New Asian Cinema at the San Francisco International Film Festival
April 29, 2005
Looking Back
By Joyce Guan
The Fall of Fujimori is an investigation into the volatile events that define the reign of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori. This intimate, revealing portrait (think style of Errol Morris’s The Fog of War) uncovers the facts in order to make sense of this seemingly split personality. Fujimori is an international fugitive charged with murder and kidnapping who lives in exile in Japan, yet won the loyalty of Peruvians with his “common man” persona. Through interviews with Fujimori, his former wife (who ran against him for president) and fiercely loyal daughter, this is gripping, hands-on, investigative journalism at its best.
A new twist on an old story: Into the Picture Scroll: The Tale of Yamanaka brings to life Iwasa Matabei’s 17th century scroll painting Yamanaka Tokiwa, the story of a noblewoman trying to reunite with her son. A visual journey through the scroll is accompanied by joruri music (ballad and shamisen instrumental accompaniment). Part Japanese opera, part Ken Burns documentary, the film lovingly examines the scroll, allowing us to take in every detail. The story is fascinating, fast-paced, and in between scrolls, we learn about Matabei’s personal tribulations. The combination of dramatically appropriate music, historical backstory and genius of the scroll itself make for an engaging film.
China and Modernity
With the cities brimming with opportunity, it’s easy to forget the people in the outer edges of the country. Delamu is Tibetan for “peace angel,” and the film takes us up into the mountains and down an ancient travel route. Even in their idyllic, seemingly isolated world right beneath the clouds, the inhabitants are no longer untouched by the rest of the world: They have frequent visitors; long to live in the city, and women are putting their careers before marriage. Life is not quite so provincial, nor is it easy to resist the seductions of the outside world.
In the 1980s, the Chinese government enforced a caste system. Peasants were locked into a life of farming and producing food for the citizens (educated city dwellers), and had no chances for advancement. This changed when a low-level bureaucrat defied the government’s laws to create Dragon Harbor, a city that shatters the barrier dividing citizens and peasants. Changing the Taste of Mud is an inspiring documentary about transformation of a people and its land.
Focus on Malaysia and Indonesia
Both Malaysia and Indonesia grapple with a radically different set of issues than first world Asian countries: class, culture, religion, poverty and ethnicity clash among different groups. Access to information is also creating an emerging educated class, one empowered to effect change.
Shape of the Moon paints a poignant picture of life in the increasingly modern city of Jakarta through the perspective of one family with three generations. The family has allowed the director to spend several years with them, and to film crucial moments in their lives. Each generation faces unique challenges and decisions: obsolescence in an increasingly modernized society, the conflict of multiple religions, and choices between family unity and education. The subjects are so comfortable with the camera that they seem to barely notice it is there ó precisely why this film is so powerful.
Other films to check out: The Year of Living Vicariously, shot in Indonesia as the country was going through its first direct presidential election; The Gravel Road, in which a young Tamil girl must weigh traditional familiar responsibilities against her own longing for education; Sepet, addressing the class differences between a young Malay girl and a street-smart Chinese boy; and Monday Morning Glory, a cinema verité-style re-enactment of a terrorist bombing.
One theme to note on many of the films from and about Asia is that they end on a hopeful note, which suggests possibilities of opportunity and access for all of the people in these nations.
‘Princess of Mount Ledang’
By Anh Le
Princess of Mount Ledang is a Malaysian film based on an epic story of the 1400s. Directed by Saw Teong Hin and starring Tiara Jacquelina and M. Nasir, the film portrays the tale of a magical princess, Puteri Gunung Ledang, who lived atop Mount Mahligai. The princess was seen by only people who were lost in the forest.
The princess’s love, jinn-prince Hong Tuah, lives on top of Mount Rundok. The two live apart, except at night when the tops of Mount Mahligai and Mount Rundok bend toward each other and allow the two lovers to be together until dawn when the mountains again separate.
The film is a tale of forbidden love, a sense of duty, and the pursuit of happiness. Director Saw Teong Hin states, “Our princess is in love with a warrior from a lower caste, she is seeking out a man, and worse, she is a woman deciding for herself. Given the mores of the time, it is completely unacceptable. Her one romantic act triggers off a chain of events that threatens to make it impossible for her to find happiness.”
Containing beautiful and evocative images, the film also includes pentjak silat, a self-defense martial arts indigenous to Malaysia and Indonesia. The film is filled with culture, heritage and spirituality. Let yourself immerse in a love story based on an ancient epic, yet still contain modern elements.
‘The Overture’
By Anh Le
The film, The Overture, directed by Ittisoontorn Vichailak of Thailand, is the story of Sorn, the youngest son born in a remote rural village of Siam in the late 19th century. Sorn displays a mastery and fervor for playing the wooden xylophone called the ranad.
Multi-talented and passionate, Sorn, however, gets defeated in a music duel with ranad master, Khun In.
Sorn’s defeat only strengthens his spirit. He invents new ways of playing the instrument resulting from the inspiration he received.
As the 20th century approached its halfway mark, Thailand became more influenced by Western elements, including musical ones. A group of Thai military leaders, under Field Marshall Pibulsongkram, exerted pressure on the Thai people to relinquish ancient cultural traditions.
Near the end of his life, Sorn was challenged once more, to defend and preserve the ancient musical tradition to which he devoted his whole lifetime.
Beautiful and enchanting, stimulating and inspiring, Vichailak’s The Overture will enlighten you with the story of Thailand’s master musician, Luang Pradit Phairao.
SFIFF PLAYDATES
Changing the Taste of Mud (part of The Boys of Baraka program): Fri. 4/29, Sat. 4/30, Wed. 5/4
Delamu: Fri. 4/29, Sun. 5/1, Thu. 5/5
The Gravel Road: Sun. 5/1, Wed. 5/4
Into the Picture Scroll: The Tale of Yamanaka: Mon., 5/2 Wed. 5/4
Monday Morning Glory: Sun. 5/1, Thu. 5/5
Princess of Mount Ledang:
Thu. 4/28, Wed. 5/4
Sepet: Sat. 4/30, Wed. 5/4, Thu. 5/5
Shape of the Moon: Fri. 4/29
The Overture: Sun. 4/24,
Tue. 4/26
The Year of Living Vicariously (part of Split Screen: Two Films by Amir Muhammad): Fri. 4/29, Tue. 5/3
For venue and screening times, check www.sfiff.org or call (925) 866-9559.
VC FilmFest Lures Best of Pacific Rim
By Justin Lowe
Since its founding in 1970, Visual Communications has been actively supporting a steadily growing community of Southern California filmmakers. It has become a magnet for productions from around the country and the Pacific Rim. VC also offers the APA community a variety of media industry resources, services, training opportunities and archival materials.
VC’s signature event is the annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival — better known as the VC FilmFest. Recognized as one of Los Angeles’ “Top Five Film Festivals” by LA Weekly, VC FilmFest’s clout draws some of the best new releases and a diversity of alternative programming.
This year’s festival follows the San Francisco’s International Asian American Film Festival (“The Electronic Shadows of Asian America,” Mar. 11), by also opening with Alice Wu’s audience pleaser, Saving Face.
Wu’s debut feature centers on Wil (Michelle Krusiec), a closeted and conflicted young New York doctor who becomes involved in her first serious lesbian love affair just as her single, and very pregnant, mother (Joan Chen) decides to move into Wil’s apartment. The charming romantic comedy brings out unexpected reserves of emotion from its characters, infusing the film with gentle humor and passion.
New York City also figures briefly in Steve Mallorca’s Slow Jam King, a quirky road comedy about an off-kilter journey beginning when wannabe Filipino-American gangster Jojo car-jacks Vance, a traveling perfume salesman. Picking up Jojo’s unwilling best buddy Devaun, the trio head south toward Nashville, stopping long enough for Jojo to rescue a costumed damsel in distress before discovering the mystery behind Vance’s country music past.
Continuing a tradition of showcasing outstanding new international titles, VC FilmFest offers a new program of midnight screenings this year, starting with Jet Li’s new action film, Unleashed, co-starring Morgan Freeman.
Rounding out the presentation, Three Extremes features a trio of short horror films from several of Asia’s leading directors. Hong Kong filmmaker Fruit Chan’s Dumplings is an abbreviated version of his feature-length narrative starring Bai Ling as a shady former abortionist whose trademark dumplings have a rejuvenating effect on a fading former actress, but at a frightening price.
Korea’s Park Chan-wook offers Cut, the tale of a movie director and his wife held hostage by a vengeful extra from the filmmaker’s latest vampire production. Also, Japanese director-provocateur Takashi Miike unveils Box, a ghostly story about a novelist haunted by strange visitations from her troubled past.
The lighter side of contemporary Asian cinema emerges in 20: 30: 40, a romantic Taiwan drama about three women at different stages in life seeking individual fulfillment. Veteran filmmaker and actress Sylvia Chang directs and stars as a recently divorced 40-year-old trying to get back into the dating game who meets a charming and unavailable bachelor (Tony Leung). Meanwhile, a thirty-something flight attendant is torn between two lovers, and a young woman in her twenties leaves home in Malaysia to become a pop star in Taipei.
For the first time, VC FilmFest bookends its eight-day run with two Asian American titles, closing May 5 with the Los Angeles premiere of Georgia Lee’s family drama Red Doors. In this picture, Tzi Ma headlines an ensemble cast as Ed Wong, a suburban New York City professional with a chatterbox wife (Freda Foh Shen) and three unconventional daughters.
Eldest daughter Samantha (Jacqueline Kim), begins to question her high-powered business career and pretentious wedding plans when she re-encounters an old flame. Youngest sister Katie (Kathy Shao-lin Lee) rejects performing a traditional ribbon dance in favor of appearing with a hip hop performance group. Caught in the middle, medical student Julie (Elaine Kao) finally begins to understand her romantic isolation when she finds herself falling for a celebrity actress (Mia Riverton) researching a role at Julie’s hospital. As his daughters’ lives grow increasingly unpredictable, Ed makes a radical decision that coincides with the realignment of the family’s relationships and a new emotional equilibrium.
VC FilmFest runs April 28-May 5 at the Directors Guild of America and other theaters in Los Angeles. Screening and schedule information is available at: www.vconline.org or call (213) 680-4462, ext. 59.
Contact Justin Lowe at: nextwavve@yahoo.com.
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