K. G.
Well directed , and the film has sensuous costumes and sets. Some characters seem to move through their development in the story too quickly leaving a rushed feeling to their emotions and therfore sometimes the story feels unrealistic. But many characters are wonderfully done... it's just sometimes the pace of major events moves too quickly. I found the story realistic and gritty, but there were many times I found the display of gore and violence to be a negative substitute for story. I don't know, but it felt that the film could be half as long without the violence. I don't like putting the whole film down-- I just felt the fighting and gore was too much, and that more story should have been substituted for it. I'm just the kind of guy that goes for story(something like Roman Polanski's version of Macbeth).