Wine Wars aka Qiang Hong (2017)

(On TV, January 2020) When I say that Wine Wars is a bit of an odd movie, I’m unfortunately using “weird” along the lines of “disappointing.” Taking the Chinese fascination for all things French to a logical extreme, this is an action film that largely takes place in France (well, “France”—not sure if it was where most of it was shot) and revolves around a priceless bottle of wine. As a pretext for a few action scenes and a plot that revolves around greed, violence and betrayal, that’s more intriguing than usual. I liked the leads (and so does the director—Leon Lai directs himself as one of the lead roles) and some of the cinematography is very slick, but the film doesn’t do as well overall. The action sequences may be remarkable, but they’re not that numerous, and the entire film is harmed by awkward directing and staging, with the narrative not always being easy to follow, even allowing for translation issues. The visual interest, however, never outranks the narrative confusion. There are a few chuckles to be had in a Chinese film so preoccupied with European winemaking even as it tries to reclaim some of it—at one point, one of the characters mentions something about how “if [historical figures] would have remained in China rather than go to Italy, China would be the world’s finest wine producer!” Wine Wars may be worth a look if you’re interested in Chinese action cinema, or the veneration in which Chinese culture seems to be holding France, but don’t complain if you’re disappointed that it never reaches its potential.