Mr. He (Tony Leung) works as a counter-espionage agent for the Japanese government in Shanghai during World War II. He's secretly working as an agent for the Chinese Communist Party who steals classified information. Mr. Ye (Yibo Wang), an assassin, works with him along with Mr. Tang (Chengpeng Dong), Mr. Wang (Chuanjun Wang), Mr. Zhang (Lei Huang).

      Hidden Blade is an intelligent spy thriller with plenty of twists and surprises. The screenplay by writer/director Er Cheng follows a non-linear structure from different perspectives and time periods throughout the 1930s and 1940s before and after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Cheng keeps the film remaining plot-driven with a dry, serious tone and little to no comic relief. If you're looking for an action-packed thriller, you'll be disappointed that you have to wait until the third act for most of the action sequences. Until then, the story becomes increasingly complex, but also a little convoluted and confusing much like in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy which is cut from the same cloth as Hidden Blade. So, if you like that film, you'll probably like this one, too. There are double crossings, not surprisingly, so no one is who they seem to be. With so many characters, subplots, backstories and twists upon twists, your head might feel like it's spinning at times, so exhaustion begins to seep in around the hour mark. Writer/director Er Cheng trusts the audience's intelligence to piece everything together and follow along without spoon-feeding too much exposition. There's not a single character who's decent enough for the audience to root for, though. With so much focus on the plot, Hidden Blade sacrifices character development which makes it somewhat pedestrian and emotionally flat because it's hard to be emotionally invested in any of the characters on screen.

      The set design, costume design, lighting and camera angles add some style which becomes part of the film's substance and noirish atmosphere concurrently. There's no denying that Hidden Blade has a very cinematic look that's often stunning and even poetic. A lot of effort was clearly put into the production design, and it shows. The editing is also superb without any clunky or awkward transitions between past and present scenes. Moreover, writer/director Er Cheng trusts the audience's patience because the pace moves slowly as does the amount of information that the audience learns. It's the equivalent of a large puzzle that takes some time to solve, so it's a frustrating experience on occasion. At a running time of 2 hours and 8 minutes, Hidden Blade is a visually stylish, well-edited and intelligent spy thriller, but also somewhat dry, tedious and exhausting.
  

      19-year-old Irene (Rebecca Marder), a young Jewish woman, lives in Paris and aspires to become an actress during the summer of 1942. She flirts with her Jacques (Cyril Metzger), a doctor's assistant, while oblivious to the imminent danger that she and her family are in as the Nazis take over France.

      Writer/director Sandrine Kiberlain opts for a more subtle, restrained and understated approach at depicting the horrors of the Holocaust. Irene leads what seems like an ordinary life. She has friends, lovers, a passion for acting, and an overprotective father, André (André Marcon), who's concerned about her arriving home late. She comes across as carefree, naive and somewhat immature, i.e. by pretending to have poor eyesight during an eye exam just to be able to see Jacques again. Kiberlain does a great job of exploring the innocence and joys of a young woman rather than showing how the joys and innocence will be taken away by the Nazis. The focus remains on Irene and her family without veering off into any other distracting tangents. To be fair, Irene's brief romance with Jacques feels a little contrived and cheesy. There's little to no depth to their relationship; she just seems to think that he's cute. Kiberlain leaves a lot to the audience's imagination when it comes to emotionally devastating scenes, so she should be commended for trusting the audience's imagination. That's a double-edged sword, though, because it makes the film feel sugar-coated without addressing the elephant in the room: the Nazi occupation. There are brief, ephemeral moments of anti-semitism, but they're not very hard-hitting on an emotional level. Kiberlain assumes that you're already familiar with the horrors of the Holocaust from other darker films that look at the horrors of the Holocaust head-on. A Radiant Girl isn't nearly as unflinching as The Boy with the Striped Pajamas nor does it even try to be. It's similar to When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit in its tone and in its balance of light and dark elements which make it more palatable and family-friendly than most films set during the Holocaust.

      Rebecca Marder gives a genuinely moving performance as Irene while lighting up the screen with her warmth and charisma. She convincingly and truthfully portrays Irene's innocence, naivete, vulnerability, determination and persistence, so kudos to her for seeing and treating Irene as a human being. It certainly helps the audience to see Irene as a human being as well and to want her to be happy despite the inevitably dark outcome. Not surprisingly, writer/director Sandrine Kiberlain fades the screen to black during a key scene that cuts away before the tragic event occurs like the Coen brothers do at the end of A Serious Man as the tornado approaches. She holds the black screen for a long time perhaps to let the audience fill in the gaps with their imagination. At a running time of 1 hour and 38 minutes, A Radiant Girl is an understated, tender and mildly engaging coming-of-age story set during dark times, but it's ultimately sugar-coated and fails to pack an emotional punch.