Lust, Caution

I randomly found the 2007 movie Lust, Caution directed by Ang Lee while browsing Netflix a few weeks ago. I'd never heard of it before. I saw a couple Chinese people on the cover, looked up the Chinese title on IMDB - Se, jie (色，戒), and then asked my wife what she knew about it.

Qian said that she'd heard that it was a really risque film and that the lead actress in it had been banned from Chinese media for three years because of it. I noticed that the film had an NC-17 rating (meaning that no children would be allowed to see it in theaters, even if accompanied by an adult) as Qian was mentioning that.

Hearing about the controversy surrounding the movie and seeing its explicit rating were more than enough incentive for us to give the movie a chance.



Lust, Caution takes place in late-1930's, early-1940's Shanghai and Hong Kong (it's in Chinese subtitled in English on Netflix). It's ostensibly about a group of Communist party insurgents who are trying to assassinate a Chinese man who's working closely with the occupying Japanese invaders. The main thrust of the movie, though, is about the passionate relationship between one of the young ideologues, the beautiful Mrs. Mai played by Tang Wei, and the Chinese traitor/Japanese sympathizer, Mr. Yee played by Tony Leung.

The movie has a very slow pace. Early parts of the movie are dominated by catty discussions between high-society women playing ma jiang and drinking tea. I can see how one would be turned off by the glacial speed that the movie begins with. I wasn't bothered by the slow beginning, though. I really enjoyed taking in the portrayal of bygone Shanghai and Hong Kong. I'm not sure how "realistic" the scenes at the ma jiang table, markets, stores, cafes really are, but they were quite romantic and cosmopolitan and really nice scenery for the movie.

After an hour-and-a-half or so (the movie is two-and-a-half-hours-long), things really begin heating up between the main couple, Mrs. Mai and Mr. Yee. Mr. Yee is married and about thirty years Mrs. Mai's senior. Being a powerful, politically-connected man, Mr. Yee has the capability to arrange places where he and Mrs. Mai can romp around. And romp around they do.

The most memorable scenes of this movie are most certainly the duo's sexual escapades. Very little is left to the imagination during these minutes-long performances. The two engage in a wide variety of different sexual positions. It's almost as if a Daoist sex manual is being demonstrated for the viewer. It's hot stuff!

The passion between the two and the forbidden relationship that they develop become the main focus of the movie. Mrs. Mai began the affair with him so that she could set him up and ultimately kill him. But this plan gets complicated as she falls in love with him.

Lust, Caution is most famous for its incredibly explicit sex scenes. The movie is more than just those lustful scenes, though. I appreciated the movie on a few different levels. The two main characters put on quite an acting performance. There are a number of complicated relationships and plot lines too; it's well-written. And the disturbing ending is a good pay-off for the time that the viewer has invested into watching this film.

Qian and I enjoyed this film a lot. I recommend it.

One final comment on the movie: Mr. Yee, played by the famous Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, looks so much like President Obama in this movie. It's uncanny.

Wild China

I LOL'd a few weeks ago when I saw this video - China, China:



I didn't really think twice about the clip until I started the TV series Wild China on Netflix. After a few minutes of Wild China, I realized that it was the British-accented source of the viral China, China compilation.



Wild China is a six-part 2008 BBC documentary on the rugged geography and exotic peoples and animals of China. The series is broken in to six episodes:

1. Heart of the Dragon
2. Shangri-La
3. Tibet
4. Beyond the Great Wall
5. Land of the Panda
6. Tides of Change

Heart of the Dragon is mostly about the wondrous karst areas of Guangxi Province and southern China. Shangri-La is all about the intense diversity of Yunnan Province. Tibet takes place in Tibet. Beyond the Great Wall is all about the Inner Mongolian and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions. Land of the Panda focuses mostly on central China from the Qinling Mounatins to the east. And Tides of Change looks at the humongous coast line from North Korea to Vietnam through the prism of China's rapid development.

I liked this entire series. It is top-notch videography of the incredibly diverse wildlife and terrain of China. I repeatedly thought to myself, "I can't believe that still exists. I thought China had killed off every animal like that!" Wild China proves that there's still a whole lot of beauty to be found in China.

The best episodes are the first two - on the Guangxi Autonomous Region and Yunnan Provice. These two episodes will make you want to get on a plane, put on a backpack, and go explore remote parts of China. My personal favorites from this part are the features on monkeys, ethnic minorities crossing raging rivers using rope zip lines, and fly-over videography of karst mountains.

Here is a clip of the Nu Jiang rope crossing from the Shangri-La episode:



(There are several more clips from Wild China on YouTube if you search for "wild china")

The last four episodes were interesting to me, but a let down compared to the beginning of the series.

The episode on Tibet didn't feature as many towering, snow-covered Himalayan peaks as it did barren plateau. Vast lifeless expanses of land are certainly a big part of Tibet and its topography, but it didn't make for the most interesting viewing. The same is true of the grasslands of Inner Mongolia and the deserts of Xinjiang in episode four (and I say that as a huge Xinjiang nerd). Nothing really stands out from episodes five and six in my mind a few weeks after having watched it either.

I enjoyed Wild China a lot. I'd recommend it to someone wanting to learn a thing or two while killing time on Netflix.

House

The cause of the dearth of posts here recently is that Qian and I just bought and moved into our first house. Anyone who's gone down that road before knows that the preparation and execution of finding the right house, moving out of the old apartment, and getting into the new place is all-consuming. Between my job and all of that house stuff, blogging has fallen by the wayside.

Although I've been busy with life, I'm still engaged with China and still have things to write. I'm hoping things will settle down soon and I'll get some posts up soon.

In the mean time, I have a couple Chinese movies upon which I want to comment quickly.

First, Raise the Red Lantern 《大红灯笼高高挂》directed by Zhang Yimou is incredible. I found it to be just as good as the other Zhang movie I saw recently, To Live. It's the story of a concubine in the early twentieth century. The story is laid out very delicately and is executed with great passion. The cinematography and setting of the movie are still etched into my mind a couple weeks after watching it. I highly recommend it.

And then second, In the Heat of the Sun 《阳光灿烂的日子》is one of the most bizarre movies I've ever seen. Qian and I watched since it was one of the only movies she hadn't seen from the list that was recommended in the comments section of this blog a few weeks ago. It's about a group of rebellious youths during the Cultural Revolution. It is very avant-garde. I appreciated watching this more than my wife did (she hated it), but I'd have a hard time recommending this one.

To Live

Qian recently rented a Chinese movie from the library at the school where she teaches. The movie she picked up was To Live (or 活着 in Chinese) by Zhang Yimou. Zhang is one of the most famous directors in China. In addition to making block-buster movies, Zhang also directed the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. I had never heard of this movie and am honestly not too familiar with much of Zhang's work. I'm glad Qian got this randomly. To Live is a great film.



To Live is the story of a northern Chinese family and the events that unfolded in their lives in the middle part of the twentieth century. The 1940s through 1970s were a very turbulent time in China. Watching the main character, Fu Gui, go from being forced into the Nationalist Army to being forced into the Communist Red Army to taking part in campaigns against land owners in the 1950s to smelting iron during the Great Leap Forward to being surrounded by Mao-fanaticism in the 1960s and 1970s is a fascinating journey.

Fu Gui early in the movie is a spoiled brat from a rich family. He spends more time losing money gambling than with his wife and young daughter. After Fu loses his home and all of his inherited riches gambling, his pregnant-with-his-second-child wife leaves with him and takes their daughter with her.

Fu, having been left by his family and having lost all his money, has to restart his life. He does the only thing he knows how to do besides gamble - he plays the ruan and sings Shaanxi-style opera (秦腔) for traditional Chinese shadow plays with a troupe that tours surrounding villages.





These shadow plays and Fu Gui's singing and strumming at them are scattered throughout the movie. Shadow plays are a very unique Chinese form of entertainment. Shadow play scenes were a very nice addition to the movie.

Fu Gui, after having hit rock bottom, rebuilds his life. He reunites with his wife and kids after a few years away from them.

The family, once reunited, lives a decent enough life. Well, as decent as life could be in 1950's China.

Fu and his wife are level-headed, non-political people. This, unfortunately, couldn't keep them away from the chaos that Mao threw his country into. Mao's ideas of "constant revolution" and their implementation in society affected every Chinese person on a very deep level.

Fu and his family are witness to land-owners and the rich of society being attacked in the mid-1950s. Scenes of the Great Leap Forward, when Mao ordered China's agriculture collectivized in an attempt to "overtake" Britain and the US, then grip Fu and his family beginning in 1958. The town's leaders seize the family's pots and pans and the family has to eat at communal kitchens during that campaign. Many scenes take place next to burning backyard furnaces attempting to produce steel. The family doesn't suffer famine at all, at least. Much of the country did. As many as 35 million people died during the three year-long famine.

The psychosis of the Cultural Revolution, when students beat up their teachers and red guards destroyed temples and relics of ancient Chinese culture (among other things), is also featured very prominently in To Live.

Fu and his family are affected brutally during these horrific campaigns. There is never any criticism of Mao and the horrors that his policies caused by the main characters in the movie. The family, despite facing unimaginable man-made, politician-induced challenges, just plows on. There is never any complaining or lamenting about the hand that they'd been dealt.

In a way, I really admire Fu and his family for that. They continue, as the movie is called, to live despite the terrible atmosphere that surrounded them. In another sense, though, there were many points where continuing to roll with the punches and not making any protest about the things going on in society was, one could say, too passive of a stance.

I suppose it's easy for me, living in a free society after the fact, to be an arm-chair quarterback and say that they were too timid in the face of wretched political upheaval. I also understand what the fate was of people who resisted Mao's policies: they were murdered. It's true that it was nearly impossible to go against any of Mao's campaigns without being killed or at least jailed. But Fu and his family's lack of protesting and essentially going along with all of that degradation of society is a remarkable aspect of the movie.

I really enjoyed To Live. I had no expectations going into it and was moved by what I saw. Zhang created this movie in China in 1994. It's not the edgiest thing ever made. It's edgier than you might think, though. That SARFT - The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television - would've been OK with this film five years after Tiananmen Square occurred during a particularly rocky patch for the CCP is somewhat surprising. I heartily recommend To Live to anyone interested in seeing contemporary Chinese history from a Chinese perspective.

Edit: Be sure to check out the first comment on this post from Hopfrog. He gives a fantastic primer to non-kung fu Chinese film.

Win in China - Review

A few weeks ago, I received an email asking me to review a documentary about entrepreneurship in China. The film, called Win in China, produced by Robert A. Compton, sounded like an interesting project and I jumped at the opportunity to view the film, review it, and then interview Mr. Compton.

Today, I'm going to post my thoughts on the movie.



"Win in China" is a documentary about entrepreneurship in China framed by highlighting the Chinese reality TV show, "赢在中国" (literally "Win in China"). Compton's film shows exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the reality show and has extensive interviews with both the creators, contestants, and observers of the show. The TV show, "赢在中国," is now, in 2009, in its third season. Compton's documentary looks at the first season of the show in 2006-2007.

The reality show's basic premise had contestants entering a business plan competition with more than $5 million (US dollars, not RMB) in prizes. Think the Chinese version of Donald Trump's "The Apprentice." The winner of the contest received $1.5 million for their business (that sure beats Trump's prize of getting a job with Trump Industries!). To win the competition on "赢在中国," the contestants had to impress a panel of judges as well as the viewers watching, who could text message in their votes for who they thought performed best. The judges of the show were many of the top business men in China, including Alibaba.com's CEO Jack Ma (Ma is widely known as "the Bill Gates of China").

The documentary begins by laying the scene that is present-day China. This might be a review for China Hands already familiar with the ins and outs of contemporary China. But to anyone unfamiliar with Deng Xiaoping or the story of "Special Economic Zones" like Shenzhen, this introduction is very helpful in, literally, seeing what has happened in China over the past twenty plus years.

As anyone who's been to China in recent years knows, Chinese people no longer wear Mao jackets or carry little red books. Executive Producer, Wang Lifen, of the reality show, "赢在中国," is quoted in the documentary saying, "Entrepreneurs are the biggest heroes in Chinese society. Many came from nothing, yet they've created so much." Indeed, China today could not be further from the China of Mao, the "Great Leap Forward," or collectivized farming. Compton's film wants to dispel any notions from those in the West who don't know China intimately that Chinese people still think in terms of Maoism or Marxism.

One of the most interesting parts of the documentary is when a group of China's industrial leaders trained and lectured the contestants on the show. Contestants, and, of course, the millions of Chinese watching the show, were given lessons on IPOs, start-up capital, and other basic entrepreneurial practices by Mr. Ma and many of the other top executives in China. The audience was given a step-by-step how-to on how to become a successful business man.

"赢在中国" was meant to be entertaining for the masses. But there was a much bigger reason why the show happened: the Chinese Communist Party wanted more people to become better entrepreneurs. The show, being broadcast on China's Central Television in Communist China, was, essentially, capitalist propaganda. This contradiction, highlighted well by Compton's film, is one of the most fascinating aspects of contemporary China.

The theme of picking one's self up by the boot straps and, in a larger picture, China's transformation from a collective to individualistic society is another main theme of Compton's documentary. One of the creators of the reality show said, "In today's China, anyone can win." This mantra is what the CCP wanted to promote with the show. China needs millions more entrepreneurs if the country's economy is to continue growing at the break-neck pace it has been moving.

The most memorable character from the TV show, and, thus, Compton's documentary, is the contestant, Zhou Yu. Zhou personifies this notion that peasants in China can go from, as one of the commenters in the movie put it, "farming to Ferraris." Zhou was born in rural Hebei Province and (most likely) did not graduate from high school (Zhou is very coy about how much formal education he's actually received).

Zhou's nickname is "the Wolf" for his cut-throat business practices. During competitions, he spied on the other team and lied to third-party participants trying to get information. In other instances, he pushed the rules of the show as far as he could. He wanted to win and tried to by any means possible.

His practices, many of which were questionable to me, were debated by the shows judges and audience. While the other contestants on the show didn't appreciate the Wolf's "win-at-all-costs" business practices, the audience sure did. He repeatedly won the popular vote of the Chinese people watching the show. One of the judges even went so far to say that "the Wolf represents the Chinese spirit."

I won't tell you how the contest ends. It does have a twist and controversy. You'll have to view the film to see whether the Wolf is crowned the ultimate winner of the show.

Compton's "Win in China," clocking in at about an hour with additional interviews added, is worth checking out. The documentary's interviews, footage of contemporary Chinese business practices, and insight into Chinese culture make it worthwhile.

But I believe the biggest reason to watch the movie is to get familiar with the most memorable character - the Wolf. The Wolf is the ideal businessman for contemporary Chinese people. Understanding him, and to a larger extent Chinese businessmen and China's current attitudes towards business, will give one a much deeper understanding of China going forward and would be advantageous for those doing business in China to know about.

I had a very interesting conversation with the producer of the documentary, Robert A. Compton, last week. We covered a wide-ranging array of issues. Check back soon for a transcript of the interview.