''Codename Cougar'' (also known as ''Codename: Cougar'', ''Operation Cougar'' or ''The Puma Action'') is a 1989 Chinese thriller film. It was co-directed by

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...

and

Yang Fengliang Yang Fengliang is a Chinese film director. He is best known for co-directing the Oscar-nominated film ''Ju Dou ''Ju Dou'' () is a 1990 film directed by Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang and starring Gong Li as the title character. It is notable ...

. Unlike the bulk of Zhang's early works (ranging from 1986's '' Red Sorghum'' to 1995's ''

Shanghai Triad ''Shanghai Triad'' is a 1995 Chinese crime-drama film, directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. The script is written by Bi Feiyu based on Li Xiao's 1994 novel ''Rules of a Clan'' (门规). The film is set in the criminal underworld of 193 ...

''), which were all historical pieces, ''Codename Cougar'' is a modern thriller involving a skyjacked airliner and political intrigue. The film was made as a private investment by a friend of Zhang, but parts of their initial ideas were censored by the Chinese authorities. In the end, the film broke even but earned no profits. Zhang called it "a purely commercial gun chase film".

Plot

The film follows a commercial airliner on a routine flight between

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

and

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

that is hijacked and taken to mainland China by the fictional Taiwan Revolutionary Army Front. Communist authorities cannot seize the plane because of the presence of an important business figure on the flight, and agree to cooperate discreetly with Taiwanese authorities to defuse an already tense situation.

Cast

Gong Li Gong Li (Chinese: 巩俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese actress. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Gong was born in Shenyang, Liaonin ...

as A Li *

Ge You Ge You (born April 19, 1957) is a Chinese actor. A native of Beijing, often with a bald shaven pate, he is considered by many to be one of the most recognizable acting personalities in China. He became the first Asian actor to win the Cannes ...

as Zheng Xianping * Liu Xiaoning as Liang Zhuang * Wang Xueqi as Huang Jingru * Tian Min * Yang Yazhou * Yu Rongguang

Reception

The film is generally considered a failure or a footnote to Zhang's general oeuvre; ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' referred to the film as Zhang Yimou's last "purely frivolous work."

References

External links

* * 1989 films 1989 thriller films 1980s Mandarin-language films Chinese aviation films Films directed by Zhang Yimou Chinese thriller films {{1980s-thriller-film-stub