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When They Let Their Inner Fanboy Out to Play - Ashes of Time Redux, Dachimawa Lee, Sukiyaki Western Django and Crows Zero
Monday, Nov 17, 2008 6:09AM / Standard Entry / Film
Landscape – San Francisco Coffee Company
(As seen over the rim of a Caffe Latte Large Cinnamon Shot)
Skyscape – A light grey that looks as if it plans to stay till the end of the year
Moodscape – Wrinkled
Soundscape – „Legendary Warriors“ by George Shaw
Time to let the mind's eye wander over the inner scroll painting of images from ASIA FILMFEST 08 (list of films here, official site here). Your resident movie junkie went to see 11 films. Way too many to post about in one shot. So I'm splitting this in five parts
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This year’s program opened with the German premiere of Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time Redux. When I got there (out of breath and drenched, after squeezing in Lee Jae Bok's exhibition) the place was PACKED. In a city notoriously hypnotized by artists undoubtedly arrivés, I had expected an intimate festival catering to a select nerd herd. What I got was the odd sensation that befalls you when somebody likes your dress and asks you where you bought it. After all, the festival's success signals the German mainstream’s growing awareness of Asian cinema.
Five years ago, two film nerds infatuated with Asian cinema talked a Munich movie theatre into letting them screen films they liked. They started out with ONE weekend and a handful of worn old film copies.
Today, those two fanboys run the largest festival dedicated to Asian cinema in Germany drawing a crowd of around 40.000. Their announcements still have a funny otaku/nerd-dragged-into-the -public-feel to them: a stumbling mixture of swagger and tongue-tied shyness. :-) Very likable. But never underestimate a nerd and a fanboy - their programming with over 50 films (a third of them German or even world premieres) not only speaks of their intimate knowledge of the crowd they cater to but is economically clever structured. They have found a neighboring multiplex to cooperate with them, have attracted Animax as their sponsor and show selections of their program in Hamburg and Berlin.
Because this festival is a fanboy achievement, I'll start out with those films that came into being because their directors, too, let their inner fanboy out to play...
First up? Ashes of Time Redux, of course. :-)
To me, the original Ashes of Time of 14 years ago is but a mere blur of faded colors, shots of desert plains, and long gowns blowing in the wind. Thanks to French subtitles and a bad resolution I lost track of the characters early on. Ah, and the story ... I didn't get the story either. So, don’t ask me about the re-mastering. I have no idea where Wong Kar Wai changed the sequence of scenes. I only know the new version is shorter. May I say, "Pheew"?
First off, there is no real plot at the film's core „to get“. I'm vindicated.
Doesn't mean there are no stories – there are bunches of them. However, breaking the unwritten law of „Show don't tell“, they unfold in conversations and reminsiscing soliloquies like those shared by travelers around a fire in the wilderness, illustrated in overwhelmingly visual meditations on their themes. In fact, like a jigsaw puzzle, each story has to be pieced together from different encounters. Not only conversations but the omnipresent voiceover too continuously refers to a larger story world off-screen and beyond.
These references to what the heroes would go on to become initially irritated me. It gave me the feeling the real action was elsewhere. Yet, in the last third of the film things started to click into place: For some reason (maybe because I know a nine-fingered a**hat who dresses like a beggar), I recognized the nine-fingered warrior who would later become the Beggar of The North from a trailer I had seen. Fan fiction! These were references to characters in the „The Legend of the Condor Heroes“. I've never seen any of the adaptations of the Condor Heroes but (I have done my homework in the meantime) this film is a fan fiction prequel to an established piece of literature. Wong Kar Wai - a fan fiction writer, who'da thunk?
Nice for those who know the „Legend of the Condor Heroes“. Maybe they can enter into a reference-rich dialog with Wong about characters they know and have seen in different cinematic incarnations. Not so nice for those unfamiliar with the original story - me, and pro'lly well over 90 percent of the audience in Munich. For us, Ashes of Time Redux turns into an visually alluring, but abstract poem or meditation on the illusory relief through revenge, the preventive rejection of what our heart desires or simply the banality of death but, alas, it lacks a plot core or central character journey to justify its runtime. If you ask me, "What happens in this film?", I'd have to answer that a lot of the "action" takes place under the surface and in the actors and there are a number of metaphoric references to the inadequacy of the eye to "see" to support that theory.
Could the lack of knowledge about the original work be the reason Ashes of Time never succeeded in countries with a different cultural context? After the screening, the discussions in the lobby seemed to echo that - „Visually compelling, but incomprehensive“; „It felt empty“, „All bells and whistles, no point“ between the usual shallow „Did you see that fight scene?“ and "Isn't Tony Leung Chiu Wai just drop-dead gorgeous?"Placing Leslie Cheung at the film's center (instead of a real plot) - making him the fire around which the travelers gather -, is an interesting choice. He's a cynic broker of death, a cold fire, accentuating by contrast the deep passions and agonizing longings of those who gravitate to his inn. But in his inertia, the character Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung) does not provide a center of gravity but acts more like a moral black hole sucking them in.
We could argue all day whether knowledge of the original work is a prerequisite or an added benefit when enjoying fan fiction. But by pointing to its crutches (the explicit tie-ins with The Legend of the Condor Heroes), the film itself bares its weakness. Balancing a stand alone form and providing a tie-in is the core challenge in fan fiction, and in its light, Wong's approach seem inconsistent. There must be more behind Wong's solution of choice to the dilemma, but what it is? Is anybody's guess.
If we do look at Ashes of Time as fan fiction: Is it true to canon? Are its character voices true to the original characters? Does it tie in seamlessly? Questions I can't answer. Maybe you can. My guess? Ashes Of Time Redux takes ample liberties with established characters.
There is this fan fiction term "PWP" (Porn without Plot), this film feels like a COP - Characters without plot. As compelling as they are - flawed themselves, they are adrift in a morally corrupted mythic continuum. Wong seems to have borrowed the characters to play with them and set them in a context of his fancy. The wine that takes away the memories of the past? It reeks of a plot device to cover up the inconsistencies with the original work.
Don't get me wrong, I liked Ashes of Time Redux. Why? Because of Doyle's lush photography. Because of Leslie Cheung's profile against the dark blue sky as he listens to Huang and Maggie Cheung's face as she watches her son, the swordsman (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), blind in his last battle, and lastly, Yang who is Yin. Because of the intoxicating beauty of the rich textures and colors of the costumes, very sensually offset by skin - be it sweaty and dirty or clear as porcelain. Because of its meditative flow of images, metaphors and music and the rich layers of themes - love, death, longing and struggling - it touches.Damn, now, I long to see The Eagle Shooting Heroes, a comedy Wong Kar Wai produced with the same cast. As an antidote...
[Edited on Nov. 20 to add]
Marie Jost saw AoTR too and wrote about it here. Entirely different take and an interesting read.
[Son of Edit on Nov. 26]
I still stand by my point that AoTR does not offer a conventional narrative core plot. Maybe the expectations to get a plot simply are higher when we (westerners) deal with a costume film.
Wong Kar Wai films are generally rather successful in Germany and are picked up even by large Cineplex theaters. I'd venture a guess that they have siginificantly higher box office returns in Western Europe than in the States. Actually Wong is what German arthouse fans go for: very auteur, timeless subjects (love, memory, loss, rejection), image over word, non-linear narrative, intense visuals. "Filmgedicht" or "Filmkomposition" (cinematic poem or cinematic composition) are terms often heard in respect to his work and I find they describe it very well. The film will sell based on WKW's name but I expect people to encounter similar difficulties as the audience at the Asia Filmfest did.
Needless to say I loved all WKW films (except for Happy Together which I still haven't been able to push myself through). AoTR, to me, is different in two aspects: The characters and their feelings are less accessible and the different plotlines are weaker. So - again, to me - AoTR stands as a weaker film in a canon of brillant works. That still makes it a better film than legions of others and a film impressive enough to recommend it to anyone who is not into plotdriven stuff.
Going back to an early film, like Wong Kar Wai did in re-mastering Ashes of Time, Ryoo Seung-wan went back to an internet short film he made early in his career to turn it into a feature film-length parody of James Bond to the Korea of the 1940ties. The result of his fanboy-pleasure? The spy-action-comedy Dachimawa Lee, a fast-paced spoof about a Korean secret agent chasing after a list of names hidden in a legendary Golden Buddha statue.
A few scenes and gimmicks were outright funny. For the sake of Korean viewers I hope there are good jokes in the original that were lost in subtitle translation. If you liked Austin Powers, share Ryoo's crude sense of humour and are a fan of the spy-action-films Ryoo references (James Bond, Pink Panther, Mission Impossible, some Indiana Jones aso), you'll probably enjoy this.
It’s never a good sign when I itch to check the time. The incessant pitter-patter of speechifying dialogue and epic last words as well as the no-mercy-approach to crude jokes had me fumbling for my watch FOUR times.
Favorite quote? "Granny's love to meddle."
Takeshi Miike is an obvious fan of another genre. His Sukiyaki Western Django, an Udon-Spaghetti-western on crack with Quentin Tarantino (who in turn is a fan of Takeshi Miike) is Miike's first film shot in English - for his Japanese actors a tongue-breaking tour de force, for us? Trying to grasp what they were saying felt like chasing chicken - run to get one, and you loose all others. I'm still mystified why it worked for me in the end. Like a kid in a candy store, Miike has put together an ecclectic and highly artificial gangwar-of-the-roses-spoof. The frequently unintelligible dialogue suggests, "Stop digging for a meaning, enjoy the ride!"
And I thoroughly did.
The shifts from hilariously funny to dramatic to action-packed scenes are just as extreme and perfectly orchestrated as the Japanese-Western style fusion of the exuberant and colorful set and costume design. References to other films? You bet - lots of Leone, a little Lucky Luke and watch out for Miike's inner fanboy bowing to Corbucci in the closing minutes that had me thinking of Wong Kar Wai and his Ashes of Time Redux. You'll see why 
As to be expected in Miike's film worlds, there is little room for female characters. At least this time, he gave us Kaori Momoi as Granny
and shirtless Yusuke Iseya for fan service, so I won't whine. I don't want to spoil a single second for anyone.
Highly recommendable. Let's leave it at that. 
Crows Zero (2007) is another film by Takeshi Miike screened at the festival. It's said to be his commercially most successful film in Japan to date and I'm not surprised. You have the popular highschool setting, gang wars, eye-candy in school uniforms, a solidly fast-paced soundtrack and a smorgasboard of nicely choreographed fight scenes.
I was frequently reminded of Blue Spring by Toshiaki Toyoda starring Matsuda Ryuhei but that's not a bad thing, is it?
Why am I adding this particular film to a post about fanboy directors? Miike's film world is so very much a man's world (no cueing of Shirley Bassey here) that it comes with a strong homoerotic vibe. I usually know what I get into when buy my ticket but this time I was in for a surprise. And nope, there is no female cast in Crows Zero worth mentioning.However, when Shun Oguri (playing the lead) appeared on-screen, a sudden outburst of girly cries and whistles rocked the theatre. In a hilarious act of appropriation, an entire row of fan girls, comfortably lounging in the back of the theatre, chose to lewdly comment, whistle and holler whenever eye-candy graced the screen - Miike's celebration of masculinity a fan girl peep show? I was laughing my a** off!
Coming up tomorrow: Kim Ki-duk's Dream starring Joe Odagiri and Spring Snow with Tsumabuki Satoshi based on a novel by Mishima Yukio
- and I'll edit this post to add in the film details 
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Good bye "Mama Africa"! - Miriam Makeba dies at 76
Tuesday, Nov 11, 2008 8:42AM / Standard Entry / Music
Miriam Makeba died at an Italian hospital last night where she was brought after she had collapsed stepping down from a stage. You could say, she died performing, you could also say, she died doing what she had been doing all her life - taking a stand for what she believed in. She gave this very last concert of her life in support of an italian writer who had received death threats after openly depicting the Italian Mafia and Camorra in his writing.
Miriam Makeba's signature songs were Pata Pata ...
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCc61z9IFu4... and The Click Song
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHxkiXALQjUI grew up with the music of this South African singer who spoke up against racial injustice in South Africa, who spent 31 years in exile, who never saw herself as a political singer but became an ambassador for her people by bringing her music to the world at a time when this expression of cultural identity in itself was subject to censorship under the apartheid-rule in South Africa.
Courageous, gifted and always ready to bear the often enough severe consequences of the choices she made in life ... with her gone ... the world suddenly feels colder.
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Wrestling with Angels - Documentary about Tony Kushner
Monday, Nov 10, 2008 12:05AM / Standard Entry / Film
An election-related conversation reminded me of Wrestling With Angels (2006) by Freida Lee Mock (entry on imdb, here), a documentary that follows the artist and activist Tony Kushner for three years, from Sept. 11, 2001, to the 2004 presidential election (There's a trailer, too).
In my post-election depression four years ago, I was thinking about giving up my citizenship (no joke). In a phase of probing into my feelings on the issue and weighing pros and cons, I went to a screening of this documentary and the ensuing Q&A with Freida Lee Mock because Kushner is the playwright of my favorite play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes.
Jeffrey Wright and Al Pacino) in Angels in America: HBO
If you've missed out on this one - give it a try! There's the play, a book AND the brillantly casted 6-part-screen-adaptation (available on Amazon) with Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Patrick Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Gambon (and a cameo by Maurice Sendak, the author of one of my childhood favorites Where the Wild Things Are. See cover below)
.Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
And something really odd happened - the documentary that I thought would focus on Kushner's stage endeavours very unexpectedly changed the way I felt about the outcome of the election. I realized that my initial reaction to Al Gore's defeat (and of course, the outcome of the Florida count of votes) resembled that of a kid quitting a certain playground because the rules were not its liking. Not a comfortable realisation, but a healthy one.
Maybe you can understand the effect Mock and Kushner had on me when you listen to this 17-minute-interview with Freida Lee Mock and Tony Kushner on npr. Another 2006 interview with the documentary's writer, director and producer on Indiewire tells about how the idea for this documentary was conceived.
By the way, in September, 2008 Kushner received the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award.
The New York Times wrote about it here: For ‘Angels’ Playwright, Another Plum Prize . Just to give you an idea - the Steinberg Award comes with 200,000 USD, by comparison: "The Pritzker carries a $100,000 cash prize; a Pulitzer is worth $10,000."Also quoting from the article. "... Mr. Kushner said, “Playwriting is in a lot of trouble now,” adding that even someone who has “a string of successful plays cannot make a living at it.” Mr. Kushner pointed to himself as a case in point, since he now divides his time between New York and Hollywood [...] The screenplay for Mr. Spielberg’s “Munich,” written by Mr. Kushner and Eric Roth, was nominated for an Oscar. [...] Mr. Kushner said that he planned to put the money away “to buy me time to work on plays,” which he hopes to do full time when he finishes the two films.
These clips of parts not included in the documentary show conversations with playwrights Larry Kramer, Terrence McNally and others at a New York TimesTalk panel, a speech at Vassar College and a Q&A with students of Northwestern University.
After the documentary is before the documentary: This is what Freida Lee Mock, Tony Kushner and others involved in the documentary are up to now. Freida Lee Mock's plans sound particularly interesting:
"Since completing the film, I've been working on several projects, some in development and some in production. One of the projects is called Manzanar and Maestro Kent Nagano, and it's about civil liberties in our post-9/11 world explored through symphonic music and the experience of Japanese Americans in the relocation (concentration) camps during World War II. The film uses an original symphonic score, choral music featuring children's voices and spoken words to dramatize the challenges to our civil liberties in today's global conflicts. I am also working on a project in development that uses music to tell the story of the historic relationship between China and the United States since the Cultural Revolution."
By the way, the Asian-American filmmaker Freida Lee Mock is also the director, writer and producer of the very interesting documentary Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision about the then still very young designer of the controversial Washington, D.C. Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I, for my part, didn't find it controversial, but - Quelle surprise! - Patrick J. Buchanan and some Republicans did.
Have I mentioned that I love documentaries?
Yeah, that would be stating the obvious, wouldn't it?
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Asia Filmfest 08 - Largest Asian Film Festival in Germany
Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 6:30AM / Standard Entry / Film
Guess where I'll be most likely to be found between Oct. 30 and November 12? Yep, In the comfy darkness of a movie theater ...
As an audience magnet for Asians, Asia lovers, and film fans in general, the Asia Filmfest not only offers its visitors the opportunity to experience the latest trends of creative filmmaking in today's Asia, but also and above all a varied selection of products from the areas of film, art, culture, and entertainment. So far, the Asia Filmfest has recorded more than 37,000 visitors. ... With an annual increase in attendance of more than 25%, it has grown to become the largest Asian film festival in Germany.
... The Asia Filmfest strives to present the entire bandwidth and vitality of Asian cinema, whereas its main focus lies on aesthetic quality. Apart from the most highly praised and successful Asian film releases, you may here also discover films which only receive their chance of being bought by German distributors after being featured in the festival.Download of festival program here.
GREEN - These, I want to CBLUE - Already seen.
RED - No, thanks.
WHITE - Undecided
Programm
ASHES OF TIME REDUX Wong Kar Wai Hongkong 2008
Asia Closing Night
PACO AND THE MAGICAL BOOK Tetsuya Nakashima Japan 2008
Asia Focus
CJ7 Stephen Chow Hongkong 2008
Special Presentation
TOKYO! Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Bong Joon-ho Japan 2008
DER ROTE PUNKT - THE RED SPOT Marie Miyayama Germany / Japan 2008
China / Hongkong
THE WARLORDS Peter Chan China / Hongkong 2007
THREE KINGDOMS Daniel Lee China / Hongkong 2008
AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS Tony Ching Siu Tung Hongkong / China 2008
FATAL MOVE Dennis Law Hongkong 2008
THE MOSS Derek Kwok Hongkong 2008
MAD DETECTIVE Johnnie To, Wai Ka-Fai Hongkong 2007
SPARROW Johnnie To Hongkong 2008
Taiwan
SPIDER LILIES Zero Chou Taiwan 2007
DRIFTING FLOWERS Zero Chou Taiwan 2008
Japan
TOKYO SONATA Kiyoshi Kurosawa Japan / Hongkong 2008
MONSTER X STRIKES BACK Minoru Kawasaki Japan 2008
SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO Takashi Miike Japan 2007
CROWS ZERO Takashi Miike Japan 2007
LOVEDEATH - Director’s Cut Ryuhei Kitamura Japan 2006
THE TENDER THROBBING TWILIGHT Shinji Imaoka Japan 2007
THE MACHINE GIRL Noboru Iguchi Japan 2008
TOKYO GORE POLICE Yoshihiro Nishimura Japan 2008
APPLESEED: EX MACHINA Shinji Aramaki Japan 2007
SWORD OF THE STRANGER Masahiro Andô Japan 2007
Südkorea
BEAUTIFUL Juhn Jaihong Südkorea 2008 (Blogged about this here)
DREAM Kim Ki-duk Südkorea 2008
THE CHASER Na Hong-jin Südkorea 2008
DACHIMAWA LEE Ryoo Seung-wan Südkorea 2008
THE GUARD POST Kong Su-chang Südkorea 2008
Thailand
CHOCOLATE Prachya Pinkaew Thailand 2008
Retrospective: Wong Kar Wai
AS TEARS GO BY Wong Kar Wai Hongkong 1988
DAYS OF BEING WILD Wong Kar Wai Hongkong 1990
CHUNGKING EXPRESS Wong Kar Wai Hongkong 1994
FALLEN ANGELS Wong Kar Wai Hongkong 1995
HAPPY TOGETHER Wong Kar Wai Hongkong 1997
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE Wong Kar Wai Hongkong / France 2000
2046 Wong Kar Wai Hongkong 2004
Asia Special
GODZILLA Ishirô Honda Japan 1954
TOKYO DRIFTER Seijun Suzuki Japan 1966
HANZO THE RAZOR: SWORD OF JUSTICE Kenji Misumi Japan 1972
IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES Nagisa Oshima Japan 1976
A CHINESE GHOST STORY Tony Ching Siu Tung Hongkong 1987
GHOST IN THE SHELL Mamoru Oshii Japan 1995
BEYOND HYPOTHERMIA Patrick Leung Hongkong 1996
HANA-BI Takeshi Kitano Japan 1997
THE EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN Chen Kaige Japan / China 1998
AUDITION Takashi Miike Japan 1999
THE ROAD HOME Chen Kaige China 1999
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON Ang Lee Hongkong / China 2000
GO Isao Yukisada Japan 2001
HERO Zhang Yimou Hongkong / China 2004
APPLESEED Shinji Aramaki Japan 2004
Asia Matinee
HINOKIO: INTER GALACTIC LOVE Takahiko Akiyama Japan 2005
LINDA LINDA LINDA Nobuhiro Yamashita Japan 2005
SPRING SNOW Isao Yukisada Japan 2005Me. Happy.
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Where "Bambi" Roams Chinese Pastures
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 11:47PM / Standard Entry / Film
Making up for a month of missing blog entries, I present a discovery I made at the exhibition
The Wonderful World of Walt Disney and his Roots in European Art
currently on show here in Munich.
Went there Monday with a friend and was literally blown away by the multitude of sources Disney's artists drew from. Disney's melting-pot-team with rich and diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds used everything and anything for their feature-length animations:
They were inspired by scenes from silent films by Murnau (Faust, Tabu), Charlie Chaplin (Modern Times) , re-invented scenes and characters from Golem, Nosferatu, or The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, took cues from contemporary art, fashions and stars of the time and designed backgrounds and settings based on European paintings as far back as the Middle Ages.
Quoting from the website:
The Swiss Albert Hurter (1883-1942), the Swedish Gustaf Tenggren (1896-1970) or the danish Kay Nielsen (1886-1957) combined their knowledge of european art and folk art of various eras with the influences of their new home, the United States.
These were the ideal prerequisites for an innovative imagery language that went on to conquer the world.
In Munich, the original masterpieces of European art are now displayed alongside the animations created when disney was still alive.
So picture my surprise when right in the middle of all this Eurocentrism I stumble over something breath-takingly light and beautiful that looked like a chinese scroll painting. ...
It was created by Tyrus Wong, a chinese artist who, at the age of 9, had come to the States with his father in 1919.
When he heard of the animation feature project "Bambi" he took the initiative and painted a series of landscapes as settings for the new film and based them in terms of style and coloring on chinese scroll paintings.
Watercolor by Tyrus Wong from "Bambi" Copyright:Tyrus wong
Disney loved them ... and used them in Bambi. Sadly, this was to be Wong's only major contribution to the Disney Studios, as he was laid off after the Studio strikes in 1941.
Currently there is a documentary in preproduction called BRUSHSTROKES IN HOLLYWOOD: A PORTRAIT OF TYRUS WONG that focusses on Wong's life and work. I'm really curious to see this.
Another unexpected highlight was a 2003 shortfilm called Destino, based on the collaboration between Walt Disney and - Get this! - Salvador Dalí. It certainly goes against anything you maybe esthetically used to - and my friend, she hated it (my ears bled from her complaints). I had this odd sensation of being brushed the wrong way - and liking it. Imagine morphing from a (not so cute but nonetheless identifiable) Disney esthetic into a moving Dali painting - and back and forth and back ...
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=debTSVR_pEQAt least now I know, I wasn't imagining things when I thought the evil Queen in Snow-white resembled Joan Crawford and Uta of Naumburg...
Gacked from: www.weltchronik.de
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppHrQ9UEctIAnd now that we've mentioned set design AND Disney AND Dali AND Wong ... this is were they all come together ... another example of Wong's work for film studios ...
Dali-esque Set Design" for a WB musical, a watercolor by Tyrus Wong, Copyright:Tyrus wong
Fantasia is still my favorite Disney feature ...
I think I need to do some shopping now ...
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