Month: July 2013

By Joe Bendel. Rui Yoshino’s family heeded the advice of a certain science fiction novelist: they started their own religion. Perhaps ‘cult’ would be a more accurate term. Regardless, his telegenic looks have served the church well during his tenure as “Guru.” Unfortunately, scandal threatens to disrupt the family business in Toshiaki Toyoda’s I’m Flash, which screened as a co-presentation of this year’s Japan Cuts: the New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema and the New York Asian Film Festival.

The Guru has not been himself lately. Physically, he is fine. He walked away from the car crash that killed a motorcyclist and left his single young lady passenger in a coma. However, the incident has left its mark in other ways, as viewers will learn over time. To protect their frontman and their interests, the family sequesters the Guru in his tropical compound, recruiting three unnamed underworld types to serve as his bodyguards. Their services will indeed be needed.

A controversial figure in his own right, Toyoda bounced back from his unplanned filmmaking hiatus with two wildly idiosyncratic films. His hard-rocking period fantasy Blood of Rebirth is a redemption allegory of unusual power, which will reverberate in viewers’ heads, perhaps for all eternity.  His subsequent Monster’s Club, an austere invitation to sympathize with the devil, might have been more about exorcising some of his own tortured demons. Happily, I’m Flash is an eerie return to form and arguably Toyoda’s most accessible film since his “troubles.” In fact, I’m Flash often seems poised on the brink of a caustic noir portrait of corruption in the Chinatown tradition, yet it always remains slyly elusive.

Death Note’s Tatsuya Fujiwara nicely hints at the imp of perverse lurking inside the not-as-dumb-as-he-looks Guru and Ryuhei Matsuda sets off all the right alarms bells as the bodyguard who is not too young and impetuous or old and cantankerous, but just deadly right. Kiko Mizuhara also keeps viewers thoroughly off balance in her flashback sequences as the mystery woman. Still, everybody wilts when sharing the screen with Michiyo Ookusu as the Guru’s Machiavellian mother—have mercy.

Like everything about Toyoda, I’m Flash is bound to be divisive. Those with a taste for intelligently challenging films will appreciate its genuine air of mystery. It is also a surprisingly handsome production, capitalizing on the evocative locale and subtly creepy set design, most notably the Guru’s villa, which looks as if it could grace the cover of both Architectural Digest and Cult Living.

Toyotarô Shigemori’s cinematography is also weirdly effective, in a way that is difficult to pin down. Over-used as a form of critical shorthand, the term “fever dream” does not really apply here. This is clearly our world, in broad daylight, but something still feels not quite right. Very highly recommended for the moderately adventurous, I’m Flash screened at the Japan Society on the opening night of this year’s Japan Cuts, in conjunction with the New York Asian Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on July 15th, 2013 at 9:30am.

By Joe Bendel. Fred Dryer would approve of this Beijing police detective named after his famous TV character. Brother Zhang Huiling (Hunter) is a broken-down, asthmatic copper, pursuing workaday crooks on Beijing’s bunco squad, but there is no denying his work ethic. After years of hard drinking and hard policing, Zhang encounters his personal Moriarty in Gao Qunshu’s Beijing Blues (trailer here), which screens today during the 2013 New York Asian Film Festival.

There is a lot of money on the streets of Beijing, but many of the flim-flam artists Brother Zhang’s team investigates prey on their fellow proletarian. Shot in a hand-held, on-the-fly docudrama style, Blues is initially rather episodic, capturing Brother Zhang on the job, stalking and eventually busting assorted counterfeit pushers, traffic accident scammers, and fortune-telling hucksters. However, the legendary con artist Gold-Digger Zhang has reportedly blown into town and dispatched his minions for an impending crime wave. A street level chess match ensues between the two old dogs.

Having established his blockbuster credentials in recent years, Gao returns to the gritty aesthetic and unconventional casting of his kind of brilliant, NYAFF-selected Old Fish. Like the real life cop who played Fish’s protagonist, many of Beijing’s Finest appear in Blues, usually playing cops, logically enough. However, most of the cast were well known Chinese bloggers and social media figures, including former publisher Zhang Lixian, who is sensational as Brother Zhang. Zhang perfectly expresses his namesake’s world-weariness, as well as his steadfast commitment to principle, while still suggesting he is always an inch away from doing a full Howard Beale.

Gao could have easily trimmed some of Brother Zhang’s plugging away from the repetitive mid-section, yet his character is always engaging. When Gao kicks it into gear, the tension truly mounts, but in subtly ironic ways. Much like Fish, Blues consistently defies cop movie conventions. While his earlier film presented a jaundiced view of the corrupt and ineffectual police bureaucracy, Blues lets Brother Zhang’s colleagues and superiors off the hook. Instead, contemporary Chinese go-go-don’t-get-involved society falls under Blues’ withering glance.

Who knew China’s micro-bloggers, street buskers, reality show contestants, and screenwriters were such good actors? From stem to stern, the entire ensemble appears true-to-life and completely believable in character. Led by Zhang’s richly textured lead performance, Beijing Blues delivers entertaining idiosyncrasies and unexpected depth. Highly recommended, it screens today (7/9) at the Walter Reade as part of this year’s New York Asian Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on July 9th, 2013 at 12:13pm.

By Joe Bendel. The Biblical echoes are slightly misleading, but not wholly inappropriate. For those present, the notorious Hongmen Banquet is the betrayal that keeps on betraying. The murky events in question will continue to haunt the first Han Emperor until his final tormented moments in Lu Chuan’s The Last Supper (trailer here), which screens Wednesday during the 2013 New York Asian Film Festival.

Everyone realizes Emperor Gaozu, a.k.a. Liu Bang, is not long for this earth, including the common-born emperor from Pei County. However, he is not going out gracefully. Haunted by nightmares and visions of his past, Liu Bang sees conspiracies in every shadow. He ought to know. He reached the throne through some shrewdly timed treachery. Once sworn allies with Lord Yu and General Xin, he has killed the former and imprisoned the latter to solidify his hold on the throne.

Liu Bang has not exactly been scrupulously faithful to his wife, the Empress Lü Zhi, either. Regardless, she will act ruthlessly to protect his legacy. The empress decides it is time to be well rid of Xin once and for all, but his prominence and his highly placed friends in court provide him a slim measure of protection.

Frankly, we are quite fortunate to have Last Supper screening at NYAFF, considering its release was held up for four months by government censors. It is not hard to see what troubled the obedient apparatchiks. Even a bureaucrat could pick up on the film’s “absolute power corrupts absolutely” implications. This is the high tragedy of a man who gains an empire but loses his humanity (a point that also emerges, albeit somewhat less forcefully, in Daniel Lee’s White Vengeance, which also dramatizes the circumstances surrounding the Hongmen Banquet.)

For Lu, this represents a dramatic change of pace from his stark portrayal of Japanese war crimes in City of Life and Death. Obviously less politically correct for the powers that be, Supper is further differentiated by a feverish atmosphere that often approaches the outright demonic. Yet, it is also a grand period production, with enough imposing sets and palace guard extras to satisfy Cecil B. DeMille.

Supper is also notable for the geographically diverse casting of the main triumvirate that surely ought to pay dividends at the respective box offices. Mainlander Liu Ye nicely portrays the raging paranoia of Liu Bang’s twilight years without descending to shtick or gimmicks. Hong Kong super-star Daniel Wu captures the nobility of the tragic Lord Yu, while Taiwanese Chang Chen is impressively steely as General Xin. Nonetheless, Qin Lan (Lu’s wife and frequent collaborator) dominates the film with her spellbinding Lady Macbeth-like portrayal of Lü Zhi.

The strangely timely Supper comes as a welcome rebuttal to Chinese films like Hero or The Guillotines that celebrate or at least excuse strong centralized authority. Lu’s vision of Liu Bang clearly suggests the emperor’s madness and absolute power are two sides of the same coin. In addition to its challenging subtext, The Last Supper also happens to be an excellent film, well worth seeing for its striking look and Qin Lan’s commanding performance. Highly recommended, it screens Wednesday afternoon (7/10) at the Walter Reade as part of this year’s New York Asian Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on July 8th, 2013 at 1:08pm.

By Joe Bendel. Bet you didn’t know Dodge City was once occupied by the Japanese. Evidently they took it from the Chinese, but one undercover freedom fighter is determined to take it back in Leon Yang Shu-peng’s An Inaccurate Memoir, which screened yesterday as part of the Well Go USA spotlight at the 2013 New York Asian Film Festival.

Ambushed by the Japanese, the wounded Gao Dong-liang lies low in Taiping, a Northern Chinese city that mostly consists of jails and brothels. After watching Fang You-wang’s gang break their ringleader out of prison with lickety-split efficiency, he starts hatching ideas. Masquerading as a tempting rich twit, Gao gets himself kidnapped by the Fang gang, subsequently insinuating himself into the gang, after they tire of beating and torturing his uncooperative hide.

Fang’s younger sister Jen takes a particular shine to him, which the outlaw is not exactly thrilled about. Aside from Gao, the gang is not keen to tangle with the Japanese, but the Imperial Army forces their hands when they raid the hideout. Suddenly Fang is down with Gao’s crazy plan, but he gives it a distinctly bandito spin.

Inaccurate Memoir has already been widely compared to Jiang Wen’s Let the Bullets Fly, but it is less shticky, with more Spaghetti western grit to it. Yang gets a bit bogged down with Gao’s first act abduction scenes, but once the soldier is part of the gang, Memoir settles down to business with commendable energy.

To its credit, the Fang Gang also boasts an unusually number of strong women members. Working as a “professional” in town, Lady Dagger is as dangerous as she sounds, while the quiet but violent Lassie follows in the beloved tradition of lethal school girls. However, the guys in the gang tend to blend together. (You can tell this will be a problem when the film feels compelled to use on-screen graphics to introduce them to viewers by name.)

Regardless, Yang, the self-taught crash-the-party filmmaker, blows stuff up quite nicely. Character development may not be his strong suit, but he helms some inventive action sequences and pays proper homage to the Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven/Dirty Dozen tradition, in which a pack of scraggly ruffians ultimately embrace and one-by-one die for a righteous cause.

Huang Xiaoming certainly looks the part of roguish Fang, but Zhang Yi’s Gao is a more multi-faceted character. Still, Zhang Xinyi, Ni Jingyang, and Zhang Yue often steal the show as Jen, Lady Dagger, and Lassie.

Yang gets a big assist from his production and set designers, who created a richly appointed subterranean hideout. The film’s eccentric vibe helps soften the requisite Chinese nationalism and anti-Japanese sentiments. (However, the sheer volume of recent releases waving the bloody WWII shirt could lead to long term image problems for Chinese cinema in the international market place.) Shrewdly, Yang always keeps the mayhem entertaining. Recommended for fans of war movies with an eastern western sensibility, An Inaccurate Memoir screened yesterday afternoon (7/7) at the Walter Reade, as part of the Well Go USA spotlight at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on July 8th, 2013 at 1:07pm.

By Joe Bendel. Technology has been a blessing to historians, resulting in an explosion of primary sources. This is particularly so in a country as small as Israel, where great historical events often intrude on personal day-to-day life. Assembling a collage of amateur video, director Eliav Lilti and project creator-producer Arik Bernstein create a fragmentary portrait of the Middle East’s only democracy in Israel: a Home Movie (clip here), which opens this Wednesday in New York at Film Forum.

Bernstein’s team is blessed with a wealth of source material, dating back to the 1930’s well before the formal establishment of the State of Israel. There are weddings, celebrations, and people just fooling around with their cameras. Yet the resulting footage serves as a time capsule of each era. In some cases, the informal videographers documented undeniable history as it happened. Easily the most dramatic example is the footage shot by beach partiers of Egyptian MiGs shot of the sky by pursuing Israeli fighter pilots after executing the sneak attack that launched the Yom Kippur War.

A film like Home Movies arguably says more about the editorial hand shaping it than those who originally shot the constituent videos. In this case, Bernstein and Lilti’s team clearly reflects the inclination of liberal humanism (broadly defined) to hold one’s self or one’s country to a higher standard than those who inveigh against us. It is a noble, forgiving instinct, but it is often misplaced. Time and again, the disembodied narrators bemoan Israel’s inability to make peace with the Arab populations, asking what they could have done differently.

In contrast, little attention is paid to the terrorism Israel has faced since her inception—just the occasional ghostly picture of a relative cut down before she reached thirty. Still, the rockstar treatment afforded to journalist Dan Shilon at a swinging 1970’s wedding after his uncompromising reporting on the murder of the Israeli Olympians is certainly a telling moment. Yet, the resilient hope that peace might finally follow each successive war is a refrain heard from Israelis throughout Home Movies, speaking volumes about the inherent difference in values held by Israel and its haters.

Indeed, Home Movies is a deliberate and knowing exercise in subjectivity, in which truth seeps in through the conspicuous margins. It should therefore neither be the first nor the last word on the Israeli experience. (Viewers looking for a quick primer should check out the lucid and comprehensive The Case for Israel featuring Prof. Alan Dershowitz.)

There are many striking (though grainy) images and several intriguing anecdotes in Home Movies. Where else will you see such candid footage of Moshe Dayan (courtesy of his son)? Nonetheless, it is important to understand that it is a product of an Israeli film establishment not so very different from our own. Recommended for history buffs, but with reservations, Israel: a Home Movie opens this Wednesday (7/10) at New York’s Film Forum.

LFM GRADE: B-/C+

Posted on July 8th, 2013 at 1:05pm.