 Nomination
