nwasianweekly.com
May 26, 2007

Self portrait of James Lee, director of “Before We Fall in Love Again”

Directing: a different mirror
33rd Seattle International Film Fest opens

By Ann-Marie Stillion
Northwest Asian Weekly

Even a snapshot of a film director’s life speaks volumes about what might be found in his or her films. When I decided to look into the some of the careers of Asian directors, I saw a lot of similarities. For one, their passion for film often comes from a deep interest in other media, like literature or cultural phenomena. And each one is something of a pioneer.

Also, as I looked into their biographies, I found it fascinating to follow their paths, even if only for a moment or two. That’s what makes a film festival different from the occasional visit to the movie palace or a delivery from Netflix: Festivals give us the chance to drill down on our movies and put them under a microscope.

The first weekend of the 2007 Seattle International Film Festival will screen “Battle of Wits” on May 26 at 6 p.m. at the Neptune. “Wits” director Jacob Cheung was born in 1959 and works out of Hong Kong. He began his career as an art-house director, which in Asia, I gather, means lots of slice-of-life dramas sans epics. Cheung has directed a strong list of independent comedies, romance and drama, and has acting and writing credits to his name. In his 20-episode television series a few years ago, Cheung set a different pace for contemporary wuxia (martial-arts movies). He turned away from fantasy stunt-making, preferring a more traditional or realistic presentation of fighting. He believes that his stories find their audience by way of his connection to historical events and development of romantic relationships within the plot as much as fighting does.

For instance, part of the plot of “Battle of Wits” encompasses a religious philosophy called Mohism, which flourished in the fifth century B.C. and promoted universal love in contrast to the conditional Confucian point of view. Cheung’s stories find part of their richness in his attention to these story details. “Battle of Wits” is the director’s first epic period movie and has already begun to stir its own debate for its strong anti-war message.

Another opportunity to experience the contemporary Asian aesthetic as it is expressed in filmmaking is Satoshi Kon’s anime, “Paprika” (May 25 at 9:30 p.m. at the Neptune). The Japanese director was born in Hokkaido in 1963 and is a highly-regarded director from the pre-eminent Japanese anime studio Studio Madhouse. Originally a set designer, he began working as a screenwriter in the early ’90s, and his early successes opened the door to becoming one of the principal directors at Madhouse. In 1997, he made his directorial debut with “Perfect Blue,” an animated film well known both in the United States and Japan for its fantastic beauty and, yes, incomprehensible plot. Some have said that Kon’s fan base may actually be bigger in America than in Japan.

“Paprika” is about dreams, but it is also truly the revelation of a vision for the director who worked for 10 years to find the backing for its production. Yasutaka Tsutsui, whose manga was the basis for the film, eventually proposed to back it himself.

The Japanese director has explained in various interviews that his primary influence is American film, which he looks to almost exclusively. Kon gratefully acknowledges one observer’s view of his filmmaking as a blend of Hello Kitty and science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick, whose work inspired “Blade Runner” and “Total Recall,” among others.

The latest film from Malaysian director James Lee also screens at SIFF this year — “Before We Fall in Love Again” (May 28 at 6:30 p.m. at Pacific Place). Lee is the youngest of those profiled this week, having been born in 1973 in Ipoh, Malaysia. He was originally trained as a graphic designer and is self-taught as a filmmaker. The producer of many well-regarded films from his home country, his most acclaimed film to date was 2005’s “My Beautiful Washing Machine.” All of his films have come from his own studio in Malaysia, Doghouse73 Pictures.

Lee would be the first to admit the infancy of Malaysian film. That said, he is considered one of the leading figures in independent filmmaking, along with Amir Muhammad and Ho Yuhang, directors who also work within his film studio.

Besides producing and directing, the director of “Before We Fall in Love Again” also continues to work as a director of photography. It is a practice, he says, a way to teach himself. Having started out as a film buff, Lee says that Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang (whose boundary-pushing “I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone” screens in SIFF’s Alternate Cinema program this year) is one of his heroes, along with Jim Jarmusch, Fassbinder and Wong Kar-Wai. “Before We Fall in Love Again” is the first of a trilogy of freestanding love stories.

For more information, visit www.seattlefilm.com.

Ann-Marie Stillion can be reached at annmarie@nwasianweekly.com.




Here is an excellent selection of original reviews from some of our writers. Please visit www.nwasianweekly.com during the festival to read about the rest of the Asian and Asian-related films. —ams

“After This Our Exile”

Hong Kong

May 26 at 4:15 p.m., May 29 at 9:30 p.m.; Pacific Place Cinema

Patrick Tam, back in the director’s chair after 17 years, delivers a simple tale that cracks heartbreak by heartbreak, sustained by supple, to-the-point visuals. Boy’s mother runs out after boy’s father beats her. Boy steals to keep gambling-happy dad solvent. Boy, for his trouble, gets thrown in a detention center. The father, played by actor-dancer-singer Aaron Kwok, quietly seethes, a sinkhole around which weaker forces must spin. —Andrew Hamlin

“Battle of Wits”

Hong Kong

May 26 at 6 p.m., May 28 at 3:30 p.m.; Neptune Theatre

As the latest in a long line of recent Chinese epics, Jacob Cheung’s “Battle of Wits” (“Muk Gong”) manages to entertain despite the predictable characters and a constant preachy anti-war message.

Set in 370 B.C. in the midst of China’s Warring States Period, the story chronicles the quest of a Mohist follower, Ge Li (Andy Lau), in his efforts to save the small Liang Kingdom from an approaching Zhao Army, 100,000-strong.

Mo Zi, for whom Mohism is named, was a Chinese philosopher who was most popular during that tumultuous time. He was known to be both an astute military strategist and a pacifist, but that’s where the movie falters.

In what seems like an attempt to revive an ancient philosophy, Ge Li is put on a pedestal from where he endeavors to save Liang from imminent destruction. Though there are several twists and turns, the droning anti-war message remains steady.

Few characters go through any meaningful metamorphoses, and surprisingly enough, that’s where the movie goes right. The unchanging characters provide the needed juxtaposition of differing philosophies that make the movie interesting.

The Warring States Period, during which several Chinese philosophical movements were born, is a great backdrop for this epic, but at times, “Battle of Wits” felt like a combination of a Learning Channel documentary and the strategy game “Age of Empires.” —Bryan Fung

“Eagle vs. Shark”

New Zealand

May 31 at 7 p.m., June 1 at 4 p.m., Neptune Theatre

Lily (Loren Horsley), a fast-food worker and champion video-game player, sums up her visit with her boyfriend’s family by saying, “It’s been pretty weird.” Her statement comes as no surprise, since director Taika Waititi’s debut feature is a romantic comedy involving people who are weird.

Jarrod (Jemaine Clement), a video-game clerk, is too self-centered to be liked, but to Lily, he’s one hot, mullet-wearing catch. At his worst, Jarrod ignores his only child when they visit her while on his “revenge mission.” He leaves adorable 9-year-old Vinny (Morag Hills) to be raised by his dysfunctional family, a collection of oddballs headed by his grief-struck father Jonah (Brian Sergent). Lily sees this normally deal-breaking character flaw and spends time with Vinny herself. Eventually, she grows to like both her and Jarrod’s entire family.

Waititi’s script is funny because the humor is not mean-spirited. Lily’s shy and quirky attempts to show her love are charming in contrast to Jarrod’s obnoxious indifference. The strange animations throughout the film are out of place and are much better suited in an abstract art movie. —James Tabafunda

“The Elephant and the Sea”

Malaysia

May 31 at 4:45 p.m., June 2 at 9:30 p.m.; Harvard Exit Theatre

Gorgeously shot in Kuala Selangor on Malaysia’s west coast, this contemplative drama from writer-director Woo Ming Jin juxtaposes the serene beauty of lush green forests (luxuriantly heavy with humidity) against the dire poverty of the surrounding village. It’s a place where the river meets the sea, and the water imagery reaches a near-intoxicating potency, especially in glimpses of a ruined pier whose remains suggest a shipwreck.

Berg Lee is superb as Ding. A tall and angelically impassive youth with a slight frame, he resembles a manga action figure in some shots, his vaguely mullet-ish feathery hair coating his neck like down. Yet he’s essentially powerless, drifting through dead-end jobs, hocking every item he can find to sustain existence.

Woo utilizes sound design instead of music: The dripping of a faucet, the shuffle of shoes on cement and the rushing roar of a waterfall are as expressive as the film’s off-kilter dialogue. When a “lottery fish” catches Ding’s eye in an aquarium store, the salesgirl swoons, “You will either see the numbers on his body, or they will come to you in a dream.” That dream is the movie itself. —N.P. Thompson

“Exiled”

Hong Kong

May 27 at 9:15 p.m., Pacific Place Cinema; May 31 at 4:45 p.m., Egyptian Theatre

Johnny To’s 1999 “The Mission,” a SIFF hit, rolled out the lives of assassins, hit men and backstabbers in a droll, dryly humorous tone that accentuated personal quirks. One made man, for example, laid aside his gun to chain-smoke for hours on end; after returning cigarette to ashtray after each puff, he’d shell and eat peanuts. A dedicated fellow from the other side wanting the first man’s whereabouts — and, by extension, the whereabouts of the mob boss under protection — could simply follow the inevitable train of spent butts and cracked peanut shells up any street or corridor. This time out, it’s one fellow trying to get out of the business, two old friends sent to kill him and two more old friends vowing to protect him. Enjoy the guns, but don’t be surprised if smokes, peanuts, suntan oil, celebrity magazines or bobble-head dolls pop in. —Andrew Hamlin

“Ghosts”

United Kingdom

May 31 at 4:30 p.m., Neptune Theatre; June 4 at 9:30 p.m., Egyptian Theatre

Veteran documentary filmmaker and director Nick Broomfield’s feature re-enacts the Morecambe Bay tragedy of 2004, during which 23 illegal Chinese immigrants in the United Kingdom drowned when a powerful tide hit while they were gathering shellfish.

Using nonprofessional actors — former illegal immigrants from China — who re-create actual events, the film examines those who died in the tragedy and, on a broader scale, the nearly 3 million people who are brought in as migrant workers. Smugglers and others motivated by greed get them into the country then give them illegally forged work permits.

“Ghosts” follows Ai Qin, a young girl from Fujian, China, as she pays $25,000 to the “snakehead gang” to smuggle her into England. She hopes to earn enough money to support her son and family who live in China. After working in food-processing factories to repay her loan, she takes a night job at Morecambe Bay. —James Tabafunda

“I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone”

Taiwan

May 30 at 9:30 p.m., Harvard Exit Theatre; June 2 at 1:30 p.m., Pacific Place Cinema

I pronounce Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-liang one of the two finest working directors on the face of the planet (along with Iran’s Abbas Kiarostami). He isn’t for everyone, sadly. At the Northwest Film Forum’s run of his “Goodbye Dragon Inn,” a study of the people watching a martial-arts classic in a seedy theater, one fellow clapped and whooped at the end of a screening. Another fellow at another screening abandoned his seat to ask for his money back.

“I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone” returns the director to his native Malaysia for the first time in decades, focusing, using his bold, inimitable slowness, deliberateness and dry, black humor, on two different helpless people being taken in and cared for. Tsai pitches his tent at the opposite end of the spectrum from Hollywood’s ADD-like cross-cutting, letting scenes not only breathe but also see, hear, speak and walk, by way of composition within the frame and his frequently-stunning shades of color. Make an extra effort, feet- and mind-wise, on this one. —Andrew Hamlin

“Paprika”

Japan

May 25 at 9:30 p.m., May 28 at 1:15 p.m.; Neptune Theatre

Some anime offer no rationale for why, say, a man’s head should burst into scores of translucent blue butterflies at the climax of a film. “Paprika’s” genius lies in delivering that cranial butterfly explosion but grounding it in rationale. Even if I couldn’t quite follow said rationale from A to Z, I can comfortably say it leads — after a bevy of giant robots and dolls leaps into and out of billboards and TV screens — into two quieter, more realistic scenes.

In one, a female scientist breaks down and gives her love to a hugely overweight fellow scientist. In another, a man who has professed his hatred of film sits down, quietly, to enjoy a show. The mad parades and symbol systems repeat themselves a bit, but doubly satisfy, as they serve love, acceptance and the shredding of shiny but shallow personas. —Andrew Hamlin

“Rescue Dawn”

United States

May 26 at 9 p.m., May 27 at 4:30 p.m., Neptune Theatre

Werner Herzog, who’s found at least 50 ways to pit humans against impossible odds, here recounts the true story of a pilot shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War and his struggles to escape torture, even as he considers, then reconsiders, an amazing escape. The Asian performers don’t get top billing here, but the Viet Cong captors raise the stakes for the pilot (Christian Bale), and the variety of Asians he meets in the POW camp give him vexing food for thought. Closer in heart to “Hamlet” than “Platoon.” —Andrew Hamlin

“Vanaja”

India

May 26 at 9:30 p.m., SIFF Cinema; May 27 at 1:45 p.m., Harvard Exit Theatre

A bonus to that talent scout who plucked 16-year-old Mamatha Bhukya from a roiling sea of aspiring youth talent and gave her a second chance after judging her hair too short. Bhukya embodies Vanaja with bright, shimmering, conniving eyes, suddenly hooded when she tries, haltingly, to prevaricate. Even as the beleaguered child of a hard-drinking fisherman, apprenticed to the old lady of the manor, Vanaja knows enough sass to cock a hip provocatively at her uptight supervisor. She wants to learn Kuchipudi dance, though, and only the old lady can guide her.

You can see the film’s plot twists — mistress’ hunky son, illicit love, ruin, redemption — approaching like a lighting storm from over the ocean. Director Rajnesh Domalpalli frames the dancing in sensible medium shots, allowing Bhukya (who spent a year learning how to dance and act) to dazzle, but dramatic action happens in unstable two-shots, always sliding to encompass one person and letting the other one down with a plop. Vanaja doesn’t suffer long from such solitude, though. She refines herself and emerges exponentially larger than the sum of what she’s learned. —Andrew Hamlin

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