Years ago, the kingdom of Pei lost the important city of Jingzhou to the kingdom of Yang after the popular and brilliant Commander Ziyu lost a duel to the infamously unbeatable Yang Cang. The cowardly king of Pei is enraged after discovering that Ziyu has challenged Yang Cang to a rematch without authorization and demotes Ziyu to commoner status despite the objection of other military officials. The king offers to marry his beloved sister Qingping to Yang Cang's son Yang Ping to maintain peace between the two kingdoms. Yang Ping makes an insulting counteroffer to take Qingping as a concubine, which the king accepts despite the disgust of Qingping and General Tian, who openly shows support for Ziyu and is consequently demoted by the king. It is revealed that Commander Ziyu is in fact a man named Jingzhou; the real Ziyu was severely wounded in his past duel with Yang Cang and is recovering in a hidden cave in his residence, a shadow of his former self. Jingzhou was secretly adopted for his uncanny resemblance to Ziyu and trained from childhood to be his "shadow"—to serve as his body double in the likely event that his life is threatened. Only Ziyu and his wife, Xiao Ai, are aware of this arrangement. Jingzhou is forced to act as Ziyu's proxy in the public eye and must train to beat Yang Cang in his place while Ziyu plots the recapture of the city of Jingzhou and his own ascension to the throne from his cave. Ziyu promises to let Jingzhou return to his home and mother in the case that he is victorious over Yang Cang. Jingzhou, using the Pei kingdom's weaponized metal umbrella, is unsuccessful in his practice duels against Ziyu, who mimics Yang Cang's spear technique. However, the tides turn once Xiao Ai advises Jingzhou to fight in a more feminine style and embrace the umbrella's representation of yin, which would serve as a more effective counter to Yang Cang's spear, which represents yang. At night, Jingzhou confesses his love for Xiao Ai, who had also been developing feelings for him. They sleep together, which Ziyu sees through a hole in the chamber wall. During this time, Ziyu meets Tian and informs him of Jingzhou's existence and role. Without access to troops after being stripped of their roles, Ziyu instructs Tian to train a hundred convicts in the umbrella technique in preparation for the recapture of Jingzhou. As the time for the duel arrives, Jingzhou, in the place of Ziyu, travels on boat to the city of Jingzhou to take part. Below deck, however, are Tian and the hundred armed convicts. Tian is shocked to see Qingping among them, who stowed away on the boat. Tian and the convicts secretly swim to shore and enter the city while Yang Cang and other officials are preoccupied with the duel. Surprisingly, Jingzhou beats Yang Cang in the first round but is defeated in the next two rounds of the three-round match. Yang Cang offers to call it a draw, but Jingzhou, seeing that the Yang flag has not yet toppled, needs to buy more time for Tian and the convicts. He challenges Yang Cang to another round, but to the death. In the city, Yang Ping and his soldiers are being driven back by Tian and the convicts, though both sides suffer heavy losses. Qingping sacrifices her life to stab Yang Ping and allow Tian to topple the Yang flag, indicating recapture of the city. The flag falls onto the grounds of the duel. Knowing that his son must have died, Yang Cang casts away his spear in fury to kill the fallen Jingzhou, but Jingzhou is able to slit Yang Cang's throat using a piece of his umbrella. Jingzhou immediately makes his way to his childhood home, but finds his mother stabbed to death and several Pei assassins in the house in an effort to have him return to the royal court. In despair, he returns to the Pei capital. At the celebratory feast, the king of Pei abruptly orders everyone to leave except Jingzhou and Xiao Ai. He reveals that he knew Jingzhou was a double for Ziyu all along and praises his loyalty and obedience, telling them that he has sent assassins to Ziyu's cave so that Jingzhou could permanently replace Ziyu. Just then, a masked assassin enters the hall, carrying a box apparently containing Ziyu's head, to the horror of Xiao Ai. When the king opens the box, however, it is empty. The assassin stabs the king, though not fatally, and removes his mask to reveal himself as Ziyu. The latter, raving and insane, orders Jingzhou to kill the king. As Jingzhou reaches for the king's sword, Ziyu attempts to betray Jingzhou by stabbing him. Jingzhou manages to stab Ziyu first, killing him. Jingzhou then kills the king, replacing the mask on Ziyu's body and placing the sword so as to frame the masked assassin. Jingzhou exits the hall and declares to the gathered officials outside that the king has been assassinated. Xiao, the only other person who knows the truth, runs to the doors of the hall and then hesitates, unsure whether to reveal the truth to the officials.
Cast
Deng Chao as Commander Ziyu and his shadow Jingzhou
Well Go USA released the film on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD in North America on August 13, 2019, and in the UK on September 16th, 2019.
Reception
At the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 91 reviews and an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Beautifully filmed and inventively choreographed, Shadow is a thrilling and visually sumptuous wuxia epic that finds director Zhang Yimou near peak form." On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 81 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
