Cliff Walkers (4 Stars)

This is an unusual film for Zhang Yimou. When has he ever made a film with a car chase? It's a spy thriller set in Manchuria in the early 1930's. At that time it was ruled by a government under Japanese control. There was a notorious Japanese prison in Manchuria where Chinese patriots were tortured and killed. The Japanese were worried that the atrocities would be exposed, so they destroyed the prison, but there was a single survivor. Four elite Chinese agents, trained in Russia, are dropped into Manchuria by parachute. Their mission is to find the prison's survivor and smuggle him back into Russia.

The Chinese team splits up into two teams of two. The first team discovers that their mission has been compromised by a traitor. Their contacts are Manchurian agents. They escape from the agents, but they have no way of informing the other team of the trap.

There's a senior agent in the Manchurian Special Task Force assigned to track the Chinese teams, so there are intrigues on both sides. Nobody knows who he can trust. The 1930's were dark days in China.

I like the film, but I admit to having some problems with it. I was in the same position as the Chinese spies. I didn't know who was on which side. I'll understand it better the next time I watch it. The main impression I take from it is the chilly atmosphere of towns and forests permanently covered by snow.

The film isn't available on disc in England or America, but it can be watched on Amazon Prime Video in America.