Apparently, every country in the world needs to have the departmental equivalent of MI6. In the case of The China Republic Government, that department is Operation 701, which runs a counter-espionage campaign against insurgents and pesky revolutionaries. The Silent War opens with an operative, Xue-ning (Zhou Xun), serendipitously stumbling over a blind piano tuner, He Bing (Tony Leung), during one of her clandestine missions. What`s the use of a blind piano tuner, you may ask? Well, apparently, He Bing possesses a superb sense of hearing, which is an invaluable asset when a large part of your operation consists of deciphering enemy ciphers that are deeply embedded in radio waves.
For those of you expecting high-octane action sequences, you may want to give The Silent War a miss. The film consists largely of operatives sitting at their desks, trying to crack Morse Code, although there are occasional tommy-gun and knife-in-the-dark moments to spice things up. Leung`s He Bing is sympathetic enough for us to root for him, but the rest of the characters fall by the wayside in terms of development. The first half of the film is frankly subpar, but things pick up in the latter bits of the movie, with a love quadrangle and some genuinely tense moments in the mix.
The film is adeptly shot by duo directors Felix Chong and Alan Mak, who create some beautiful period set pieces, if not an entirely waterproof narrative. Tony Leung and Zhou Xun put in generally solid performances, however, and this makes the film`s narrative flaws generally forgivable.
The Silent War is a generally satisfactory espionage affair that would have benefited greatly from judicious trimming, although it does accomplish the mission that it sets out to achieve. If nothing else, you have to give the film directors props for making Morse Code seem even remotely interesting.
Summary: Satisfactory, but not particularly noteworthy.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Raphael Lim