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Gone with the Bullets

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Gone with the Bullets
Gone with the Bullets theatrical poster
Traditional Chinese一步之遙
Simplified Chinese一步之遥
Literal meaningA step too far
Hanyu PinyinYībù zhī yáo
Directed byJiang Wen
Written byJiang Wen
Guo Junli
Wang Shuo
Liao Yimei
Shu Ping
Yan Yunfei
Sun Yu
Sun Rui
Yu Yanlin
Produced byMa Ke
StarringJiang Wen
Ge You
Zhou Yun
Shu Qi
Release date
  • December 18, 2014 (2014-12-18)
Running time
140 minutes
118 minutes (International)[1]
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin
Budget300 million yuan
(US$48.8 million)[2]
Box officeUS$83.33 million[3]

Gone with the Bullets (Chinese: 一步之遥) is a 2014 Chinese action comedy film directed by Jiang Wen. It stars Jiang, Ge You, Zhou Yun and Shu Qi.[4] Production started on location in Beijing at the China Film Group studio in Huairou on October 2, 2013.[5] Production wrapped before the Chinese New Year holiday.[2] The film was released on December 18, 2014.[6] A version, which was 22 minutes shorter, was screened in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.[1][7]

This film is the second part of Jiang Wen's gangster Beiyang trilogy with Let the Bullets Fly and Hidden Man.[8][9][10]

The film was named 2014's "smokiest movie" by an anti-smoking group in China, featuring 45 smoking scenes in all, equivalent to someone smoking every 3.1 minutes.[11]

Plot

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During the period of the Beiyang Government, in the French Concession of Shanghai, Ma Zouri and Chinese police inspector Xiang Feitian organized the "Flower Nation Beauty Pageant" (a beauty contest for sex workers) to help General Wu's son, Wu Qi, launder money. The event attracted contestants from various countries and drew widespread public attention. In the final round, three contestants competed. Under the manipulation of Ma Zouri and Xiang Feitian, the former champion courtesan, Wan Yanying, who promised onstage to auction off her right to marriage and donate all her wealth, ultimately won the crown. During a date with Wan Yanying, Ma Zouri was pressured into marriage. When he refused, she pulled a gun on him. The two ended up smoking opium and going for a drive, but the car flipped in the countryside, causing Wan Yanying's accidental and tragic death. Ma Zouri fled the scene.

As media reports on Wan Yanying's death circulated, Ma Zouri became a prime suspect in the public eye and was wanted by the police. He sought help from General Wu. At the Wu residence, Ma Zouri encountered his childhood teacher, now the General's wife, Qin Sainan, and his former lover, Wu Liu, General Wu's daughter. There, he discovered that Xiang Feitian had been punished by General Wu for visiting prostitutes with Wu Qi. To save Xiang Feitian, Ma Zouri suggested a peculiar game involving touching the ground with both hands, which succeeded in sparing Xiang's life. However, Ma Zouri later realized his main goal hadn't been achieved and that he was still in grave danger. Meanwhile, the ungrateful Xiang Feitian turned on him and started hunting Ma Zouri's whereabouts. During Ma Zouri's two years on the run, theater troupes led by Wang Tianwang adapted his story into plays and even a movie titled Execution of Ma Zouri. In these dramatizations, he was depicted as a ruthless criminal who killed for money.

Unable to tolerate the disgraceful portrayal of his character, Ma Zouri confronted Wang Tianwang in disguise, trying to bribe and threaten him into stopping the performances. But Wang Tianwang refused. Eventually, Ma Zouri struck him at a live performance and was arrested by police lying in wait. After his arrest, Wu Liu talked to him and began to believe he had been wronged, growing sympathetic to his plight. On the other hand, Wu Qi and Xiang Feitian remained convinced he was a murderer and urged General Wu to have Ma Zouri executed to quell public outrage and boost his authority. Wu Liu, now deeply in love with Ma Zouri, clashed bitterly with her mother.

On the night General Wu married a Russian aristocrat as his concubine, Wu Liu and her father performed a foreign opera for the guests. Later, Wu Liu secretly freed Ma Zouri and fled with him in a car. General Wu and his entourage gave chase. During the pursuit, Wu Liu even exchanged gunfire with her mother to shoot the loudspeaker mounted on the pursuing vehicle. Ma Zouri and Wu Liu eventually took shelter in a windmill house. To prevent Wu Liu from ending up like the tragic Wan Yanying, Ma Zouri knocked her unconscious and surrendered himself. Facing a crowd of newlyweds attending a wedding outside, he confessed to causing Wan Yanying's death and claimed Wu Liu had been kidnapped. In a long speech recounting how he had been misunderstood and demonized by society, he was shot multiple times and ultimately died.

The story ends with a fantasy sequence imagined by Wu Liu: she is at a train station, bidding a tearful farewell to Ma Zouri as he departs on a train.[2]

Cast

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Box office

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By January 9, 2015, the film had earned ¥511.14 million at the Chinese box office.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b Elley, Derek (16 January 2016). "Review: Gone with the Bullets (2014)". Sino-Cinema. WordPress. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Gone With the Bullets set for 18 Dec release". filmbiz.asia. 2014-03-06. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  3. ^ "Weekly box office". Archived from the original on 2015-01-06.
  4. ^ "一步之遥Gone With The Bullets (2014)". movie.mtime.com (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
  5. ^ "Jiang Wen's Gone with the Bullets Begins Principal Photography". comingsoon.net. 2013-11-11. Archived from the original on 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
  6. ^ "Bullets opens after clearing China censorship". Film Business Asia. 2014-12-18. Archived from the original on 2014-12-18.
  7. ^ "Jafar Panahi's New Film in Competition". berlinale.de. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  8. ^ "姜文谈《一步之遥》 故事源自北洋阎瑞生案" [Jiang Wen talks about "One Step Away" The story is based on the Beiyang Yan Ruisheng case] (in Chinese). NetEase Entertainment. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  9. ^ IMAX China (June 20, 2018). "Jiang Wen's Hidden Man to be Released in IMAX Theatres Across China on July 13". Beijing: PR Newswire Asia Ltd. PR Newswire. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  10. ^ Elley, Derek (30 August 2018). "Review: Hidden Man (2018)". Sino-Cinema. WordPress. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  11. ^ Clifford Coonan (May 14, 2015). "Chinese Group Slams 'Gone With The Bullets' for Too Much Smoking". The Hollywood Reporter. (Prometheus Global Media). Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  12. ^ "一步之遥（2014）". cbooo.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved January 10, 2015.
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