Tribeca Report 3 - Asia

As mentioned in my first Tribeca post, East Asia was severely under-represented at this year's festival. Not a single Korean feature to be found, and only one from Japan. Could the festival programmers truly not find any worthwhile films, or was there nobody on the selection committee who specialized in Asian films? Surely Sa-Kwa (with Moon So-ri), Git, or even the Pan-Asian musical Perhaps Love would have made a nice addition to the festival (especially if that meant one less unimaginative American indie). Still, the few East Asian films I did catch were interesting, with one of them (Hanging Garden) turning out to be a highlight of the festival. Toshiaki Toyoda's Hanging Garden, which takes a sharply critical and occasionally comic look at the dysfunction of a contemporary Japanese family, recalls such similarly themed films as Yoshimitsu Morita's The Family Game, Sogo Ishii's The Crazy Family, and even Takashi Miike's Visitor Q. Though the dynamic is familiar (salaryman father, housewife mother, and two teenaged children), it's clear from the opening moments, when daughter Mana (Anne Suzuki) asks her parents where she was conceived, that the Kyobashi family is anything but conventional. The family live by the rule that there are no secrets between them, and that no topic is taboo for discussion. And though they do openly speak of matters that most Japanese families would consider anathema, they are of course all involved in activities they would rather keep hidden. The father is conducting multiple extramarital affairs, most of which take place at the Wild Monkeys love hotel, where daughter Mana also happens to be exploring her newfound sexuality. Young Ko is a typical otaku, who divides his time between his computer and feeble attempts at sleeping with his beautiful tutor Mina, clearly a surrogate for his sister. At the family's core is Eriko, the perfect housewife who hides a lifetime of pent-up emotions and psychological damage behind a permanent, but eerie, smile. Though normally known for its rich culture and tradition, the Japan of Hanging Garden appears as rootless as the titular plants. The film is set entirely in an edge city, complete with sterile hi-rises, Starbucks, and shopping malls offering the latest western products; where the dominant item on the landscape is an enormous ferris wheel. In fact, the aforementioned love hotel is the closest we get to a cultural artifact. Toyoda never allows the humor to overpower the story, nor does he expect the drama to be taken too seriously, and the shifts in tone are as smooth as the pendular camera movements employed at key moments in the film. Hanging Garden isn't a masterpiece, but unlike other films that have put the modern Japanese family under the microscope, it avoids absurdist situations and/or overly black humor in its attempt at social criticism. It's even genuinely touching at times — that is, when it's not making you feel extremely uncomfortable.

What Ying Liang's lower-than-low budget Taking Father Home (Bei Ya Zi De Nan Hai) lacks in style and technical sophistication is more than made up for in its subject matter and content, for it shows us a side of China that is rarely, if ever, seen on film. Opening with a thank-you to the cast and crew (all of whom worked without pay), the film begins in a tiny village in the Sichuan province whose population is about to be forcibly relocated due to the construction of an industrial park. Against his mother's wishes, seventeen year-old Xu Yun sets off to the city (Zi Gong) to find his father who abandoned them six years earlier. Without a single Yuan in his pocket, but with two white ducks strapped to his back, Xu Yun sets off on his quest. Along the way he will meet thieves, thugs, and other individuals corrupted by the new quasi-capitalist society. Shot without government approval (or even knowledge), director Liang pulls no punches in lamenting the end of traditional communal village life, and explicitly criticizing the harsh, corrupt, self-centered necessity of survival in the city — where the serenity of nature has been replaced by seemingly endless confrontation. Propaganda is clearly still a powerful tool, for the film is full of optimistic but blatantly false radio reports of economic growth and prosperity — all while city occupants are being forced to flee due to an impending flood. The China of Taking Father Home is one that values progress over humanity — where the human toll of a free market economy is of little concern. Xu Yun can almost be viewed as an allegorical figure of the contrast between old world and new — though his time in the city is brief, he leaves it a far different person than he was when he arrived. Though the film's technical limitations are noticeable (inexpensive camera, poor sound design), and the acting is stilted, Liang's ability to create an emotionally powerful story is impressive, even if it relies a bit too much on unlikely coincidences. Liang does tend to let shots linger on longer than necessary, but this might have been less noticeable had it been shot on film instead of video. Taking Father Home was one of the better debut features at the Tribeca Film Festival, and a perfect example of what can be accomplished for under $5,000.

Sort of an Indonesian Big Love, Nia Dinata's Love For Share was a huge crowd-pleaser at the TFF. A feminist triptych of tales about women involved in polygamous relationships in modern-day Indonesia that takes a surprisingly light approach to the rather heavy subject of women and their role in the Muslim religion. The three stories (which are linked via chance encounters) address the effect of polygamy on the wives, and each is told exclusively from their perspective. In the first, and most serious of the three, a middle-aged gynecologist learns after many years of marriage that her husband has a second wife. Torn between her pride and devotion to her religion, she soon learns to accept the situation, though she is determined to strengthen the relationship between her husband and their teenaged son, who has little interest in either the Muslim religion or polygamy. In the second story, Siti, a young village girl, is brought to Jakarta as the third wife in a family that is already too large for their tiny flat. Lack of space and lack of privacy naturally draw the women close together, and soon Siti realizes her love is directed not towards her husband, but to one of the other wives. The final chapter stars model-turned-actress Dominique as Ming, a young waitress who is having an affair with her married boss. As Catholics, polygamy isn't an option, so Ming must decide if she wants to waste her youth on this man, or pursue a career in film. The film grows progressively lighter throughout, and by the time we get to Ming's story, we are bordering on Rom-Com territory. It's all quite charming, but there's a sense of reluctance — as if the director feared she would alienate a foreign audience if she scraped a bit deeper beneath the surface. Dinata is a talented director, with a style reminiscent of early Wong Kar-wai, though more straightforward in her narrative approach. Love For Share is a fine film, and one that deserves to find an international audience — I'm just hoping her future projects will be a bit more sublime.

Comments

[Adam]

Now I'm gonna have The Cure song "Hanging Garden" stuck in my head the whole day - "Fall, Fall, Fall, Fall into the . . .".

too bad Tribeca didn't snag SA-KWA, it's a lovely film. Hasn't even been released in SK yet. I hope it does well when it does. Moon So-ri isn't a guaranteed draw for audiences, but she puts together another great performance.

[Filmbrain]

Adam --

What is the story with Sa-Kwa and its non-release in Korea?

[Adam]

I don't know anything specifically, so I can only speculate, but I'm thinking it may have something to do w/ avoiding a Jude Law effect. Remember how four films featuring him came out 2 years ago? Moon So-ri has already had 2 films (I think, not exactly clear on the dates) come out this year - BRAVO, MY LIFE and BEWITCHING ATTRACTION - so I'm hoping she (and her agents and everyone else involved) is trying to titrate her films out so she's not over-exposed. BRAVO, MY LIFE didn't do too well, but BEWITCHING ATTRACTION did ok (not great), so maybe they are waiting on the release.

SA-KWA has the obvious critical cred. June would be a not so smart (due to the attention on the World Cup) or smart time (little competition since the blockbuster boys like Bong Joon-ho's THE HOST are holding out their release until after the Cup) to release it. Normally I don't hold my breath, but I think this one will get a release. If they market this right (there's an underlying Christian theme that they could work off of amongst Korean churches), they could make this film work. One can say its narrative is too non-mainstream to pull off a successful run, but OASIS didn't do that bad, nor did OH, SOOJUNG!

[argus]

Just wondering:

"soon Siti realizes her love is directed not towards her husband, but to one of the other wives. "

Sounds similar to the movie Fire.