2010 LAFF Screen Report and Reaction: Judge (Touxi), dir. Jie Liu CHINA (warning: there may be spoilers)
Screen Report
At first glance, it would be easy for Western audiences watching a film about China and its wrestling of jurisprudence and say that the means to the end were obviously justified. Judge is, after all, more a film of social commentary; pure entertainment it was not. Even as someone who has some sense of Chinese sensibilities, I found myself surprised at how formally Chinese law was being acknowledged (at least in the way it was being presented), having been inundated my entire life about China's corruption and the wide-spread fraud in the legal system. And certainly that is somewhat on display here in this film, with the lawyer of a wealthy businessman dealing in the illegal transaction of human organs for money. However, this film is far more complicated and complex than meets the eye, reflecting Chinese society and its tension for place in a modern world and the perspective in which the world views China.
The mise-en-scène and the way cinematographer Ryuji Otsuka shot the film reflected this tension. Most of the film was shot in the shadows, with Director Jie Liu perfectly fine with characters moving in and out of it. Most of the light came from the natural motivation of windows and there was very little attempt to light specifically for the faces, with the noticeable exception of the vignette involving the wealthy businessman. This was especially affective in the hallways that the judges walked and the prison cell where inmates shuffled, exemplifying the tension of law and corruption, light and shadow, as the characters move in and out of visibility. In addition, the general bluish/greyish-hue of the frame created a drab and somewhat dreary picture that certainly helped underline the emotions of each vignette. The visual impact is further underscored by the audio choices that were made, namely the lack of musical score and presence of ambient noise/silence. The decision not have a music score is in line with other Chinese films of this type (e.g. "Still Life", dir. Zhang Ke Jia CHINA) and it certainly is a good decision. In it's place is the shifting between bleak silence to piercing noise; the most poignant being the ankle chains of the main inmate (Dao Qi), shuffling along the cell floor, reminding the audience of the dreadfulness of his circumstance and the harshness of a legal system being obeyed.
Outside of the film's main arc are some well-versed moral concerns and tragedy, identifiable to the outside world: the judge (Dahong Ni) losing his one child and coming home to a distant wife, the judge losing his cat (alluding to his remaining "child") to a benign law and the frustration of being given a taste of his own medicine by the local policeman, the pain of the wealthy businessman and his girlfriend frantically looking for a kidney transplant. It's a hodgepodge of concerns both old and new and their connection to each other again reflects the complexity of the law and the human life which they are set up against. Ultimately, in a progressive way and a perhaps a giving in to a mainstream audience's desire for proper resolution, director Jie Liu ends up giving the audience most of what it wants.
However, when the inmate is taken out to the field to receive his sentence of execution by firing squad, the hope of progression is still in serious doubt. In the moment of truth, the shot in the field is powerful and well-composed: a long and wide shot of the field and hill of the execution "stage", all the players are shown, the prisoner in the foreground, knelt down, while all around the shallow hill are officials of law, an ambulance with nurses ready to transport the body to the hospital for transplant, and our judge who the audience is looking to be the hero. All of this, in a scene that is finally out in the light, is the final culmination of that that has occurred in the shadows and this extended cut captures the whole sense of Chinese society and law; there is progress before us but not without tension. The pay-off is in this scene and it is powerfully played, but even as we come to the film's narrative resolution, the film returns to the shadows and drab and once again reminds the (Western) audience about the pace of progress here in the East.
Overall, Judge is a solid look into China and the issues it faces. It isn't much for entertainment or even the (sometimes humorous) irony in the work of Zhang Ke Jia, but in it's own right should suffice as good study in East Asian film studies and Chinese-West discourse.
Screen Reaction
Heard around the theater: "plot and acting good"..."slow progress, but well-conveyed and good interaction with faces"..."liked it, needed to be slow because the guy was depressed"..."good energy, progress, life was restored [at the end]"...
No comments:
Post a Comment