Reviews

Films

And the Spring Comes (Li Chun)

Directed by Gu Changwei

This film about misfits in a small town cuts to the bone.

Set in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, in the 1990s, a plain-Jane teacher, played with heavy makeup by Jiang Wenli, the director's wife, sets her eyes on a career as an opera singer. Italian opera, that is. Drifting across her world are two equally fish-out-of-water types: a young man who wants to learn Western-style painting and a middle-aged gay man who dreams of being a ballet dancer.

Society frowns upon them, and they isolate themselves further by keeping a distance from the few who befriend them. Their attempts to move to cultural hubs such as Beijing or Shenzhen are constantly thwarted. Their dreams turn into delusions.

Never has the conflict between ideals and reality been portrayed on the Chinese screen with such acuteness. In a time when children are pushed to excel in academic or artistic pursuits ranging from math contests and piano playing, this movie is a cruel reminder that success comes with a heavy price. But mostly, it is about conformity, which drives people to judge those with personalities and aspirations different from theirs.

The Forbidden Kingdom

Directed by Rob Minkoff

You may have reason for high expectations from the very first Jacky Chan-Jet Li match-up, but don't peg them too high. For one thing, both action superstars are way past their prime - at least by a decade.

If you want a really good Chan or Li kung-fu flick, go back to the mid-1990s. If you have to settle for a new movie, Thailand's Tony Jaa has a whiff of both Li's laser-like fluidity and Chan's comic timing.

The Forbidden Kingdom is a spin-off from the Monkey King story; it is a pastiche of kung-fu classics; some of the scenes are almost a parody. But don't feel you have to watch 100 of the best Hong Kong kung-fu movies to enjoy this one. It features a teenage guide from Boston - the fusion of East and West ensures that the concoction will have mass appeal. The result looks like Chinese food, but tastes like Well, it's bland. It's basically Panda Express served at American cineplexes.

In Love We Trust (a.k.a. Left Right)

Directed by Wang Xiaoshuai

The Berlinale has a crush on Wang Xiaoshuai. Who else in his right mind would give an award to a script so corny and melodramatic?

Wang is at a crossroads. He seems unsure about the direction he should take: He wants to broaden his appeal by tackling a story with soap opera-like twists and turns; yet he is not ready to abandon his auteur hauteur even though he has fallen far behind peers like Jia Zhangke.

The plot revolves around two happily married couples. Then fate intervenes: the daughter from the previous marriage needs a bone-marrow transplant, and the only way is for the mother to have another baby with her previous husband. Hurdles pop up faster than you can yell Liu Xiang. Ethical hurdles, of course.

In the end, a mother's love conquers all.

There are many good movies that portray a mother's agony when confronting a child's slow-mo death. Think Lorenzo's Oil. Wang's drama never achieves - or even attempts to - the intensity and complexity of human relations in fierce struggle. It is a slapdash sketch with one defense mechanism: it is based on a true story. A news investigation of the original story would probably be more engaging. Raymond Zhou

(China Daily 05/07/2008 page20)