Message, The

China 2009, 114 minutes
Dir. Kuo-fu Chen, Qunshu Gao
In Mandarin with English subtitles
Rating: [R]
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Suspense/Crime / Spy, War

Feat. Bingbing Li, Xun Zhou, Zhiwen Wang, Xiaoming Huang

Aroview: Sino-Japanese tensions are foregrounded in this enthralling cat and mouse thriller, set in a clifftop mansion during the height of World War II.

A juicy whodunit premise crafted around double-agents planted in China's then puppet government is further elevated by a game cast and some nasty brutalities of war, vis-a-vis Japanese-occupied Nanking.