Raise the Red Lantern

Zhang Yimou, China, 1991 (8.7*)
In 20's China, nineteen-yr old Songlian, wonderfully played by Gong Li, China's best actress, is forced to marry a wealthy merchant after her father's death. The fifty-yr old 'Master', Jingwu Ma, already has three wives in a strictly ritualistic and traditional household. Each wife has her own home within the family compound, with the wives grouped together.

Each night he decides which wife to spend the night with, and the servants place a red lantern in front of that door. With favoritism from the master, wives gain more status within their own group, and of course any new wife is looked upon with suspicion and immediately jealousy. First Wife (Shuyuan Jin) tries to maintain her own superiority among the women; at least for seniority, her position can never be usurped. However, with each new wife, she risks losing more of the Master's favor, his time, and at the same time faces possible unions among her spousal rivals.

This is an interesting look at a culture not found in the west. As such, it was the first of Zhang Yimou's films to find large interest on our side of the planet. Add to that gorgeous cinematography, and the interest of women being considered little more than property in a patriarchal society, where their paths are chosen for them, and their lives are held under rigid and strict traditions, and you have a film that spoke of universal concerns and values.

Lantern won 15 awards, including 10 for best foreign film, a couple more went to the beautiful cinematography of Fei Zhao

For more of Zhang Yimou, see these reviews:
Hero (2002) China [my favorite]
House of Flying Daggers (2004) China
The Road Home (1999) China
To Live (1994) China [2nd favorite]
Not One Less (1999) China

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King of Masks

Bian Lian, 1997, China-Hong Kong (8.4*)
In this true story, Xu Zhu plays an aging master of the ancient art of change, Sichuan Change Art, named Wang Bianlian who is known on the streets as King of Masks. He prefers to perform on the streets rather than seek more lucrative work in theaters or shows, as he seems to be inspired by the children in the crowds.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115669/awards

His wife has long gone, his only child is dead, so Wang has no male descendent to teach his rare art; masters require students trained to keep their craft alive. One night he chances to purchase an orphan boy, and the story of their friendship begins.

For those that want a change of pace from Chinese films which have martial arts, huge casts, and epic feel, this simple, unpretentious story is one of a rare handful. This is a beautifully made and touching story. Winner of 19 awards

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Fallen Angels

Wong Kar-Wai, 1995, China/Hong Kong (9.0*)
I recently re-watched this Wong Kar-Wai film because it had been remastered for dvd, and I couldn't remember it from over a decade earlier. I was surprised and riveted by the stunning visuals. Kar-Wai is a visual master, and this is one of the most visual of his films. This is the 'sequel' to his excellent Chungking Express, the two films being intended to be one long film by Kar-Wai but due to length he put them out as two separate films. Taken together, the films are either a trilogy or tetralogy, it's kind of hard to tell, but suffice to say that they are films of more than one story. These films were the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, hence the trilogy of stories in that film.

The story is not the important part of these films, which are basically urban crime films, with a kind of 'neo-noirish' slant, as filmed by Hong Kong. This story is about a hit man, pondering one last hit before 'retiring'. The visuals take precedence here, with the cinematography of Christopher Doyle (who also works with Chinese master director Zhang Yimou) dazzling and inventive, as usual. The two films together provide an exciting introduction to the Hong Kong crime style, and have proven very influential around the world.

Note: When filmed, Hong Kong was still British. Since its reverted to Chinese nationality, I've been designating these as from China so that a scan for Chinese films will turn these up also. It's a major dilemna, you don't want to offend anyone, but will obviously offend someone - so I'll likely list them as both, no problem there. Same problem with Czechoslavakia vs Czech Republic.. You want a search of those to show Closely Watched Trains, Kolya, and Zelary, rather than have them split up between defunct and active nations.

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Ashes of Time Redux

Wong Kar-Wai, 1994, China (8.3*)
Redux Version 2008
This film is a work of art. Director Wong Kar-Wai never films a straight narrative story, but makes cinematic art: visually stunning, lyrical, a visual statement about time and memory, yet done with the seasons cycling around as if to imply all of life is circular. In a way, this is like a Chinese spaghetti western, about a man who hires swordsmen for contract killings. One can actually see visual homage to Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, with blurred action images and extreme closeups, and also Antonioni's Red Desert, with long slow tributes to abstract beauty in nature. Wong Kar Wai has never been one to disappoint me, even if the story is a little slow, the visuals are enough to keep me riveted, such as in Fallen Angels, the sequel to Chungking Express.

This is a poetic, haunting film, I'm glad that Wong recut it and made it a little more woven together, even as it is, it's free flowing like "the river of time", and even the narrative, usually boring, adds some poetry of its own. (Not sure about the addition of the Yo-Yo Ma score though, the music is actually distracting). I can't get one thought out of my mind, "a man's worst enemy is his memory", and since part of this film uses the plot device of a wine that makes one forget, it's a painful point that one cannot escape, as a character says "the more you try to forget, the more you remember".

This is a great cast, the last names reading like a haiku: Chueng, Leung, Lin, Lau, Leung, Cheung, Young, Chou, Cheung. There's even two Tony Leungs (Ka Fai and Chiu Wai for you real fans! ..also Maggie Cheung, thankfully). If you're not a Wong Kar Wai fan, start with Chungking and Angels, then In the Mood for Love - these films have a breathtaking beauty thanks to the cinematography of Christopher Doyle, who also works with Zhang Yimou.

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Chungking Express

Wong Kar-Wai, 1994, Hong Kong (9.1*)

This crime and romance film is probably the best example of the sometimes flashy cinematic style of Wong Kar-Wai. Much of the film is shot with a shaky, hand held camera, and the process works great for city crowd shots, such as a blurred mob at a bus stop, and works best of all during street crimes, where the images and fast action seem exactly what the crime must be like for both victims and witnesses. This is a film in two parts (don't look for a novelish story plot either), with a third intended but due to length, Wong released the third part as another film, Fallen Angels. The Japanese actress, Faye Wang, who works at the express noodle stand is one of their pop music stars, this was her first film and she's a natural. Well-known Asian actor Tony Leung (In the Mood for Love, Hero, 2046, Lust Caution) is also in the noodle stand half.

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In the Mood for Love

Wong Kar-Wai, 2001, China (8.5*)

This is a beautifully filmed and finely crafted romance, set in early 60's Hong Kong. The story is a simple one, as two cordial neighbors discover that their often absent spouses may be seeing each other, so they become friends.

Tony Leung won a Cannes award for Best Actor, Maggie Cheung should have. Ironically, the two would later play lovers and assassins in Zhang Yimou's Hero, in quite different parts. This is a slow moving but visually sumptuous feast, as each shot is saturated with deep, rich colors reminiscent of Vittorio Storaro's work for Bertolucci and Coppola. The Criterion dvd comes with over a half hour of deleted scenes, also well worth watching. Wong later filmed a sequel, 2046, which was the number on a hotel room in this film.

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