Chen Kuo-Fu, a famous Taiwanese director and producer, since joining the Asian branch of Columbia Pictures, he has followed the development of Chinese films from Taiwan and Hong Kong to the Mainland China. After he successfully directed the suspenseful horror film "Double Vision" in 2002, his status in Columbia Pictures and Chinese Cinema gradually improved. Later, he supervised the production of "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" (2003) directed by He Ping, and his exchanges with Mainland directors deepened. In 2008, Feng Xiaogang directed the blockbuster film "If You Are the One", which was based on his "The Personals" in 1998. He also served as the screenwriter of "If You Are the One", and also contributed to his cooperation with Huayi Brothers. Then, he and Gao Qunshu co-directed "The Message" (2009), a suspenseful spy film about the Japanese invasion of China. The film is very popular in the Mainland, with the latest box office record of nearly RMB 300 million.

According to Chen Kuo-Fu's mention in the production special, the filming of "The Message" was started because Wang Zhonglie, the boss of Huayi Brothers, showed him the original novel and wanted to find him to adapt it into a movie. Later he asked Gao Qunshu, who had directed "The Tokyo Trial" (2006) to co-direct. Chen Kuo-Fu said that the content of the original work was significantly edited and the story focused on the process of the protagonists being trapped in the castle and being censored. The film uses Chen Kuo-Fu's excellent skills in dealing with suspense films. The guessing game of who is the "real one" is fascinating to the audience. Coupled with the performances of the two heroines Zhou Xun and Li Bingbing, it is breathtaking. Because the film focuses on seven characters, Takeda (played by Huang Xiaoming), Wang Daoxiang (played by Wang Zhi-Wen), Gu Xiaomeng (played by Zhou Xun), Li Ning Yu (played by Li Bingbing), Wu Zhiguo (played by Zhang Hanyu), Bai Xiaonian (played by Alec Su You-Peng), Jin Shenghuo (played by Ying Da), circling the matter of investigating who is the traitor, the Japanese officer Takeda did not hesitate to use unusual methods to investigate who was the "Old Ghost" and "Old Gun", Bai Xiaonian and Jin Shenghuo died during the interrogation process, leaving behind Li Ning Yu, Gu Xiaomeng and Wu Zhiguo. The climax of the film is Wu Zhiguo being testified by Gu Xiaomeng, and then Li Ning-Yu exposes Gu Xiaomeng. Takeda wanted to wipe out the assassination organization. However, the news was exposed, the trick was unsuccessful, and he was killed by Wu Zhiguo on the way back to Japan. At this time, the audience thought that he was in revenge for being beaten to death by Takeda. In the end, when Japan was defeated, Wu Zhiguo went to the factory to find Li Ning-Yu, and the mystery was completely revealed.

In terms of plot arrangement, Chen Kuo-Fu and Gao Qunshu are very good at mastering the rhythm, which affects the audience's emotional shrinkage, and the behind-the-scenes team with international level is created, it can be described as a "technical knockdown" work. The problem is that the film is not only satisfied with this, in addition to the elements and audiences required by the genre, the film does not add additional achievements to this genre, but only uses gorgeous professional "dressing" to create a genre "template" for Chinese Cinema. Maybe some people will compare this film with Lee Ang's "Lust, Caution" (2007), because the two films involve the struggle between Wang Jingwei's government (puppet Japanese military government) and the anti-Japanese activists, but the two have completely different attitudes. Lee Ang took his literary and erotic route, and used the unique background of this era to write a fiery and abnormal love; while Chen Kuo-Fu and Gao Qunshu moved in the direction of Hollywood type films, creating a "Hollywood mode" type "template" for Chinese Cinema, each has its own precise calculations that make the film a certain achievements, but at the same time, it also its own mistakes and compromises. It is interesting that Lee Ang and Chen Kuo-Fu are both directors cultivated by Taiwan Central Pictures.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

Recommend you to read the novel written by Maijia, the movie adaption is much less cunning than the original one. Bai Xiaonian and Jin Shenghuo are too early to dead, making the answer of the puzzle too easy to guess, no challenge no surprise, that is a total failure for a suspense movie. I think to make the movie successful, it should leave the result to the last minute that out of everyone's expectation, and before that, it should make the situation as complex as possible and try to mislead the audience until reveal the truth reasonably at the end. So I still feel the adapter of the movie still does not know how to tell stories, just like many other movie writers in China. I don't know why the film company didn't invite Maijia to write the movie story? I believe he would have done a better job.