'The Great Magician' introduces an amusing romantic triangle

An ice queen dressed in white with a severe set of bangs, a magician who has returned to China after the fall of the Qing Dynasty mixing Western and Eastern magical skills and a big bully who remains fascinated with prestidigitation come together for this amusing period piece, "The Great Magician," currently streaming on Netflix.

To put this in a historical perspective, the Qing Dynasty began in 1644 and was the last imperioal dynasty for China. China's power was undermined by wars with European nations and those infamous unequal treaties that Western nations such as the U.K, the U.S., France, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Prussia, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Belgium and the Netherlands. The first of the unequal treaties for China was the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing with the British Empire. The 1901 Boxer Protocol would add an Asian nation to this exclusive club and the U.K. would add the 1914 Smila Accord and a year later the Empire of Japan would have the Twenty-One Demands and then the 1933 Tanggu Truce.

Japan's first unequal treaties would be signed in 1854 with the U.S. (Convention of Kanagawa) and the U.K. (Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty). Japan would be first in line for an eneuql treaty with Korea (Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876). The U.S. and the Qing Dynasty would also impose an unequal treaty in 1882. Japan and China would be the only Asian nations to impose unequal treaties.

The Qing Dynasty ended with the ouster of the Empress Dowager Longyu and the last emperor Puyi. Puyi would be briefly restored to the throne in 1917 by the Chinese warlord Zhang Xun, but that would last less than a month. Puyi would be expelled from the Forbidden City in 1924. In 1932, he'd become the ruler of Manchuria under the support of the Imperial Japanese Army.

The 2011 movie "The Great Magician" (大魔术师; traditional Chinese: 大魔術師) takes place during that time of chaos between the fall of the Qing Dynasty when the Western nations had imposed the unequal treaties and China was reduced to squabbling warlords attempting to enlarge their own fiefdoms. There is a looming Japanese presence (Kenya Sawada), but the invasion hasn't yet been fully realized

If you're wondering how the warlords got their hordes, according to Derek Yee, Chun Tin-nam and Lau Ho-leung's script, a little fear and a bit of magic never hurt. Liu Kun Shan (Wu Gang) performs a frightening bit of magic that convinces a large group of men to join the forces of warlord Lei Bully (Lau Ching-wan). Bully has several wives, six to be exact, and hopes to add a seventh.

Wife seven, Liu Yin (Zhou Xun) resists Bully who has threatened her father. Her fiancé had disappeared during his journey to Europe. Yet now he has returned as a magician, Chang Hsien (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) who is working with revolutionaries who want to use the magic show to kidnap Bully.

This production is richly realized with detailed backgrounds and costumes. There is no real enemy and neither Bully or Chang Hsien are political animals. Both entranced by the pale and unyielding Liu Yin, they are bound together in a comedic triangle.

Director Derek Lee, gives us both magic that crosses over into fantasy (with just enough CGI) and a light-hearted rivalry that ends with a question mark and hopefully more adventures to follow. The movie won a 2013 Hong Kong Film Award for Best Costume and Make up Design (Jessie Dai and Chung Man Yee).  In Mandarin with English subtitles, "The Great Magician" is available on Netflix for instant streaming.