Item! From China comes the one great movie, the one to defeat all the others. Such is the hype that surrounded me during my visit there, especially after a few of them found out I write about film. The movie is called Hero and it had just come out in December of last year, so there was a massive Western-style advertising blitz to accompany it. Miramax has bought the distribution rights and this has made some fans angry because they have already announced they may fiddle with the length and are unclear when they will release it. The movie features Asian stars Jet Li ('Fists of Legend,' 'The Black Mask'), Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Maggie Cheung of 'In the Mood for Love,' and Ziyi Zhang of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.' It is directed by the acclaimed Yimou Zhang ('Happy Times' and 'The Road Home') so it isn't short on name recognition, at least to the Chinese. My guide in Beijing said he had seen it seven times already in the first month it opened, and promised it was much better than 'Crouching Tiger,' which many Chinese are using as a benchmark since it was so popular worldwide. The interesting facet of all this bluster to me was that the Chinese I talked with all seemed to think 'Crouching Tiger' was a very mediocre movie, not representative of what Chinese cinema can accomplish. More of an attempt from an American ensconced in Hollywood to return to his roots in China than a typical Chinese production. A few of them described to me that for a film to be considered "great" in China it has to have a mix of critical success and box office success, but the latter is much more important. I'm guessing because of their history, they would view critics, who attempt to influence what "the masses" think, skeptically, but probably wouldn't go so far as to send me to a labor camp (though they still do have pictures of Mao everywhere). And the only American movies they officially import are the 10 highest grossing from Hollywood the previous year. Of course, you can get any movie you want if you look hard enough on the street. Hell, you can get anything you want if you look around on the street, but that's another subject. So look out for 'Hero,' the Chinese are waiting for your reaction.
Item! We already have the recipe for chop suey and the character of Charlie Chan, so why does America need to keep trading with China? We have this stuff down pat, can't we just send all the extra Orientals piling up over here back where they came from? Kidding, of course...
Item! I was surprised after reading Adam's review and subsequent honorable mention of 'Rabbit-Proof Fence' to see how poorly it did at the Australian box office. It wasn't even playing at any Australian cinema I could find with the Internet's limited ability to check such things, and I don't even think it made as much money there as it did in the U.S. The user review on Imdb.com right now suggests part of the reason why the film is not selling like hotcakes down under, mainly that the film itself isn't so remarkable to natives even though the subject matter may be a revelation to Americans. I was there a year ago, and it was still hot topic then, with museum exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney on the Stolen Generation and its impact. Heady stuff, and the Imdb review suggests there are still huge problems with racism in parts of Australia. I guess I'm just surprised this isn't more popular there given its critical acclaim here, but then anyone who's ever seen me dress knows I don't exactly have my thumb on the pulse of contemporary tastes.
Item! It was nice that Daniel Day-Lewis, the one guy who was the "native," decided to put some effort into his role and adopt a vulgar Five Points patois, while immigrants DiCaprio and Diaz seemed content to ramble on in their broken English.
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