Shanghai Triad(摇啊摇，摇到外婆桥)

Time Out by

Unfortunately, with its faintly uneven pacing and straggling structure, the film lacks depth or narrative economy. That said, Zhang's use of colour is as vivid as ever, his stylised depiction of violence is mostly effective, and Gong Li is gloriously watchable.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

With its underworld violence and straightforward narrative, Shanghai Triad may be Zhang's most accessible film to date. It is not, however, his best work, having neither the epic scope of To Live nor the quiet emotional power of Raise the Red Lantern. Yet there is still much to like about Shanghai Triad, not the least of which is the production's gorgeous look (credit the director and his cinematographer, Li Xiao). Shanghai Triad overflows with memorable imagery and atmosphere. And, as this film verifies, a weak entry by Zhang is often far more engrossing than a strong entry by many other directors.

The New York Times by Janet Maslin

However endlessly film makers around the world have told that story, Mr. Zhang reimagines it with immense grace and turns it into a deeply felt tragedy.

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

Also starring: the landscape, beautifully photographed by cinematographer Lu Yue. The look is rosily glamorous in sophisticated Shanghai, and mistily poetic on the quiet island to which the mobster and his party escape.

Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington

There isn't a moment in Shanghai Triad that celebrates or revels in violence, and by movie's end, Zhang has portrayed the Shanghai underworld as a place of irredeemable evil.

USA Today by Mike Clark

Shanghai Triad concludes the sublime seven-movie collaboration of Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and actress Gong Li with a bang worthy of the most jubilant New Year's Eve.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

There are two basic weaknesses. One is that the boy supplies the point of view, and yet the story is not about him, so instead of identifying with him, we are simply frustrated in our wish to see more than he can see. The other problem is that Gong Li's character is thoroughly unlikable.

Movie Nation by Roger Moore

Still, this is Zhang at his peak — twenty years before the horrors of “The Great Wall,” working with his muse (Gong Li will be seen next in Disney’s “Mulan”) and showing off a China that the Communist oligarchs would eventually come to emulate — of Western style luxury and opulence, and the casual, business-as-usual corruption that helps one acquire it.

Empire by William Thomas

Even the excellent Gong has a tough time trying to twist her character into a tragic heroine, while the utter despair to which sympathetic characters are condemned suggests a significant point in Zhang's career, but does nothing to relieve the viewer's ennui.