Yi Jian Mei: Watching Shakespeare get the 1930s treatment

Is it worth your time?

If you have a thing for 1930s Chinese cinema or just want to see how a Shakespeare plot gets transplanted into military uniforms, go for it. If you need snappy pacing or modern editing, you will probably be checking your watch every five minutes. It is slow, deliberate, and undeniably old-school.

There is a specific kind of stillness in Yi Jian Mei that you just don't get anymore. The scenes linger. They really linger. Sometimes a character just stands there holding a letter, and you start wondering if the camera operator just stepped away for a quick smoke break. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a mood you have to be ready for. 📽️

Military men and misplaced love

Watching Bai Le De and Hu Lin Tung navigate their graduation and subsequent posting is… a lot. They are supposed to be these dashing cadets, but they mostly just look stressed out. The whole dynamic with Luo Hua feels like a classic case of "we need a love interest so let's put one here." It is not subtle, but it works in that heightened, theatrical way.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Yi jian mei (1931) through its definitive frames.

I couldn't help but compare it to other films of the era like The White Sheep. There is that same earnestness that makes you want to root for them, even when the plot logic is stretching thinner than a rubber band. It is refreshing to see a story that doesn't feel the need to explain every single motivation to you.

• Lingyu Ruan steals every scene she is in, even when she is barely doing anything.
• The uniform designs are actually pretty sharp for the period.
• Some of the group shots are incredibly crowded, like they invited half the village to be in the background.

The writing credit going to William Shakespeare is still the funniest thing about this entire production. It’s like, "Yeah, sure, he definitely wrote this specific military drama." It’s a bold claim that gives the movie a weird sense of importance it doesn't really need.

There is this one moment near the middle where the background extras look like they are trying really hard not to laugh at the dialogue. It’s the kind of thing you only catch if you’re actually paying attention to the edges of the frame. 🧐

It’s not perfect. The transitions are clunky and the emotional beats hit with the grace of a falling brick sometimes. But there’s a soul to it. It’s a movie that doesn't care if you like it, which is exactly why I did.