125 Years Isn't That Old, Is It? (From Ibsen to BLIND SHAFT (2003))

I’m busy translating a bunch of business contracts. The work is tedious, but money’s money, even if it’s the Korean won, which has depreciated so much in recent months that I've actually started turning down some jobs after doing the money calculation. Still, it's a way to earn a little money that also allows me the flexible schedule and large blocks of free time needed to work on my novel and make films.

As for making the feature film, in search of ideas for a story, I’ve begun to do what I often do when I can’t come up with an original idea of my own for whatever reason. I’ve turned to works from the past that are in the public domain to see whether any of them can be updated to the contemporary Hong Kong setting. This is a very common practice. George Lucas’s STAR WARS series is basically a Japanese samurai film set in space. Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur’s I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943) is a retelling of JANE EYRE.

Nearly all novels or plays that were published prior to 1923 is in the public domain. This doesn’t mean, however that filmmakers can have a field day. Many of these literary works that are in the public domain aren’t well-suited for modern audiences. And those that are (Jane Austen & some Shakespeare) have already been done over and over.

In addition, literary and dramatic conventions from the past are often very different from contemporary ones, which means they don’t always help the cause of providing fodder for a medium, narrative film, which requires accessible storytelling.

The last time I ventured into the fascinating world of the public domain, I ended up with a short film based on Sophocles’ ANTIGONE, which in its original is compelling even if its form is so unlike any that we modern audiences are used to. In my hands, it turned into a straightforward drama with added exposition scenes between Antigone and Creon. The outcome was disappointing at best and very much a strange baby that was neither here nor there.

That said, I’ve begun to seriously consider doing a contemporary version of Henrik Ibsen’s THE WILD DUCK set in Hong Kong as part of a series of feature films about Hong Kong. To do so requires some modification. As great a contribution to modern theater that Ibsen has made (which is absolutely in no doubt as any self-respecting Norwegian will happily tell you and many did during my two-day stint as a street book peddler near Columbia University before our move to HK (which is another story)), much of the original play, which was written in 1884 and is in five acts, now seems clunky and dull. A contemporary adaptation could benefit from slimming the story into 3 acts and losing many ancillary characters and some story elements.

I’ve begun doing a quick outline of this adaptation. It could serve as the basis of a somewhat talky but could-be-compelling-depending-on-execution film focused on two main characters : GREGERS and HJALMAR from the original. The story still has a lot to say about life everywhere, but could be tweaked to say volumes about life in Hong Kong.

It helps that the original play isn't that well known. Many people, even those who know who Ibsen is, aren't that familiar with this play. And for whatever reason, deserved or not, this play as well as many of Ibsens' other works, are now relegated to the category of literary and dramatic works that are thought to be amazing but read only because some teacher at school assigned it or as part of some acting class. I believe the same can be said of much of Chekhov. (This is just an observation. I don't have a strong opinion on whether this is good or bad.)

I'm mostly concerned with pragmatic aspects of doing such an adaptation. Another plus is that there haven't been many screen adaptations of this play. The most recent and famous one being by Henri Safran in 1983 starring Liv Ullmann and Jeremy Irons. (This is a good thing and a bad thing. The bad is that there are probably good reasons why there haven't been more screen adaptations of this play.)

On a different note, I've just seen BLIND SHAFT (2003) by Yang Li. I’d caught bits of this film earlier in NY, when it aired on a local public TV channel. I didn't know much about the film or the filmmaker then.

Having just seen this film in its entirety, I was startled that such a bleak and dark film about contemporary life made its way past the Chinese censors. In fact, I learned from a little research that the filmmaker is based in Germany and circumvented Chinese censors by making the film outside the established filmmaking procedures and conrols by registering it as a foreign production originating in Germany and Hong Kong.

It is, in fact, one of the best films to come out of China that I’ve ever seen. (*It's at least 20,000 times better than the tired loosely-historical epics with 20,000 PLA extras that have now become a major staple of Chinese cinema and which function as de facto propaganda for China's superpower greatness -- Yes, the same critique can be applied to vast spectacles from the U.S., only the U.S. government doesn't play such an overtly direct role in film production. But of course, those films suck just as much.)

Yang Li's ugly little lump of coal of a film is intense for its entire 85 minutes while delivering many little truths about the price of modern life.

My only quibble is that were I the producer, I would have strongly urged Yang Li to cut the first two minutes from the film so that the film would then start from a completely different place and deliver even more of a jolt than it already does. Once you see the film, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

The Korean Wave and Women in Hong Kong, Singapore, & Japan

I've already written about how the typical Hong Kong Chinese response upon learning that I am Korean is to smile and shout, "Daaih Chuuhng Gam!"

This is, in its own way, a manifestation of the "Korean Wave," the term used to describe the proliferation of popular culture (pop songs, movies, TV shows) from South Korea to the rest of Asia in the past decade. For the Chinese-dominant part of Asia, the embodiment of this Korean Wave is "Daaih Chuuhng Gam" aka JEWEL IN THE PALACE (2003). For Japan, it is the TV soap WINTER SONATA (2003).

Indeed, the Korean Wave has been such a big phenomenon that it has already elicited its share of backlash in China, Japan, and Taiwan, in the form of published tirades, netizen attacks, rants from jingoist politicians, and even some local performers publicly lashing out against their South Korean counterparts. Chang Zhen-yue, a Taiwanese rapper, even has a song that excoriates Bae Yong Joon (the star of WINTER SONATA) and Korean boy bands.

I have just read a book called EAST ASIAN POP CULTURE: Analysing the Korean Wave (2008) edited by Chua Beng Huat and Koichi Iwabuchi. It is a collection of academic essays regarding the phenomenon approached from various academic angles.

Here are some interesting tidbits:

1)a) An essay that examines views of women viewers of Korean soaps in HK and Singapore revealed that 30% of HK women subjects thought there is some discrimination against women in Hong Kong, while nearly 50% of Singapore women believed there was discrimination against women in Singapore.

b) Given the statement: "I have to be married to be happy.", 39.1% of HK women subjects disagreed w/ this while just 10% of Singaporean women subjects disagreed.

**The author of the essay used a very small sample of women and did not try to draw big generalizations or conclusions. Still, the numbers are interesting.**


2) Women viewers of TV soaps in HK, Singapore, and Taiwan nearly unilaterally stated that they did not like graphic or overly sexualized scenes and situations portrayed in American TV shows like DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and SEX IN THE CITY and cited the lack of such overt sexual content in South Korean TV soaps as one of the reasons they liked the shows.


3) Before the Korean Wave, Japanese TV soaps were very popular in many Chinese-speaking parts of Asia. Many TV programmers in Taiwan and other parts of Asia were initially drawn to Korean soaps in the late 1990s because they were cheaper to purchase than Japanese TV soaps. Japanese TV soaps have lost favor in many Asian TV markets since then.

As for the popularity of HK and/or Chinese-language soaps in non-Chinese Asian nations, to date, no HK or Chinese-language TV soap opera has been broadcast on network TV in Japan. (**There was no mention of it in the book, but my guess is that this is also true for South Korea.**) Various reasons are cited for this, but primarily, lack of production value.


4) Another essay examined the viewing practices of middle-aged women viewers of WINTER SONATA in Japan. This demographic of fans has often been derided and belittled for their outward enthusiasm in the mainstream press and by Japanese men in particular. I too shared this prejudice. Lonely women in their 40s and 50s swooning over a sensitive young soap star. The whole thing seemed rather silly to me.

But the essay, Winter Sonata and Cultural Practices of Active Fans in Japan: Considering Middle-aged Women as Cultural Agents, written by Yoshitaka Mori made me see this phenomenon in a totally new light.

Driven by this TV soap, many middle-aged women have taken initiative and have gone out in the world to do very cool things. They weren't merely passive viewers, who due to loneliness and misery, were being duped or manipulated by TV producers. Not at all. They were finding an active meaning in their life and in some cases, were duping the media. A subject cited in the essay stated how she'd hoodwinked the press by performing or acting the role of a zealous fan to get her photo in the newspapers.

Moreover, these women were taking initiative and expanding their mundane routines. Many had learned to use the computer and the Internet to learn more about the show and to interact with other women like them. Others had travelled, many for the first time, to South Korea, a country whose culture they did not know much about.

They did so not in search of cute young men, as they're often derided by the mainstream press, but to learn about Korean culture and to see things for themselves. This is after many decades of having a very biased and limited knowledge of Korea, given the already enmeshed and complex relationship that the two nations have of each other.

Not that any and all exchange of culture ought to be accepted uncritically as something transcendant and positive, but these middle-aged women were doing cool things and not simply being older versions of silly school girls. The essay even cited an example, in which these middle aged women viewers of WINTER SONATA were doing more to solve international political friction than conventional government institutions.

The point is, the relationship of middle-aged Japanese women fans of WINTER SONATA to the Korean Wave is much more complex and interesting than what has been usually described in the mainstream media in Japan, South Korea, and elsewhere. In other words, don't mess with and don't underestimate middle-aged women.

Lowlife Jerk and Top 10 Films of 2008

Another year is coming to a close, and I'm feeling a little down.

I've gotten a total of 4 responses from posting notices here and on various Hong Kong public forums seeking people interested in collaborating on films. And that's counting the one loser who actually took time out of his miserable life to e-mail me, a complete stranger, just to say he could tell from my ad that I was "a lowlife jerk."

It seems I've come quite a long way since being a promising young filmmaker generating real buzz. Four guys from my circle at NYU, have since directed commercial films that won theatrical releases. One guy, whom I'd pegged as being the least talented among us, has directed half a dozen commercial films, including one of the highest-grossing films in Korean film history.

In contrast, I'm here in Hong Kong without a single contact, posting lame on-line classified ads practically begging people to work with me. (I think Peter Kubelka, who made some wacky experimental films, including UNSERE AFRIKAREISE, also had to beg and rope people in to make films for practically all of his career.)

My rational side tells me I'm still young enough not to panic and need not get down on myself about this general sad state-of-being. This side also tells me to keep plugging away, stay upbeat, and focus on my successes: two published novels that won some critical acclaim, some plays that were produced, a screenplay that was sold, and a string of short films...

But there's another part of me that can't help but get a bit negative. I've wasted so many opportunities in the past for whatever reason, and now, this stint in Hong Kong feels like I'm serving time in filmmaking purgatory. I've become a fish-out-of-water struggling to make a film under the least favorable conditions.

It doesn't help that our life here brings us into contact for the most part with people who have absolutely no interest in films and novels. It doesn't startle me at all now to hear people say with all seriousness that the best movie they've ever seen in their life is HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 or THE MUMMY--which wasn't a bad film at all, but how could that be any grown-up's best film ever?

Anyway, that's enough whining. Sorry!

Here is my list of the TOP 10 FILMS OF 2008 with country of origin and brief category description.

A few titles were actually originally released in 2007, but are being included in the list because they played in many theaters in 2008. For the most part, except for the two South Korean films and TROPIC THUNDER, which I believe doesn't get the credit it deserves because it's so easy to dismiss, these films were included in the major big movie lists.

The glaring omission from my list is the Romanian film FOUR MONTHS, THREE WEEKS & TWO DAYS by Cristian Mungju, which has been heralded by nearly every major film critic in the West, but which didn't impress me at all. I thought the film, a slice-of-life that follows two young women on the day one helps the other get a back alley abortion in a repressive Romania of the 1980s, works only conceptually but not at all as a film.

The film makes its point, in a very dull and clumsy manner, that life was bad in Romania and back-alley abortions are gruesome. But is that really a point that's hard to make? Even as a staunch supporter of a woman's right to choose, I still found the film tedious at best.

No Hong Kong or Chinese films made my list this year. It was definitely not a good year for Hong Kong films. Rather sad.


TOP 10 FILMS OF 2008

1. THE CHASER by Na Hong-jin (South Korea) *Commercial thriller/Subverted policier*

2. THE DARK KNIGHT by Christopher Nolan (USA) *Commercial thriller*

3. THE EDGE OF HEAVEN by Fatih Akin (Germany) *Serious Drama/Social Commentary*

4. ROUGH CUT by Jang Hoon & written by Kim Ki-duk (South Korea) *Commercial thriller/Subverted Gangster Film*

5. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD by Sydney Lumet (USA) *Subverted Heist Film/Morality Tale/Modern Greek Tragedy*

6. THERE WILL BE BLOOD by Paul Thomas Anderson (USA) *Serious Drama/Social Expose*

7. CHOP SHOP by Ramin Bahrani (USA) *Social Commentary/Gritty Human Drama*

8. THE VISITOR by Thomas McCarthy (USA) *Social Commentary/Message Film about 9.11 and Its Impact on Immigrants*

9. IRON MAN by Jon Favreau (USA) *Fluff Fun*

10. TROPIC THUNDER by Ben Stiller (USA) *Fluff Fun*

HONORABLE MENTION: KUNGFU PANDA and WALL-E

**THE CHASER is the best film of the year by far. See it if you haven't done so. You're in for a treat.**

To put things in context, here are the films that are currently playing in nearly all theaters in Hong Kong (granted it's Christmas season):

TWILIGHT

TALES OF DESPEREAUX

MADAGASCAR 2

POKEMON MOVIE 10

BEDTIME STORIES

ONG BAK 2

IP MAN

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

FOUR CHRISTMASES


Palace IFC, in the fanciest mall in Hong Kong is also playing

AUSTRALIA


And the one "arthouse theater" in HK is playing the following films in addition to the above titles:

FOREVER ENTHRALLED (China)

IF YOU ARE THE ONE (China)

TOKYO!

TRUE WOMEN FOR SALE (Hong Kong)

MIAO MIAO (Taiwan)

TWILIGHT (2008) aka Book Proves Secret Fear of Writers to be True

There are some immensely popular books that seem to be fluff but are so well written that even if the material isn't one's cup of laai cha, one can’t help but feel a begrudging respect. For me, the Harry Potter series is an example of this. I just don't care for wizards, magic and spells. It's a matter of personal preference. Still, it's clear those books are writen extremely well.

Then there is TWILIGHT, a bestseller by Stephenie Meyer which has now spurned a film adaptation. So Jene, who loves the Harry Potter series and has introduced me to many books that I would have otherwise skipped, suggested I read the book as an exercise to see how it would be adapted for the screen.

Adapting a very popular novel to the screen is always difficult since a strong fan base demands that the film not deviate from the book even if this strict adhesion to the source material works against the film. On the other hand, it also means a minimum x number of fans of the book will flock to theaters regardless of how the adaptation is done.

At the risk of being called out for sour grapes (which I must harbor at some level since my own books haven't sold well), my main impression of the novel is that it seems to have been written by an 11-year-old for other 11-year-olds. The sentences are clunky and scenes go on for much too long. The vampire story seems to be rehashed from existing works of that genre and there's very little that could be called complex or sophisticated. I can't quite understand how any grown-up could derive enjoyment from this piece of junk.

The remarkable success of a book like this makes me question my own sanity. To me, it's so evident that this book is so unbelievably lacking in every way, yet it has somehow won the praise of hundreds of thousands of readers. It's enough to make a writer lose faith in the reader and wonder why he or she even bothers.

Whenever I read a complete piece of rubbish like this that's sold millions of copies, I can't help but think back to the writers I've known in my life (most whom I met when I was in university or freshly out of university). In their unguarded moments, nearly every writer I know has told me that as cynical as it sounds, deep down he or she has come to accept that the worst most talentless writers are the ones who make it commercially.

I don't agree with this view since it's a blanket statement and it's clear that there are exceptions. But TWILIGHT certainly seems to providence ammunition for such a claim. Sure not every novel has to say something serious or important, and there is a place in this world for fluff. But this book isn't even good fluff.

That said, the only sense I can make for how and why this book works(and rather well obviously given its success) is that it does, in its inane, childish and clumsy way, try to tell an earnest story of incredibly intense first love. BELLA, the narrator and main character, sees and studies the beautiful EDWARD, who is actually a vampire, as no one else at her school does. The bulk of the book is long passages of Bella obsessing and agonizing over the meaning behind Edward's tiniest gestures, words, and actions.

As for the film adaptation, this is precisely where it fails. Without the film equivalent of Bella's obsessing over the object of her first love, the intensity of the obsession/first love doesn't come through on screen. It also doesn't help that the film treats these scenes of fascination-turning-to-obsession-to-purest love quickly and as merely a means to get to some special-effects-driven good vampire vs. bad vampire fight sequences.

Despite this shift in focus, which I can only guess must have been made to try to add production value to the film and make it feel more like a movie, the special effects are poor and there’s very little to distinguish the film from a small TV show except that Robert Pattison plays the moody vampire. Overall, the film plays worse than most recent TV shows about supernatural elements mixing with the ordinary populace set in high schools, which as a TV genre, tends to be far more witty and sophisticated.

The classic BUFFY THE VAMPIRE series, which also featured a moody vampire love story, epitomizes this. The genius of that series and its creator Joss Whedon is that each episode also worked as social commentary about familiar issues in high school life (eg. Eating disorders, cliques, losing one’s virginity…)

Lacking this sophistication in the source material, the film adaptation of TWILIGHT also disappoints because it fails to show the earnest obsessive intensity of first love that is the book's focus and main strength.

Seeking Collaborators for Independent Film in Hong Kong

I posted an ad on Gumtree for actors and other people to collaborate on an independent film here in Hong Kong.

CLICK TO SEE GUMTREE AD

I'm looking for actors, writers, filmmakers, or creative people in general who are just interested in making an independent film and can invest their time and energy to collaborate on a film.

The key is to not try to follow the production model that is used by big-budget mainstream films. Trying to replicate a mainstream film on a miniscule budget leads only to disappointment as I've learned on numerous occasions in the past. Instead, make a film that mainstream film production can't make due to the fact that they are hindered by number one motive of recouping investments. This film will be like THE PUFFY CHAIR, MUTUAL APPRECIATION, KISSING ON THE MOUTH, QUIET CITY, etc. what film festival programmers and critics have labeled Mumblecore.

If any of you are or know actors or creative people who aren't shy but have a general open and brave persona and are willing to do new things, please let them know about me and my independent film.

Race, ethnicity, language ability, stupid things like this do not matter. What matters is energy and general openness and willingness to invest time and effort to collaborate on film as actor, writer, or cameraperson, or best, all of these things. Experience in traditional film production or acting doesn't matter. This is not a mainstream production. we're looking for interesting creative people who are up for something different and want to seize this opportunity to make a cool interesting film about life in Hong Kong.

The best thing about making independent films is the collaboration and the willingness to experiment and try something new. Again, this is a small no-budget film that's more like a theater workshop. We'll see who shows up, collaborate to finetune a story and script and go from there. This will be a very low-budget film, so don't think of a traditional studio set. This is guerilla filmmaking.

No guarantees of fame or wealth. But I can guarantee a feature film will be made, and it will be interesting. Something that has true passion and life. Something that you'll be proud of.

Please pass this along to those who might be interested.

Beginnings of Pre-Production aka Thank You Val Lewton

So I'm really at the beginning of what I'm sure will be a long process to make an independent feature film in HK.

I've checked with film labs. I've gone over my equipment. I've compiled a small budget. I've even built a poor man's steadicam with plans found on the Internet from the famous Johnny Chung. By the way, he has become a youtube superstar lately with his 3-D subvert tutorial of the Nintendo wii.

I got the parts from a hardware store in Aberdeen and was able to put together the poor man's steadicam in a couple of hours. I can't believe how well the poor man's steadicam works. If only I'd had this when I was shooting FREE COUNTRY. Oh well.

Anyway, all I need now are actors. And more importantly, some idea, a story to hang scenes on.

I have really nothing as of yet, just a bunch of unrelated ideas and sketches and lots and lots of notes. So I spent part of the day looking for inspiration in the classics.

What do I mean by classics?

I read the screenplay for the Val Lewton-produced classic, THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943). I've seen this film a few times, including once at a screening with live organ accompaniment at the classic restored movie house off of the Stanford campus in Palo Alto.

I'd forgotten a lot of details from that film. The only scene I remembered was the unforgettable famous scene with the gang of pacifist Satanists. (It's really in the film.)

I couldn't believe some of the things I was reading. It was one hell of a screenplay and gave me some good ideas.

I don't know much about Val Lewton except that he was from the Ukraine and was the apotheosis of the low-budget producer but with a knack for storytelling and mood setting. I remember being so impressed after seeing CAT PEOPLE (1942) and BEDLAM (1946), which was one of his bigger-budget pictures. You can't help but recognize the talent despite the unbelievably low production values in some of his films.

Anyway, this is a start. We'll see how it goes from here. I do miss NY though. That's a city that's filled with actors

THE EDGE OF HEAVEN (2008), aka This Film Makes Us See with New Eyes

For whatever reason, at some point in their careers, many writers stop reading other people's books. There are too many books in the world. They don't want to be influenced or contaminated by other writers.

This is also the case with filmmakers. At a certain point, many filmmakers stop watching other people's films, especially new films.

I'm not like this. I no longer read nearly as much as I did or should, but I continue to actively watch new films, devouring them when given the opportunity, and not just "quality" films. Despite being, for a lack of a better term, a film snob, I watch many different types of movies and have no qualms about watching what many would dismiss as junk (eg. YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN, MADE OF HONOR, HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO...)

Why do I not discriminate so?

Because most movies, whether they are branded mainstream or independent arthouse, are bad. I know not to expect otherwise.

To see a truly good film is a rare event. That's why I am so pleased to write this post.

THE EDGE OF HEAVEN (2008), whose German title is AUF DER ANDEREN SEITE (lit. On the Other Side) and was written and directed by Fatih Akin, has startled me with its masterfulness.

I should have checked out this director earlier as one of his previous films, GEGEN DIE WAND (2004), a.k.a. HEAD-ON, was talked up quite a bit a few years back in NY. I passed on seeing that film then, but will soon remedy this.

This young German director of Turkish descent has created a stunning film in THE EDGE OF HEAVEN. It's no surprise that the film has received critical acclaim at prestigious international film festivals, including Best Screenplay at Cannes, and is on many film critics' TOP 10 FILMS of 2008 lists.

Instead of a clunky description of the story, I will point out two examples of masterful filmmaking from the film.

Example #1: The iconic German actress Hanna Schygulla plays the aged mother of one of the main characters. Her daughter, a German university student with an idealistic streak, brings a Turkish woman whom she has just met, to stay in their house. The daughter wants to help the Turkish woman, who is homeless and an illegal immigrant. The mother seems to project quiet disapproval and warns the daughter about harboring an illegal alien. In this manner, the film makes the viewer think he or she is seeing a contrast between the staid mother and the bohemian rebellious daughter.



Later, however, the film reveals that this staid mother is not who the viewer has come to think she is. In her youth, she was also a free spirit and a bit of a bohemian who hitchhiked to India. She shows herself to be someone so different than who she seemed to be.

Thus, the viewer's very perception is challenged and this character is revealed to be complex and truly human and not the "type" that the viewer has pegged her to be. In other words, the film challenges and undermines the viewers' perception to provide true insight.


Example #2: The opening scene of the film is of a car driving into a gas station in rural Turkey. A man gets out of the car, asks the gas station attendant to fill it up, then goes inside to the little convenience store, where he buys some snacks and exchanges small talk with the shopkeeper about a song that is playing on the radio. The shopkeeper says the singer is from the region but died of cancer due to fallout from Chernobyl that's only revealing itself to the public now. The man pays for his stuff and the scene ends. It's a two-minute scene. No tension. No conflict. No nothing. Completely mundane. Something that could happen to anyone.

Ninety-minutes of the film later, the same scene is replayed in exactly the same form. No changes. But the film has revealed the events that have led up to this man's setting foot in that gas station. It's the same scene. The same two minutes. But now, it's filled with tension, true pathos, and an abundance of meaning.

Again, this is an example where the film shows us something, makes us think we see it, only to reveal that what we think we're seeing is not so. It challenges the expectations and perception of the viewer. It makes us see with new eyes.

These two examples are just the tip of the iceberg for this remarkable film. This film is a wonder to behold. The performances are superb. The storytelling is quietly confident even as it takes the viewer on an emotional journey. It is a drama of the best kind. A must see.

As for Year-End Best lists, many of which contain this film, many people dislike such lists and dismiss them outright. Although I often think these lists contain egregiously bad films, I find that such lists can sometimes help bring attention to deserving films.

Many excellent films peter out without seeing the light of day because they don't register on people's radar. Even people who haven't seen QUANTUM OF SOLACE will have heard of it because of the ridiculous amount of money used to market this piece of junk, but this is just not so with even THE EDGE OF HEAVEN or even smaller films without the marketing dollars to promote them.

The Goethe Institute in Hong Kong is promoting a screening of this film in March 2009 that will take place at the Hong Kong Film Archive. For more info, please click on the title of this post.

Shooting Film in Hong Kong a.k.a. My Run-In with Run Run

I'm preparing to shoot an independent feature film here in Hong Kong.

As part of this process, I call a bunch of film labs to find out where I can get 16mm film processed in Hong Kong. I'm calling to find out what film stocks can be processed and what the rates are. The person who answers the phone at Mandarin Labs in Kwun Tong connects me to a different person, who passes me on to someone else. Eventually, I get the ear of a film technician named Paul Wong.

I tell him I am an independent filmmaker. He gets me right away and gives me the scoop and a rate. He tells me that Mandarin is the only lab in Hong Kong that handles 16mm. He also tells me there is no film lab in Shenzhen but there is one in Guangzhou. He adds that they probably don't do 16mm. As for reversal film, this cannot be processed in Hong Kong any more and suggests I look at labs in Australia or the U.S.

Overall, the guy is informative and down-to-earth. I'm talking to a human being and not a robot or a recording. The experience is the same as if I'd called up a small mom-and-pop film lab in the States. (These are mostly dying out, by the way...)

Then, I call a bunch of other labs to see whether Paul Wong is on the level about his lab's being the only lab that does 16mm processing. Some other lab tells me to try Shaw Brothers Lab in Sai Kung.

So I do, only to find that the receptionist who fields the call is completely confused by my inquiry. She keeps asking me what company I'm calling from and I keep repeating that I am an independent filmmaker, which just confuses her more. I tell her that I produce and shoot my own films. This baffles her. It's not the English that confuses her, but the concept, as the woman's English is quite good.

I ask her over and over if Shaw Brothers Labs processes 16mm film. Instead of giving me an answer, she asks what country I'm from. I ask, why does that matter? She says it doesn't, but keeps asking what country?

Finally, after talking in circles for too long, she gives me another number to call. I do and get a person who tells me she is "the one who can handle (my)inquiry." I ask her whether her lab does 16mm negative processing, and if so, how much it costs per foot. Most film labs in the U.S. have that info on their web site. And if they don't, that's what the phone is there for.

The Shaw Brothers Lab woman says she cannot tell me this information over the phone and tells me I must first make a formal written inquiry.

I can't help but shiver. It's as if she's used some special kind of Sai Kung feng shui to read my mind and knows that I'm about to make an epic film, my magnum opus celebrating the life and times of his true majesty, the one and only Dalai Lama. --- (For those without a sense of humor and the 30,000+ Chinese censors trolling the Internet at this very moment for objectionable content, that was a joke. I am not making such a film.)

I explain again to the lab person that all I need is a YES or NO and a figure per foot as I'm trying to estimate a budget for a small film shoot.

She says, "I understand. But it's better you make an official request in writing."

Finally, I give up and ask if it's okay to e-mail such a request. She says fine and gives me her e-mail.

I e-mail a request because frankly, what choice do I have?

I find the whole experience a bit strange. Granted there probably aren't that many people calling about 16mm processing, but a film lab is a film lab. And this is Hong Kong, an alledged world city with a proud filmmaking tradition.

All I can say is, Sir Run Run or whoever is running the empire over at Shaw Brothers has created quite a bizarre institution.

Of course, having sent out a formal request in writing as instructed, a part of me already knows what will inevitably happen next.

In a day or two, I'll get an e-mail in official-sounding yet slightly-botched and stilted Queen's English from some stiff at Shaw Brothers Labs "regretfully" informing me that they "no longer process 16mm film, especially for any production that portrays the Dalai Lama in a positive light."--( Note to censors: That was another bad joke.)

Anyway, if anyone else out there is thinking of shooting 16mm in Hong Kong, this is the low-down on available labs. One lab. One system.


POSTSCRIPT: I called back a few times the next day, and again talked to the same person, who this time told me she had received my e-mail request but "couldn't respond because I hadn't included my phone number."

She then asked that I submit dates when I wanted the processing done because "the price depends on the schedule."

After getting off the phone with this ridiculous person, I got fed up and called back on a different extension and finally got someone on the phone who instantly gave me the info I needed.

$1.20 HKD/ ft. She then explained she'd been out of the office and someone else had been getting her calls for her.

Basically, the joker who I'd talked to initially had had me jump through hoops instead of simply saying, "I don't know. The person who knows is out of the office. Please call back."

Is it that hard to say, "I don't know"? I say this all the time. Geez!

BELLA by Alejandro Monteverde (How is this film in Hong Kong?)

BELLA (2006), written and directed by Alejandro Monteverde, is in theaters now in Hong Kong after making its rounds in film festivals. For a so-called independent film, it is shot beautifully and has some real production value. It looks slick like a film that must have cost about $500K to $1 million U.S. dollars.



It's an earnest work that clearly has good intentions. Despite this, the film suffers from a very poor script and doesn't transcend that fundamental flaw.

Basically, the film is a long introduction to two characters, a chef and a waitress, who have experienced sadness and grief. For the first 50 minutes, the film trudges along as an "I've got a secret" story. It's clear the protagonist is still agonizing about some dark event from his past and that is why he is drawn to the pregnant waitress.

Until the dark secret about his past is revealed, the film is content to show the two main characters mosey about during the course of a day at various iconic settings in and around NYC (riding the subway, walking through a street fair, talking to a homeless man...) talking to each other.

By the time that dark secret is finally revealed, the audience has lost all interest. The film and its characters don't give the viewer any reason to care other than that one is pregnant and the other broods a lot and once was a star soccer player. It's a shame because the character of the fallen soccer hero is one that holds real possibility for drama.

Ultimately, this film manages to bore and insult the audience. Insult how? An independent movie should show some truth. This movie fails to do that.

The only thing that rings true in this film is the portrayal of a hectic high-stress kitchen of a Mexican restaurant in NYC. Nearly every other detail rings false. Just because a film has sadness and grief as its topic and doesn't have explosions doesn't automatically make it some kind of independent film gem. This film is clear evidence of that.

How this film managed to cross the Pacific and reach Hong Kong screens while far worthier independent films that deserve to be seen and gain recognition never manage to do so is a real mystery and a shame.

LIST OF MOVIES Made by independent filmmakers for less than $100K that are more compelling and show real vision that have yet to win theatrical release or wide distribution and definitely have not played in Hong Kong:

1) AFTER THE APOCALYPSE (2004) by Yasuaki Nakjima

2) YORICK (2002) by Jonny Stranger

3) FUNNY HA HA (2002) by Andrew Bujalski

WINDS OF SEPTEMBER (2008) by Tom Shu-yu Lin, (How a Film Just Missed Being Spectacular)

Say It Ain’t So, Tom. Say It Ain’t So.

WINDS OF SEPTEMBER (2008), Tom Shu-yu Lin’s feature debut, is not a film that’s shy about its earnestness as it well shouldn’t. After all, it's a movie about young people and that’s what being young is. The film, which is in Mandarin and is playing now in Hong Kong, tells an episodic coming-of-age story set in 1996 in a provincial town in Taiwan, and follows a tight-knit pack of seven high school boys in the months leading up to graduation.

The film is best in its early moments as it relishes in its episodic storytelling and leisurely shows the boys engrossed in their youthful adventures. They go to professional baseball games and cheer on their heroes, one of whom is the slugger Liao Min-hsung. They break into a swimming pool at night and go skinny-dipping. They ride around in motorcycles. They horse around and crack jokes. They cut school. They smoke, curse, and drink beer. They get chewed out by the school disciplinarian. Through it all, the camaraderie and joy of youth comes across loud and clear. This may not provide dramatic thrust in the conventional sense, but the energy and charm in these scenes more than make up for this.



Meanwhile, the film gradually focuses on two boys in the group: Yen (Rhydian Vaughan), the handsome playboy, and his best friend Tang (Chang Cheh), a shy boy with a more serious outlook than the others. It’s a familiar dynamic seen often in high school stories—I don't know why, but the film kept reminding me of John Knowles’ A SEPARATE PEACE.

After Yen’s womanizing causes problems for the boys as well as Yen’s girlfriend, Yen and Tang grow apart. Each starts to suspect the other has betrayed him. Overall, the performances of these young actors are convincing. And the script skillfully shows how minor things can be the catalyst for big emotions during adolescence.

But the final third of the film loses steam, precisely because of a contrived narrative device, which then becomes the vehicle on which the story is towed rather clumsily to the finish line.


What is this contrived narrative device?


*WARNING. SPOILER HERE.*

It's clear that the point of the movie is to show the disillusionment of young men and the repercussion of that disillusionment on a so-called band of brothers. But must that disillusionment stem from a totally contrived motorcycle accident and a boy falling into a coma? Can't adolescents grow disillusioned simply from seeing the grown-up world at large?

The motorcycle accident scene rings false on so many levels that I won't even try to list them here. Put simply, the scene is when this movie morphs from a promising film into a Korean soap opera of the worst kind--the kind in which main characters spontaneously combust and suffer from amnesia, cancer, and blindness all at the same time, and then learn that they are actually related to their lovers. It's phony and contrived tragedy that startles momentarily but ultimately precludes the outpouring of any real empathy with the characters.

Since this misplaced and wholly unnecessary inciting narrative device is false, every narrative beat depicting its consequences also rings false and the performance of the actors falters drastically in the scenes that follow. I’m not saying that all bad acting is due to a flaw in the script, just that most is. Whatever the case, it’s a shame the film takes this direction, since it clearly didn’t need to.

Meanwhile, interspersed throughout the film are news clips of another betrayal, a baseball scandal, in which professional players, including Liao, are revealed to have thrown games for money. It’s abundantly clear the film means for the baseball scandal to echo and heighten the "loss-of-innocence,"--I hate using this term but couldn't think of an adequate substitute--that the young characters experience. But this only works in theory. Indeed, it's truly amazing how one wrong turn in the story can destroy a movie and make it so difficult for audiences to empathize with the characters on screen.

In the end, despite all the outbursts of intense emotion from the ensemble cast over what true friendship means, the film fails to pack an emotional punch. It’s really too bad because with a few small modifications in the script, this film could have been something spectacular.

THE WAY WE ARE (2008), a HK movie that's unlike any other

THE WAY WE ARE (2008) by Ann Hui

Ann Hui is one of those directors whose reputation has been cemented decades ago. She's written about with respect in nearly every serious book about Hong Kong cinema. Her most famous films are SONGS OF EXILE, JULY'S RHAPSODY, STORY OF WOO VIET, and BOAT PEOPLE...

I have yet to see these films, but after seeing THE WAY WE ARE, will quickly remedy this. THE WAY WE ARE caught me completely by surprise. I was startled that such a small film with absolutely no commercial value was made and released in Hong Kong.



The Chinese title of this movie is "Tin Shui Wai Days and Nights," and it's a fitting one. The film is set in Tin Shui Wai, a.k.a. The City of Sadness, and follows a hard-working mother and her teenaged son over a few months.

She works at the supermarket. He hangs out with friends but doesn't get into trouble. He's waiting to find out the result of his Form 6 test. They visit their relatives, who are wealthier than them. The boy's grandmother gets sick and is hospitalized. The mother says she is too busy to visit the grandmother at the hospital.

In effect, the movie trudges along on the strength of a handful of false leads. Is there some dark family secret behind the mother's not visiting the grandmother at the hospital? Will the boy get into Form 6? Will the mother eventually lose it and unleash the pent-up anger and resentment from the sacrifices she's had to make all her life? Will the boy be led astray by his friends and commit some horrific crime?

But none of these things take place.

**WARNING. FILM CONTAINS NO FODDER FOR SPOILERS.**

Instead, the major event in the movie is that the mother and son befriend a neighbor, an elderly woman who is alone in the world, and form their own family unit.

This film has won critical acclaim and has been praised for its integrity of vision, subtlety, and refusal to depict a troubled slum in a negative or sensationalistic manner as other films have done.

Indeed, whether the slum is in Hong Kong's New Territories or in inner-city Baltimore, films that are set in the ghetto usually follow one of two main trajectories:

1) nihilistic hell-on-earth story in which crime, violence, and drugs prevail and all hope goes out the window.

2) quiet dignity of individuals despite the odds socially-conscious story - these films are usually about community activists or young people who find a way out of the ghetto and often contain brief snippets of 1) nihilistic hell-on-earth to contrast and heighten their protagonist's dignity.


THE WAY WE ARE definitely falls into the second category.

But what's noteworthy is that unlike other movies of this type that are made elsewhere, THE WAY WE ARE categorically refuses to point the finger of blame for the plight of its protagonists at any social or government institutions, individuals, or even deities.

The two protagonists are not angry at anything. They don't fault any of the usual suspects, namely the school system, the government, the housing estate, gangs, drugs, the media, their relatives, friends, one another...

It seems as if the two main characters have no problems whatsoever. And the only complaint the mother ever voices is that the newspaper stand guy was mean and didn't give her the free pack of tissues that the convenience store guy gives. I don't know what to make of this lack of finger-pointing. I simply found it to be unique.

Also as an outsider, I found great interest in the film's numerous depictions of the minutiae of daily life, and the film worked for me also on the level of anthropology. But above all, the film struck a chord in me by being so very different from other Hong Kong movies.

On top of all that, seeing the elderly third character in the film deal with her loneliness made me pick up the phone and give my parents a call.

If that's not a testament to the power of cinema, I don't know what is.

First Interview in Cantonese

Here is my first live interview in Hong Kong carried out in my broken Cantonese. I know my tones are bad, and I'm butchering the Cantonese.

But it will get better.

After all, I'm not giving up and the Wa is a beautiful language.

Enjoy!

The subject is Mrs. Siu who runs the drycleaners at Wah Fu Estate.