Favorite Film Series [Wk:5]

The 2011 12th Annual San Diego Film Festival just ended this past weekend and of all the films that the festival had in its line-up, I was really only excited about one. Lost in all the hubbub of all the latest and best in Asian-American cinema, was a retrospective screening of a film considered one of the greatest and most important Asian films ever created and it also happens to be one of my favorite films.

The problem with this film is that it's very difficult to find a copy, much less a copy with English subtitles. Up to this point, I've only put films on this series that are relatively available for you to find. But watching this film on the big screen, with a new 35mm print, was such a treat at the SDAFF, that I'm willing to include this film in the series. If you're fortunate enough to come across another film festival doing a retrospective and playing the new print (apparently, there are a few out there circulating the circuit), and if you're really want to be considered an even moderate cinephile, do yourself a favor and at least sit through this film.

Alright, that's enough of the gushing pretense and let's talk about it.

City of Sadness (1989). Dir. Hsiao-hsien Hou

Why this film: If you look at the film from a textual perspective, City of Sadness is set in one of the most pivotal and emotionally charged moments of Taiwanese-Chinese history; that is, the transition period where one colonizer (Japan) is exchanged with another colonizer (Chinese Nationalist) and the "228 incident". Many viewers who hold City of Sadness in high regard often do so because of the film's contextual importance, as Dir. Hou's film was the first in post-martial law Taiwan to address this period of the island's history.
Not to diminish the contextual importance, but as a filmmaker, the film is also superb in other ways. Firstly, the fact that the "228 incident" is viewed only in its periphery, not the actual massacre/clashes between native Taiwanese and Chinese Nationalist or the struggle in political arenas, already sets this historical period piece in contrast to others of the genre. While most historical period pieces nowadays are all about center-of-conflict action and accuracy, Dir. Hou's approach seems courageous by comparison. We don't see anything of the incident or massacre itself, we see none of the politicians involved, but what we do see is the affect of those central events and individuals on the lives of families and friendships. The drama of the incident is seen in how relationships are impacted and changed. In a sense, this emphasis opens the audience to learn more about the incident by watching its affects rather than the incident itself.
Finally, while being feted around the world as a bona-fide auteur, Dir. Hou has been known as a filmmaker of necessity, characterized by long takes, methodical, lingering camera, penchance for wide-shots, and all those characteristics combine to play out beautifully in this film. For example, the long takes allow real acting to take place, for actors to shine as they embody their characters, and the entire cast does so well in capturing the complex emotions as things spillover, out of their control. A young Tony Leung is brilliant playing the deaf brother Wen-ching, who, in typical Dir. Hou fashion, is deaf out of necessity (Leung couldn't speak Mandarin/Taiwanese effectively). Two side bits about the actors: 1) the best actor award goes to 3rd brother, who had to first play a crazy, shell-shocked war veteran, then a Shanghai-like gangster, and finally, a brain-dead brother. 2) My favorite actor goes to the grandfather, who is just adorably endearing and also plain hilarious the way he rides various people in the story.
A lot more can be said about this film, and there I'm certain there have been many articles and treatments have been written, but I'll stop here and hope you get a chance to watch this wonderful film.

Languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Japanese (amongst others)

Availability
Netflix: Not Available
Amazon: Not Available
UCSD: Available (Limited)
SDSU: Not Available
San Diego Public Library: Not Available

(Check your local research-oriented, liberal-arts university library, they may have a copy)

Favorite Film Series

People always ask me what my favorite film is. I generally dislike that question because 1) there are too many films to just pick one and 2) if I tell them what my favorite films are, they will stare at me blankly because they've never heard of the film, since most of them are foreign films.

Then, recently, I had this brilliant idea to use this blog to talk about my favorite films and give people reasons to watch them. I don't know why I didn't think about this before, but I tend to be late on a lot of things. Oh well.

So, I will begin a blog series, My Favorite Films Series. Most of these films are films that you've probably never heard of, which is all fine and good. It's always good to watch something different and unique, unlike most mainstream films that are mostly all the same.

Hopefully, I will be able to open you guys up to new films. And, if you do watch them, please let me know what you thought.

Okay, enough pretense. Here is the first film (in no particular order):

Still Life (2006) Dir. Zhang Ke Jia



Why this film: In my humble opinion, since I am no expert on foreign cinema, I believe that Director Zhang is the best and most important filmmaker out of China. A number of his films could probably be a part of this series. This film is essentially social commentary on modern China and the country's conflict of past and present. If you know anything about China, it's that things are changing very rapidly and Director Zhang film comments on its human impact. The danger of this approach, however, is that the film can become an overt, preachy, talking heads piece that takes the typical Western-model of Big Bad China vs. The Poor People. Rather, Director Zhang works in irony and subtlety with both the narrative and the images. Watching his films does take some patience for the Hollywood-raised audience, but if you're paying attention, you yourself may feel the conflict that is going on for both country and individual.
Both Tao Zhao (Shen Hong) and Zhou Lan (Huang Mao), who play two of the film's main protagonist, have great performances in working with the film's style and theme. If you have any interest in China, at all, "Still Life" is a must-watch.

(I'll limit my reviews, so I don't spoil it or talk it up too much and let the film speak for itself)

Language: Mandarin, with English subtitles

Availability (San Diego)
Netflix: Available
UCSD: Available
SDSU: Not Available
San Diego Circuit: Available (Limited)
San Diego Public Library: Available

2010 LAFF SRR: Judge (Touxi), dir. Jie Liu

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]"...

Okay, sorry

I tried to export from one e-mail account to another, but unfortunately my previous e-mail account has the domain "refinefilms" so I have to wait 3 months before it clears Google's systems. This will be the temporary address until I can get that one back.

Thanks. I look forward to updating this throughout LA Film Festival.

I RSVP'd to Shorts Program 3 (esp. "Mr. Okra") and Judge (CHN, Jie Liu), and I'm still deciding the schedule for the other films. Maybe I'll score an interview! I will be there Friday and Saturday all day, not sure about the other days. Trying to maximize the time there so I don't have to buy too many parking passes.

Anyways, a lot of things to prepare before I go to LA.

See ya soon!