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The Wasted Times

The Wasted Times

Drama · Mystery · Crime · 2016

Shanghai gangsters grapple with lust and loyalty on the eve of war with Japan as they try to navigate an alliance with the enemy's army.

Movie details

The Wasted Times

2016 Drama · Mystery · Crime 2h 3m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

Shanghai gangsters grapple with lust and loyalty on the eve of war with Japan as they try to navigate an alliance with the enemy's army.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Wasted Times?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Outsider

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A former American G.I. joins a yakuza family after his release from prison in post-World War II Osaka.

Shanghai

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Drama · 2010

An American man returns to a corrupt, Japanese-occupied Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor and discovers his friend has been killed. While he unravels the mysteries of the death, he falls in love and discovers a much larger secret that his own government is hiding.

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man

Crime · 2026

After his estranged son gets embroiled in a Nazi plot, self-exiled gangster Tommy Shelby must return to Birmingham to save his family — and his nation.

Hoodlum

Hoodlum

Crime · 1997

In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running 'the numbers'. When Madam Queen—the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harlem—is arrested, Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson takes over the business and must resist an invasion from a merciless mobster.

Belly

Belly

Crime · 1998

Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?

The Yakuza

The Yakuza

Crime · 1974

When George Tanner does business with high-ranking Yakuza Tono, Tono kidnaps his daughter, and George summons his old friend, private eye Harry Kilmer, to Japan to investigate.

The Boxer from Shantung

The Boxer from Shantung

Action · 1972

Leaving the poverty of his life in Shantung to seek fortune in Shanghai, The Boxer is instead drawn into a world of corruption, gang warfare and evil... Where his only protection is his famed fighting technique.

The Grissom Gang

The Grissom Gang

Crime · 1971

Violent crime caper set in 1930s Kansas in which a gang kidnap an heiress and attempt to recover a ransom. However, the scheme is jeopardised when the leader falls in love with their beautiful captive.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Cheng Er

Written by

Cheng Er

Ge You

Ge You

Mr. Lu

Zhang Ziyi

Zhang Ziyi

Xiao Liu

Tadanobu Asano

Tadanobu Asano

Watabe

Du Chun

Du Chun

Killer

Gillian Chung

Gillian Chung

Xiao Wu

Zhao Baogang

Zhao Baogang

Northern Guest

Ni Dahong

Ni Dahong

Mr. Wang

Court is in session

Put The Wasted Times on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.