AN illiterate blind man who's an assistant to a piano tuner holds the key to cracking an espionage tale. How did this happen?

Firstly, the blind man is played by Tony Leung, so, naturally, he possesses supernatural hearing skills. He can't see but he can very well hear everything, and at great distances, too.

How does he get thrown into a plot reeking of romance and spying for the Chinese government in 1949?

Well, a cute chick spots his talent, and in spite of his abrasiveness, she cajoles him into joining a secret group of code breakers.

Naturally, he becomes the pet of the group because of his astounding skill, and he even learns Morse code within five days.

The movie demonstrates his skill in a montage that will take your breath away.

In it, he guesses the personalities of five rebels seeking to bring down China just by listening to the amount of pressure they use while tapping out Morse codes. The camera movement and editing here are exquisite.

The title of the movie refers to Chinese government agents who die in the field, and whose exploits are never known to the world.

Watching Leung in this spy flick reminds me of his appearance in another spy flick, Lust, Caution, set during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during World War II. In Lust, he bares his butt. In Silent War, he bares his finely-manicured hands.

Even while playing a blind character, Leung still has a sheen of animal magnetism. He's drawn to his recruiter, and when she rebuffs him, he finds love in the fields with another code breaker.

The recruiter does so probably because of the dangerous nature of her work. So the two women take a walk in the fields to settle things, and the recruiter gives way to the other woman. All this is done in a civilized manner, so there's no scene of one woman attacking another in a bar.

He marries the code breaker, and their pillow talk is confined to him tapping out codes he heard at work on her palm. So what does he do during lovemaking?

The espionage plot is threadbare as our hero is confined to his chair. It's the recruiter who puts her life on the line, and the revelation of the traitor's identity is the only thing surprising.

Midway through, Leung's character gets an eye op that will allow him to see. Firstly, I doubt if such technology was available in 1949. Secondly, it brings only more problems for our hero.

I, of course, thought about Val Kilmer's blind masseur character in At First Sight (1999). Kilmer also gets an eye op and from that moment onwards, he can only see problems.

Leung's character also feels the same way; he gouges out his eyes later.

The director's maintains a mainly bluish-green patina in most scenes with a film-noirish mood. You can always make out the Rembrandt shadow on the guys. The production and photography are excellent. Too bad about the plot, which is hard to turn a blind eye to.

I remember walking into the theatre without much expectations. I just happened to be vacationing in China and without anything to do on a searing summer day, I went to check out the film that everyone seemed to be hyped up about.

I walked out awestruck. The Silent War is a clever film twisted with mystery, suspense and that secret hope of romance everyone gets between the hero/heroine. The beginning of the film was frankly, intriguing. Xun Zhou and Tony Cheung, two great actors, had perfected chemistry and through the progression of the film, you'll fall in love with them.

The end of the movie will leave you reeling. You won't know what's going to happening, unlike some mystery films, until the very last second and even then you'll be able to convince yourself otherwise because everything was going so perfectly.

In all honesty, its a beautiful and bittersweet film. Never have been much of Asian movies fan, but this is DEFINITELY recommended.