The IMDB classifies Let the Bullets Fly as a comedy, drama, and curiously as a western. Although this is undoubtedly an Eastern film, with exclusively Eastern actors, I find this classification accurate. Opening with “Pocky Zhang’s” group of outlaws conducting a daring horseback raid on a moving train, the film is instantly reminiscent of many Hollywood Westerns. The setting of 1920’s Sichuan is equally reminiscent of the American West. The region lies in the Western reaches of China, and at the time of the movie was largely lawless and ruled at a local level. Despite the tight control that the central Chinese exercises over its populace now, the film works on many levels as a critique of Chinese governmental corruption, while also supporting the today’s central government and the ideals of communism.

Let the Bullets Fly diverges significantly from the themes of an American Western. While Westerns often criticize corruption with a figure such as a wealthy rancher, or a corrupt sheriff, typically the hero of the film is portrayed as a rugged individualistic figure, whereas Jian Weng’s Zhang is more communal minded. This is evidenced in his plan to gain control of the town he fraudulently assumes governorship at the expense of Chow Yun Fat’s drug dealing crime lord. Zhang creates an egalitarian society where nobody kneels for anybody else, and where wealth is distributed evenly among the populace. While the film does not explicitly support the notion of a strong central government, the absence of a central power in the film speaks more to its necessity to the audience. The lawlessness and violence in the film suggests that without a strong government in place, society will result to the chaotic antics and gun battles witnessed in Let the Bullets Fly.