Shanghai

Shanghai is an elegantly-mounted film that faithfully recreates the period. The only unclear aspect is the genre as the film is a muddle of romance,political thriller and historical drama.

Written by: Piroj Wadia

3 min readMumbaiSep 24, 2010 06:20 PM IST First published on: Sep 24, 2010 at 06:20 PM IST

In late 1941,Paul Soames,a US naval intelligence agent,is sent to Shanghai to investigate the death of his good friend Connor. Soames narrates a series of intriguing events,which deal with crossed loyalties and flimsy alliances. Working undercover as a journalist with pro-Nazi sentiments,he gets to the upper echelons of German society in the city,with a little help from Ann Muller,and from there,linking himself up with the Germans new ally,Japan.

For Paul,theres more than meets the eye each step of the way in his investigations. Soon he finds himself on the verge of discovering something large,with a hint on the sinister plans that might be hidden under the cloak of misinformation. For local triad leader Anthony Lan-Ting,his wife Anna seems to be there when needed to entertain his guests,or disappear without qualms when hes in the company of his mistresses. Theres always suspicion that shes hiding something and is more than the elegant seductress that shes made out to be. Paul gets enamoured by her charms,and the Japanese intelligence officer Tanaka is ever keen to break her cover.