SOUL ON A STRING -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 9/22/17

 

Beautifully photographed in the Himalayas, the story of Chinese director Yang Zhang's SOUL ON A STRING (2016) is often overwhelmed by the sheer sweep of its sumptuous visuals--the sometimes confusing multi-faceted plot is easy enough to lose as it is. 

But when it focuses on its three or four main characters and their metaphysical journey of enlightenment, the extremely leisurely pace and lack of a conventional storyline ultimately lead the patient viewer to a rather satisfyingly cathartic resolution.

It all starts when Tabei, a reclusive mountain man and inveterate bad boy, kills a deer and discovers a sacred stone in its mouth.  After being killed by a bolt of lightning and then revived by some local monks, Tabei is given the sacred duty of traveling to Palm Print Mountain, the sacred home of the Lotus Master, and delivering the stone to its rightful place.  In doing so, he'll  be given the opportunity to "cleanse his heart" and make amends for his former sins. 

During the long, grueling journey by foot, Tabei acquires two unwanted companions--Chung, a love-starved young woman eager to escape her current circumstances, and Pu, a mute feral boy with apparent psychic abilities.  Though surly and abusive at first, we pretty much know that Tabei will eventually find the two to be a civilizing influence as was the case in THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES when the title character began to amass a surrogate family and, through them, learn to regain his humanity.

The trouble is, Tabei is being stalked not only by thieves who covet the stone but also by two brothers out for revenge after the long-ago killing of their father by Tabei's own father.  Needless to say, the film will have much to say via these characters about pointless quests for revenge and needless violence in general. 

In the meantime, though, Tabei's run-ins with these dogged pursuers will supply the story with one of its main sources of tension as several scenes seem to be leading up to some kind of gunfight or swordplay (Tabei even makes a stop at a retired swordmaker's house a la KILL BILL).

Surprisingly, no such action ever takes place.  SOUL ON A STRING isn't that kind of adventure--it's story for story's sake, not just as a lead-up to periodic bursts of kinetic violence.
 
After awhile, I actually found myself hoping that such clashes would be avoided in favor of just getting on with the story, which, after a slow first half, starts to get really engaging.  Tabei's journey becomes much more than just getting from one place to another as he begins to discover the true meaning of life and the importance of things he once overlooked.  His slow-burn love story with his surrogate family also becomes quite engaging after awhile.

Yang Zhang spares no effort to make all of this as gorgeous as his incredible locations will allow, as he shoots in places that would make John Ford green with envy (invocations of Monument Valley abound).  He infuses SOUL ON A STRING with a myriad of visual and thematic references to such genres as Italian and American Westerns, samurai films, and fantasy quests (as in the LORD OF THE RINGS series). 

Bringing the Western feel into focus is the presence of a tall, mysterious man in black who looks like a gunfighter out of a Leone film but turn out to have an altogether different motive for tracking down Tabei. It's part of the film's heavily metaphysical underpinning, one which also includes the jarring juxtaposition of the ancient world with the modern in what makes it seem as though the story takes place on the very edge of some strange rift in time.

The DVD from Film Movement is in 2.35:1 widescreen with 5.1 and 2.0 sound (Tibetan with English subtitles).  As a bonus, there's a compelling short film by Oalid Mouaness, a political parable entitled "The Rifle, the Jackal, the Wolf, and the Boy."

Like a candle slowly burning and getting brighter as it reaches the end, SOUL ON A STRING begins as a pretty but flickering diversion and ends with a richly illuminative glow.  It has the breathtaking locations of a conventional epic, yet amidst that splendid backdrop is a human story that I found haunting and effective.

www.filmmovement.com

SOUL ON A STRING -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE HEROIC ONES -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 3/11/16

 

From the legendary Shaw Brothers, THE HEROIC ONES (1970) is a rousing tale of ancient China that's a feast for fans of sword and spear action done on a grand scale.

As the Tang Dynasty wanes, warlords Li Ke Yong and Zhu Wen become allies in the fight against bandit leader Wang Chao, who has taken over the capital city of Changon.

Li Ke Yong's thirteen generals, whom he has adopted and regards as sons, are fierce super-warriors who love a good battle as much as they love getting drunk and making whoopee. He chooses nine of them to be led by thirteenth son Chun Xiao in a mission to retake Changon and kill Wang.

But fourth son Li Cun Xin is jealous of the young general and wants more glory for himself, which will lead to him and another son joining Zhu Wen in a bloody betrayal of Li Ke Yong and the other generals.

Cheh Chang's direction is old-style with lots of restless hand-held camera and whiplash zooms. But with a big budget to work with, he offers up an opulent display of elaborate sets and costumes with hundreds of extras.

His battle scenes are often spectacular, featuring some impressive choreography involving numerous actors performing long, complicated bits of business. Swords and spears clash furiously as the generals take on waves of opponents and rack up body counts well into the hundreds.

There's some less than convincing wirework as Chun Xiao and his brothers execute a few super-human moves here and there, but it's all part of the fun.

The battle for Changon is an early highlight which is surpassed later on when Li Ke Yong is kidnapped by Zhu Weng and is rescued by courageous general Ju Li, who must fight his way through dozens of soldiers on a bridge as the enemy stronghold goes up in flames. Throughout the film, the action is eye-filling and intense.

A lighthearted mood fills the early part of the story as we get to know the comically self-confident and cocky Heroic Ones, who revel in the fact that they can defeat just about anyone and have fun celebrating their invincibility with plenty of wine and women.

As thirteenth son Chun Xiao, David Chiang does a good job taking his character from brash insouciance to wounded disillusionment as the story takes on tragic proportions.

What happens in the latter half of the film is pretty heavy stuff, with the final confrontation between brothers carrying quite a lot of emotional weight along with the action.

I wasn't expecting an epic when I started watching THE HEROIC ONES, but it certainly does its best to resemble one. In addition to being an opulent historical piece, it also has elements of the Italian western and war films such as THE DIRTY DOZEN. And there's a gripping story to go along with all of that beautifully-staged carnage.

Read our review of the SHAW BROTHERS COLLECTION

THE HEROIC ONES -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE WOMAN KNIGHT OF MIRROR LAKE -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 5/9/12

 

What I first thought was going to be a dry-as-dust biopic quickly turns into a superb action-drama that gives equal time to both the heartrendingly emotional and pulse-poundingly exciting aspects of the life of Qiu Jin, THE WOMAN KNIGHT OF MIRROR LAKE (2011).

Huang Yi, who looks really sharp in a mannish jacket and tie, gives a stirring performance as a woman in early 20th-century China whose life becomes dedicated to rebelling against two things: the systematic oppression of women, and the Qing Dynasty's grievous mismanagement of the government. 

The young Qiu Jin is seen cutely refusing to have her feet bound and then being educated along with her brother in everything from literature to martial arts.  When reminded of her future marriage and subjugation to her prospective husband, her reaction lets us know that things aren't going to work out that way. 

Leaving the poor tradition-bound sap and her two children to attend school in Japan, Qiu Jin's fierce campaign for gender equality is soon eclipsed by a different revolutionary fervor when she meets Xu Xilin (Dennis To, Huang Yi's co-star in THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN, also directed by Herman Yau) and joins his band of political warriors who are planning the violent overthrow of the government. 

The film's furious fight action gets underway right off the bat with the group's assassination attempt on an elderly governor, prompting fierce and meticulously choreographed combat between police and rebels within two schools that serve as their training ground. 

After Xu Xilin is defeated the governor's lieutenant Liu Xiao Ming goes after Qiu Jin and her students, the result being a no-holds-barred fight sequence (the first of many) involving fists, swords, guns, wires, and things that explode.  More bloody, action-packed skirmishes will occur throughout the rest of the film as well.

Qiu Jin's capture and subsequent mockery of a trial, during which she is brutally tortured, evokes memories of THE PASSION OF JOAN D'ARC and forms the framework for well-integrated flashbacks of her life up to that point.  (Anthony Wong of EXILEDand THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR appears as a sympathetic but powerless magistrate.) 

There's a deft counterbalance between the violent and more tender moments, with Huang Yi aptly conveying Qiu Jin's personal anguish over the life she could have had as well as the quiet fervor of her revolutionary spirit.  Qiu Jin is so unassumingly righteous in her beliefs that it's no more shocking to see her engaged in a blazing gunfight with police in the streets than weeping over her decision to disappear from her family's lives. 

As the film heads inexorably toward Qiu Jin's conviction and execution, the flashbacks bring us back to where we began, only this time the armed uprising is seen in all the thrilling detail that director Herman Yau can muster as armed police lay siege to Xu Xilin's training school. 

The prolonged hand-to-hand fight between Xu Xilin and Liu Xiao Ming (an intense Xiong Xinxin) as the battle rages around them is a particular highlight, one of the most furious I've seen in a long time and filled with a wide variety of martial arts styles, weaponry, and even some semi-hokey wirework.  Not even all this action, however, can overpower the emotional impact that the story manages to convey as it draws to a close and we learn Qiu Jin's fate.

The 2-disc Blu-Ray/DVD combo from Funimation is in 16x9 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 surround in Mandarin and English.  Subtitles are in English.  The sole extra is a "making of" featurette. 

While I have no idea of how historically accurate THE WOMAN KNIGHT OF MIRROR LAKE is, I sorta doubt if the real-life Qiu Jin could fly around like Darth Maul and fight off hordes of armed attackers singlehanded.  It does make for a more interesting biopic, though.  And aside from all the other good things about the film, Huang Yi's exciting performance alone makes this one worth watching again. 

THE WOMAN KNIGHT OF MIRROR LAKE -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE GREAT CHALLENGE -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 3/26/10

 

In THE GREAT CHALLENGE, aka Les fils du vent (2004), Burt Kwouk, who played Inspector Clouseau's constantly-attacking butler Cato in the PINK PANTHER series and was "Mr. Ling" in GOLDFINGER, is a millionaire business tycoon named Wong who's also a big boss in the Triad. He's giving an elegant garden party at the foot of the Wong Building in beautiful downtown Bangkok, when suddenly, in one breathtaking shot, the camera pans upward and zooms in on two black-clad figures doing a "Human Fly" routine up the side of the building.

In the next few minutes, one figure will engage three business-suited guards with fists, feet, and swords, while the other steals a priceless Red Dragon statue from Wong's office. Doffing their masks, they are revealed as brother and sister Kien and Tsu. The camera follows their slow-motion escape amidst gunfire as they dash toward a window, shooting holes in it as they go, and then crash through into the rain-drenched night. It's a nifty pre-titles sequence, and barely five minutes into the movie I was already impressed.

Kien and Tsu are half-breeds--only half-Chinese--and are rejected by all except the Yakuza, whose acceptance Kien is struggling to attain. Tsu, however, feels that their mother didn't raise no criminals, and acts as Kien's conscience, preventing her brother from giving himself over wholeheartedly to the dark side. Her rebelliousness, however, keeps them both in constant hot water with Kitano, the Yakuza boss who also just happens to be Mr. Wong's son-in-law and is scheming to take over control of the city from him. It appears that an all-out war between the Triad and the Yakuza is imminent.


Into this volatile situation come the Yamakasi, a real-life group of incredible athletes led by Laurent (Laurent Piemontesi), who wishes to open up a gym for street kids in Bangkok. Their sport involves running and jumping and flipping around the outside of buildings and stuff, often several stories in the air--you've got to see it to believe it--with emphasis on, as Wikipedia puts it, "aesthetics and complete freedom of movement from point A to point B." (This is the second film featuring the group--the first, YAMAKASI:LES SAMOURAIS DES TEMPS MODERNES, was released in 2001.) Their motto, it seems, might be "leap before you look." The title sequence illustrates this beautifully as two opposing groups compete to get from one rooftop to another first. It doesn't take long to notice that these people never heard of stairs, elevators, or caution, and watching them hurl themselves about from place to place over dizzying heights with total abandon is thrilling.

Unfortunately, Laurent has had unfriendly dealings with the Yakuza in the past and his new Yamakasi group is doomed to confront them. In an early scene they're having a workout on some bamboo scaffolding surrounding a building under construction, when Kien and some Yakuza thugs attack This leads to another amazing sequence of stunts, and when Tsu shows up to try and stop the fight, she encounters Logan (Charles Perrière), the Yamakasi she is destined to fall in love with. Their Romeo-and-Juliet romance will provide a lot of the drama between the fights, shoot-outs, etc. that appear frequently throughout the rest of the film.

They're all pretty exciting, too. The Yamakasi acrobatics give a new dimension to the usual martial arts displays and gunfights, and it's all thrillingly staged and performed. The wirework is only occasionally obvious--most of the time we get to see real, amazing stuntwork, and the best thing about it is that it's mostly done by the lead actors themselves. It's almost like watching a movie with an all-Jackie Chan cast. Some of it is tricked-up, of course, since the producers didn't want any of their lead actors getting killed or ending up in traction during filming, but for the most part, what you see is what you get.


Julien Seri directs it all with a great degree of style--some of his dramatic sequences come close to the aesthetic beauty of great anime', and the cinematography is often exquisite. Christian Henson's original score combines driving techno-style beats with lush orchestral passages that remind me of Joe Hisaishi's music for Hayao Miyazaki epics like SPIRITED AWAY. The editing, however, could've been a bit less frenetic in some scenes--the stuntwork and fight choreography are so good here that I'd like to have seen some of it play out without so many rapid-fire shots coming at me. Plus, the dubbing takes a bit of getting used to.

Most of the actors in this movie have interesting faces--they're fun to look at--and the director fills each scene with dramatic close-ups of them. In particular, Châu Belle Dinh as Kien and Elodie Yung as his sister, Tsu, have very expressive faces which dramatically convey their emotions. Charles Perrière is similarly intense as Logan, my favorite character among the Yamakasi. Santi Sudaros as Kitano, the Yakuza boss, is a formidable actor as well. And then, of course, there's Burt Kwouk as Mr. Wong, whose very presence makes the movie more fun to watch.

A plot by Kitano to kidnap Wong's only son and heir sets up the big finale, which will pit the collective muscle of the Triad and the Yakuza against each other in a wild free-for-all of guns, swords, and kung fu, with the Yamakasi right in the middle of it all, trying to fight their way out. It reminded me of The Bride vs. the Crazy 88's in KILL BILL, but without the ironic self-awareness or black humor--just tons of non-stop action. And the ending is pretty cool--everything's tied up nicely, and I felt thoroughly entertained.

THE GREAT CHALLENGE -- Movie Review by Porfle

CONFUCIUS -- DVD Review by Porfle

If, like me, your only knowledge of Confucius is when people say "Confucius say..." and then reel off some pithy remark, director Mei Hu's CONFUCIUS (2010) will help to enlighten you about what made the guy so quotable in the first place. 

Former John Woo action star Chow Yun Fat (THE KILLER, HARD-BOILED) gives a measured, meticulously controlled performance that displays his continuing maturation as an actor.  His Kong Qiu--as Confucius was more commonly known circa 500 B.C.--is a family man in his early fifties whose quiet wisdom and belief in government based on ethics and civility earn him a position that puts him right in the middle of clashes between rival provinces and "noble" families in ancient China. 

The film begins with his successful fight to end the practice of burying slaves alive with deceased noblemen and his peaceful resolution of a potentially volatile dispute with a neighboring dukedom.  Further attempts to reduce the growing power of the three main families in the Kingdom of Lu make him a target of their conspiratorial schemes, until even his main allies in government turn against him.  Accompanied by his fervent followers, the exiled Kong Qiu wanders the land from state to state as the country goes to hell around him, until in desperation the leaders of an embattled Kingdom of Lu seek his council once again. 

The story's pretty simple if you can make your way through all the needless exposition and rapid-fire introduction of so many characters you'd need a photographic memory to keep track of them all.  The dry, stately narrative is at its best when we see Kong Qiu countering the chest beating of his power-hungry political rivals with reason and compassion, or figuring out logical solutions to problems that seem destined to be resolved on the battlefield. 

He doesn't manage to peacefully defuse all of these situations, thank goodness, which means we get two or three large-scale battle sequences to liven things up here and there.  They're impressively rendered with a combination of full-sized sets and deft digital trickery--in one sequence, a tidal wave of molten metal blazes down a stone incline into a horde of attackers as the sky is filled with flaming arrows. 

Even so, these battle scenes are brief, perfunctory stepping stones in the narrative, with little emotional impact.  The film itself never really tries to be an epic even when all the elements of one are right there on the screen.  Rather, it's the story of a humble man living in epic times--although, for the most part, we learn more about Kong Qiu as a font of wisdom and an inspiration to others than as a man.  Even the scenes in which he interacts lovingly with his family are mere snapshots.  It's left up to Chow Yun Fat to supply most of his character's depth of feeling with that expressive face of his.

CONFUCIUS is at its best when Kong Qiu meets Nanzi (Xun Zhou), the beautiful consort to a neighboring king and the true power behind his throne.  He's awed by her royal radiance and beauty as she basks in his mental and emotional depth--at first, each tries to bow lower than the other in deference.  Taking advantage of this rare opportunity for a woman of the time to commune with such a sage, Nanzi seduces Kong Qiu with a spiritual and intellectual flirtatiousness which the actors portray almost as a delicate, exquisite kind of dance.

The Blu-Ray/DVD combo from Funimation is in 16:9 widescreen with Mandarin and English 5.1 Dolby sound.  Subtitles are in English.  Extras consist of several "making-of" featurettes (approx. 7 minutes each) and a trailer.

CONFUCIUS is a film in which the potentially sweeping visual splendor is held firmly in check by a sometimes bloodless story, and the plot resolutions are more intellectually stimulating than emotionally stirring.  It is, in fact, an outstanding accomplishment which deserves to be seen, yet--after a promising start--I found the scenes which I most wanted to be moved by to be oddly unmemorable.

CONFUCIUS -- DVD Review by Porfle

A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS/ THE PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA -- DVD Reviews by Porfle

 

(On May 26, 2009, Magnolia Home Entertainment released a Wayne Wang 2-disc double-feature DVD containing the films A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS and THE PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA. Both were also available in separate editions. )

 

I'm not going to make a lame joke about how watching A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS (2007) really feels like it takes a thousand years, because chances are it's already been done by now. But it really does. Although this isn't a bad movie, you may find yourself nodding off between the parts in which something actually happens.

The thing is, director Wayne Wang, who gave us 1993's THE JOY LUCK CLUB, seems to want this movie to be intensely boring since he has deliberately made it as slow-paced as spending a long Sunday afternoon watching sea monkeys expire. If an oncoming glacier had popped up in the final reel, it would've qualified as a thrilling action finale by comparison.

Now that I've given you an idea of what to expect in that regard, let's explore the other aspects of the film. The plot concerns an old-fashioned Chinese father from Beijing, Mr. Shi (Henry O), visiting his more modern daughter Yilan (Feihong Yu) in America. Mr. Shi worries that Yilan will never find a suitable husband and be happy after her unsuccessful first marriage. Yilan bristles at his very presence and begins to spend evenings away from the apartment, leaving him alone for long periods of time. When they do find themselves together, mainly at dinner, she's sullen and uncommunicative. Obviously she's troubled by some deep, unspoken resentment.

Mr. Shi wanders around while Yilan's at work, conversing with strangers about how he used to be a rocket scientist. He meets a nice older lady from Iran (Vida Ghahremani) in the park, and they become fast friends even though they can barely understand each other. The rest of the time he sits around waiting for Yilan to come home. When she finally does, he discovers that she's been seeing a married guy from Russia named Boris (Pavel Lychnikoff), and in the ensuing confrontation she reveals the reasons why she can't stand having him around and why she wants him to go on a tour to Montana.

If I were an independent woman living on my own, having Mr. Shi creeping around the apartment critiquing everything I did would drive me outta my gourd too. The trouble is, he's a nice enough old guy who means well and we like him, so Yilan's cold-shoulder treatment is bothersome. But he's boring as hell. He sits pondering factoids in the newspaper, lurks around in the park or snoops through Yilan's stuff. And he does everything reeeeal sloooow. In order to watch this movie you have to gear yourself way down to a level you may not have thought yourself capable of, like one of those yogis who use will power to slow down their own heartbeats.

There are some light and intriguing little moments scattered about. I like the part where Mr. Shi invites a couple of young white-shirt-and-tie Mormons into the apartment and engages them in a truly interested manner that they clearly aren't used to, promising to read their book so that they can better continue the discussion later. He's always making notes in his notebook about unfamiliar English words and phrases, such as "Kum-n-Go" (an unfortunately-named gas station). In an overtly symbolic scene in Yilan's bedroom, he discovers a couple of those Russian nested dolls (a male and a female) that open up to reveal a smaller doll inside, which opens up to reveal an even smaller one, etc. until you reach the core. Put them all together and you see only the outer shell that conceals all those inner secrets.

Wayne Wang, the director, doesn't move the camera much here. He doesn't move the actors much, either. But his direction is efficient, and he successfully captures the intent of Yiyun Li's languid but thoughtful screenplay, which is to explore how old-style Chinese culture and customs can make it difficult for family members to open up to each other and express their feelings. It's a small tragedy when we discover that whatever happened to turn Yilan against her father so long ago was based on a misunderstanding which, due to cultural reasons, was allowed to remain unresolved.

In 1.78:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital sound, the DVD looks and sounds okay. Mr. Shi and Yilan speak Chinese to each other a lot, so much of the film is subtitled; captions are available in Spanish only. Extras include revealing interviews with Henry O and author Yiyun Li, a photo gallery, and trailers from other Magnolia DVD releases.

Watching and appreciating A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS requires things from its viewers such as patience, concentration, and contemplation. (Which means that it definitely wasn't designed to compete with giant robot movies at your local metroplex.) For that, it does offer some small rewards by the time it finally reaches its end, not the least of which being the fact that it all really does mean something, and that there's some hope yet for our protagonists. But even this couldn't completely counteract the feeling that, overall, this film is an enervating, somewhat depressing, even mildly claustrophobic experience. I found the semi-happy ending exhilarating--I felt as though I'd escaped.

I watched my second Wayne Wang film, THE PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA (2007), in the morning so that I'd have a fresher outlook and more stamina. I still had trouble staying awake. I hate to keep mentioning how noddy Wang's films seem to be, but since that's one of my main reactions then it seems worth noting. This one, however, did have more going on in it, with a more engaging storyline and a wider variety of interesting characters.

The story--based once again on the works of writer Yiyun Li--concerns a vacuous young Chinese girl named Sasha (Li Ling) who gets pregnant after having sex with a promiscuous opera singer named Yang in Beijing, then travels from her college in Nebraska to San Francisco so that she can have an abortion. She meets up with one of Yang's former lovers, a gay Caucasian man named Boshen (Brian Danforth), whom she later discovers harbors a secret desire for Sasha, Yang, and himself to form a family and raise the baby.

That night, as she wanders around the city agonizing over her decision, she meets a prostitute named X (Pamelyn Chee) in Chinatown and helps her entertain some businessmen in a private karaoke room. They spend the night together in a hotel room, where Sasha reads aloud from her diary and is berated by X for her foolishly romantic notions. The next day, Sasha goes to the abortion clinic with an anxious Boshen although she's still unsure of her decision. This uncertainty is compounded by a lengthy, probing questionaire and an ultrasound which allows her to see the four-month-old fetus.

Although we feel for her, Sasha really isn't very likable. She steals a young couple's shopping bag at the mall, then petulantly throws away what she doesn't want from it. She also rummages through purses at the dinner party that Boshen takes her to, and embarrasses him in front of his friends by acting like a brat. She discovers Boshen's "plan" while snooping through his personal letters, and when she confronts him with this she announces that such a plan will cost him. Later, she even goes so far as to have X introduce her to a sleazy baby merchant.

Much of the film consists of Sasha's video diary taken with her ever-present cell phone, with which she also constantly sends unanswered text messages to Yang. Long, wavering shots of city streets and crowded sidewalks tend to drag after awhile. There's also an awful lot of contemplation and reflection in this movie--Sasha gazes into mirrors, examines the lines in her palms, fiddles with her fingernails, etc. Director Wang's camera is all over the place here, sometimes finding just the right shot seemingly by accident, but often simply meandering. The editing is okay but could've been tightened considerably, although in a movie like this I guess that isn't the point.

The DVD image is 2.35:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 sound, and the picture is okay although obviously shot on video. Captions are available in Spanish only. Extras include another interview with writer Yiyun Li, eight minutes of video silliness (Borat-style humor, emo whinings, etc.) called "Sasha's Video Diaries", the even sillier "Ling and Yan Yan: A Day in the Life of Chinese Women" (a title in which the word "idiotic" would easily fit in somewhere), a photo gallery, and trailers from other Magnolia DVD releases.

In the end, Sasha text-messages Yang that she's "moving on"--an American phrase that she relates to--although she's going to need more than an abortion to change her life for the better. Wang doesn't spell things out for us at the end, but leaves some doubt as to Sasha's decision when she leaves the clinic and immediately joins the St. Stupid's Day parade that's going by (an image that I found particularly inspired). The final shot is sort of an impressionistic depiction of the empty, isolated feeling that must come when getting an abortion you're not really sure you want to have, or watching a movie that doesn't really have an ending.

A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS/ THE PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA -- DVD Reviews by Porfle

"DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 3" Producer Shawn Xiang YUE Launches U.S.-Based Production Banner Bamboo Curtain

 

DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 3 PRODUCER SHAWN XIANG YUE LAUNCHES U.S.-BASED PRODUCTION BANNER BAMBOO CURTAIN


Bamboo Curtain Will Operate as a Fully Owned and Capitalized Subsidiary of YUE’s Beijing-Based Goshfilm Inc.

 

LOS ANGELES – APRIL 13, 2021: Prolific film producer Shawn Xiang YUE (Detective Chinatown 3) today announced the launch of his newly minted U.S. production banner, Bamboo Curtain, which will be fully capitalized by and operate under YUE’s Beijing-based Goshfilm Inc. Determined to bolster international talent both in front of and behind the camera, YUE is behind some of China’s top grossing box office hits, most recently Detective Chinatown 3 which has set global benchmarks and currently sits at $680m following its February 21st release.

Bamboo Curtain will focus on creating a conduit between the U.S. and Chinese entertainment industries through global and commercially viable content. The company will hire talent in the U.S. and aggregate content in the U.S. for China, allowing both sides to benefit from the booming Chinese market and acting as a transitional hub. The company will provide a space for talent to work on productions between China and the U.S. while helping creators navigate the legal and cultural differences.

In addition, Bamboo Curtain will acquire international IP and services to produce projects on a global scale, while supporting existing U.S. based productions, setting them up for success in the Chinese market.

Bamboo Curtain was co-founded by Shawn Xiang YUE, who will serve as CEO, and Jib Polhemus who will serve as President. Together, they bring years of experience in film development, production and financing, making the company perfectly positioned to bridge the gap between China and the U.S.

Shawn Xiang Yue said: “After working on Detective Chinatown II in New York, immersing myself in the U.S. film industry and bringing the Hollywood production management style to Tokyo for the filming of Detective Chinatown 3, I realized the need for a company to bridge the gap between China and Hollywood and help with the systematic differences between the two countries’ film industries.  As China’s film market continues to grow at an unprecedented speed, Bamboo Curtain will provide opportunities to Hollywood and Chinese talent, both above and below the line, strengthening industry bonds through direct cooperation between the two regions.”

Shawn Xiang YUE is a prominent international film producer and member of the PGA, who has successfully provided services to U.S. directors working in China.  Detective Chinatown 3, follows the success of Detective Chinatown 2, which Shawn also produced and created with a successful collaboration between China and Hollywood.  Shawn also produced Go Away Mr. Tumor, under his Goshfilm Inc. banner, which was selected as the Chinese entry for the 88th Academy Awards. He previously served as Head of International Business Affairs at Wanda Media where he co-produced a number of films including Police Story and Man of Taichi, and prior to that produced, translated and distributed over six hundred hours of television and film content for global companies such as Fremantle Media.

"DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 3" Producer Shawn Xiang YUE Launches U.S.-Based Production Banner Bamboo Curtain