The Forbidden City isn't a new mix of genres, but it does so many things right that it feels fresh all the same. It is anchored by tremendous performances from Yaxi Liu and Enrico Borello, who are both entirely believable when the film stretches past the point of credulity.
The collision between East and West has provided plenty of fodder for cinema and literature. Usually, it's the Westerner who goes to the East and falls for the exotic world he doesn't quite understand. There's always a level of colonialist fantasy to these stories, and many of them, no matter how entertaining they are, age poorly from the moment they're released.
In The Forbidden City, director Gabriele Mainetti smartly sidesteps earlier tropes by setting his tragic, yet oddly romantic, story in a world that has escaped the grasp of our heroes. It is set in present-day Rome, yet neither Marcello (Borello) nor Mei (Liu) recognizes it as their own. In grand operatic fashion, they find solace and a home within each other, and there's something tremendously romantic about that notion.
Marcello is a cook at his parents' restaurant and, though talented, he longs to be anywhere but there. His father, Aflredo, has gone missing after an affair with a much younger woman came to light. Marcello's mother, Lorena (Sabrina Ferilli), keeps up appearances, insisting her husband will return, but they both know it's a fantasy. In the background, Annibale (Marco Giallini), Alfredo's best friend and business partner, looms like a hawk over the restaurant and Lorena.
Across town, Mei arrives in the city, trafficked alongside other nameless women as prostitutes for the Chinese Mafia. Unlike the others, Mei is a ruthlessly efficient fighter, trained in martial arts since childhood, and on a mission to find her sister. As she rages through the underworld, Mei discovers a solitary clue. Her sister had a lover, Alfredo.
I won't spoil how Mei's and Marcello's stories intersect. The story is familiar enough that you can guess the destination well before the halfway point. But the journey is so much fun that any passing familiarity is a bonus, not a detriment.
This is thanks to Mainetti's smart use of genre tropes from both Italian and Chinese traditions that make The Forbidden City such a joy. Both share a love of the operatic, and there's a natural rhythm that flows from one to the next. It is hypnotic to witness how effortlessly the story cuts from frantic kung fu action to grand declarations of love and betrayal in a tiny kitchen in Rome.
Mainetti draws from Giuseppe Tornatore's lighthearted charm when it comes to his drama. Everyone here is a bit of a caricature, but that's part of the fun. Especially Giallini, as Annibale, is tremendously entertaining as the sleazy, yet weirdly charismatic small-time criminal who can't quite understand where his youth went.
When the action kicks in, The Forbidden City surprises with some of the most ferociously inventive and exciting set pieces we've seen in Western films in years. Liu is already a veteran on this front, having worked as a stunt performer in films like Endless Journey and Kingdom 3, and she brings the goods from the very first fight in a crowded kitchen, where Mei uses everything from boiling oil to cheese graters to great effect.
If there's an area where The Forbidden Kingdom stumbles, it's in length. At two hours and twenty minutes, there is almost a half hour's worth of material that doesn't belong. And yet, strangely, it would be hard to point at any one thing definitively and say it needs to go. Mainetti's deft direction and loving eye for Rome make even the most superfluous scenes sing, and there's a tremendously endearing meet-cute that works against all odds because of this charm.
But as the final act draws out the resolutions over multiple flashbacks and overt explanations, it loses much of its effectiveness in the process. Luckily, when it remembers to circle back to its leading duo, it recovers just in time for the end credits. If only it could get there in less than two hours, it would be even better.
Yet despite complaints, there's no denying what a charming and hugely entertaining film it is. Mainetti understands his genres like a seasoned veteran, and it's a joy to watch action where you can tell what's happening. In the end, The Forbidden Kingdom accomplishes the most difficult magic trick of them all by crafting an action film that is as romantic as it is thrilling. That alone is worth celebrating.
