What a waste of my time!!!

The greatest movie ever made..!

Strong and Moving!

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Professional thieves Bo (Andy Lau) and Li (Rene Liu) con a businessman out of his BMW, and head for the hills to lay low. They visit a temple, where Bo busies himself relieving pilgrims of their wallets and phones, while Li earnestly prays. Shortly thereafter, she announces to her lover that she wants them both to abandon their thieving lifestyle and settle down. When he refuses, they argue and split.On foot and hopelessly lost, Li encounters Sha Gen (Wang), a simple man who wants to find a wife and settle down with the money he's earned. He helps her find her way to a train station, where she's reunited with Bo.Touched by Sha Gen's open honesty and trust in his fellow travellers, Li adopts him as her little brother, and decides to protect him and his money on their journey as an act of redemption. However, while Bo wants to get back together with Li, he has his eye on Sha Gen's moneybag. To make matters worse, a whole gang of thieves is on board the train, and they all wouldn't mind helping themselves to the easy cash. It's thief vs thief as the train rolls through gorgeous landscapes, and Li has her work cut out defending Fu from all sides, not least her unscrupulous lover.I've only seen one of director Feng Xiaogang's movies before, 'Big Shot's Funeral', and will admit to not being blown away by that. This, however, is a very engaging and beautifully shot romantic crime comedy, and I enjoyed it immensely. The product placement that seems to have offended many viewers slipped by me, and the pro-communist message simply fits the character of Sha Gen and did not seem out of place. I certainly didn't feel anything getting forced down my throat.Andy Lau manages to be a likable rogue, while Rene Liu plays her role with a lot of heart. Their on-screen chemistry is perfect.There are a number of 'fight' scenes between the thieves, that put me in mind of the 'God of Gamblers' series of films. Instead of fighting with Mah Jong sticks or flinging cards at each other though, the thieves duel with razor blades as they try to poach from one other. These scenes are inventive and done with flair and just the right amount of CG trickery.I did have a problem with the ending, which - while being necessarily melodramatic - seemed overly manipulative. To compensate for this, Rene Liu's acting at the conclusion should leave all but the hardest of hearts unmoved. I have to admit with some shame that this is the first film I've seen starring this astonishing actress. It will definitely not be the last.

World without Thieves (Tian Xia Wu Zei) is a film by director Feng Xiaogang. It involves a romantically involved pair of thieves. As the film begins they are extorting money from a rich man they have filmed trying to seduce the woman. Soon after this, the woman decides she has had enough of this kind of life and wants a normal existence. Her partner in crime, however, has no intention of quitting the business. She stops at a Buddhist temple to pray and there is befriended by a worker on the temple. The man, whose friends call him Dumbo, is returning home with his five years wages from working on the temple, 60, 000 RMB. Although his friends tell him to wire the money home and warn him about thieves he insists he is fine taking the money on the train with him and that they are too distrustful of people. In an attempt to prove to his friends that there are no thieves on the train, the young man has announces to the entire train that he has the money and that any thieves should show themselves. When they don't, Dumbo says, "see,there are no thieves here." On the train, he hooks up with the thieving couple, and the woman makes it her mission to try to protect the gullible young man from those who would steal the money, in particular from a gang of thieves on the train, and perhaps from her own partner. Like Bu Jian, Bu San, this film is not a light comedy, although it seems to start out as such. Instead, it is a serious and emotionally taxing film that can be alternatively thought provoking and hilarious, with the contrast between the gullibility of the young man and the sophistication of the world weary thieves providing the central moral focus Feng is a major Chinese writer/director. He traditionally releases movies around the Chinese New Year. A beautiful movie, highly recommended.

a highly promising script of two thieves, wang li and wang bo who suddenly find themselves adopting a young and naive carpenter and end up trying to keep his life savings from being stolen by a rival gang of thieves on board a train. the film started off fine enough, with eye catching cinematography and a good soundtrack. however, someone must have lost the plot midway because as much as i wanted to fall in love with the film, it ended up a disappointment. a highly muddled ending probably spoiled it for me. dumbo's character was never fully dealt with towards the end and one feels empty wishing that this promising film would at least live up to it's promise.

I've been a huge fan of Feng Xiao Gang this last couple of years and loved every single film he made with Ge You.So what about the first FXG pic with Andy Lau? Let's just say that, what took me three friggin' movies and the same number of years to experience on a emotional roller-coaster CRASH that is the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I got it in one sitting with this movie. Andy will made a fine king in Middle Earth.Forgive me for being cryptic here, for I am still in shock myself. Cryptology is a defence mechanism. OK, at least AWWT was over before I had time to register what a stupendous achievement this film has become for me (personally).So do I like the movie, you might ask? OK, scratch that, try asking me why this ex-LOTR geek no longer haunts the cyberspace, raving about Frodo and gang like he used to, "pre-coronation ceremony"? Then perhaps, just perhaps, you may have an inkling of an idea of how I feel for this movie. Maybe not. Ack! Inarticulation is my friggin' curse. Even that last sentence was stolen somewhere online.OK, enough comparisons and useless ramblings. Right here, right now, I shall resolve to erase every single shred of memory I have of this movie, and go back to being a loyal FXG slash Ge You fan. I shall forget ever having seen this movie and not revisit it again. This first user comment here shall hence be, my last in this thread. The Sinnerman shall not break this promise! So now my good people, I'm glad this commentary piece confused the hell outta you. Its your turn now to go watch it. Enjoy. Or not.