Reviews

OK, so if you didn't know any better and loved sentimental films about dogs you might be a tad disappointed. The quality that I always loved about Roger Ebert is that he always judged movies for what they are trying to accomplish, not what he wanted them to be. Todd Solondz is presenting an antidote to sentimentality. What is life really like? Well, hopefully not as bad as he shows, but then surely not as good as most of Hollywood presents. The film consists of episodes tied primarily by the presence of a dachshund. The four stages of life are there: Scene One revolves around an innocent boy who had already recovered from some medical extreme ("His hair has already started growing back..."). Scene Two begins when his parents give the dog to a vet to be "put to sleep" and his assistant rescues him and goes on a road trip that ends with a visit to a couple who both appear to have Downs Syndrome. There is then an old-fashioned intermission that shows a giant wiener-dog crossing a mythic America. Scene Three features Danny DeVito as a burned-out filmmaker, now a professor, still hoping for a Hollywood break. Scene Four is appropriately centered on old age: Ellen Burstyn as a woman at the end of her life, complete with a fantasy vision of what she might have been. As for the conclusion, just when you think it is as bleak as it could possibly be, Solondz one-ups himself with an even bleaker finale. Not for all tastes, for sure. Who likes to see all that can go wrong with life? I found myself over and over again experiencing those Chekhov moments: this is, after all, what life can really be like.

Woody Allen's latest, which opened yesterday in Paris and at the Cannes Festival, is a gentle and thoughtful examination of love. Jesse Eisenberg, best known for his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, plays Bobby, a young New Yorker who heads out to Hollywood in search of an exciting future. He falls for Vonnie (Kristin Stewart of Twilight fame), the secretary of his Uncle Phil (Steve Carell), a successful producer, and is soon confronted with the fact that she has a mysterious lover. The resulting confusion is worthy of Allen's mentor, Anton Chekhov. In an interview in the French magazine l'Obs, Allen remembers his own experience in Hollywood, talking to a producer who cut him off to take a call from Fred Astaire. We soon meet all of the rest of Bobby's family, including a gangster brother and a sister who is married to an intellectual, who offers such wisdom as the quotation, "Live every day like it's your last and some day you'll be right." With brilliant cinematography by Vittorio Storaro and great performances from Eisenberg, Carell and Stewart, the film is one of Allen's most enjoyable in years. The poster features a stylized profile of a woman with a teardrop - love always includes an element of sadness, even as it brings laughter and self-realization. A French review of the Cannes opening compares Allen to Ernst Lubitsch, master of urbane comedies of manners in the 1930's.

Michael Winterbottom's new film will certainly raise eyebrows for its frank portrayal of a couple engaged in a wide range of sexual activities. Obvious parallels are drawn between two pursuits, taking in rock & roll at various concerts and making love. The addition of scenes of the Antarctic draws attention to an aspect of both: the potential for loneliness in the midst of what should be an orgasmic experience. Extreme closeups of bodies start to look like the icescapes of the one continent that remained unexplored until the twentieth century. I suspect that the ratings for the film are primarily reactions, positive or negative, to the explicitness of the sex scenes, but one could argue that it also should be judged for what it is trying to say about relationships and the relationship between sex and love. I'm not sure it wholly succeeds in illuminating that relationship, but it certainly makes a valiant effort. One final word of warning: if extremely graphic depiction of sexual relations leaves you uncomfortable, avoid the film altogether.

The following information is from the Cui Jian website: BEIJING BASTARDS Synopsis Defying traditional narrative and the linear plot, BEIJING BASTARDS presents a series of episodes from the seemingly aimless lives of a group of young people in contemporary China.

The main protagonist is Karzi, a young owner of a small live-band pub. His pregnant girlfriend, Maomao, disappears after they quarrel one rainy night. Karzi searches for her in vain.

There is also Cui Jian (played by Cui Jian) and his rock'n'roll band which over the last few years has had all applications for public concerts rejected. Now they are faced with losing the only rehearsal room available to them because the owner has decided to terminate their lease without explanation.

Daqing, a jobless writer, volunteers to help his painter friend, "Yellow", to track down a con-man who has swindled the latter out of a sum of money. Daqing offers a 30-yuan reward to shady character to locate the con-man. But instead of forming an alliance, the two get into a fight and end the dinner.

Frustrated and failing to find Maomao, Karzi starts hassling her girlfriends, to the point of forcing one of them to have sex with him. He indulges in marijuana and in his fantasies witnesses Maomao having an abortion.

In the course of the film we see people roaming about, always in search of something. By the end of the film, Cui Jian composes a new song entitled, TOLERATE; Karzi shaves his head; and Daqing fails to raise 30 yuan. In the dark corridor of a deserted building, Karzi finally sees Maomao. She has given birth to a baby. In the distance, Karzi seems to hear it cry…

About The Film BEIJING BASTARDS is the first truly independent film made in China. With the help of the Hubert Bals Fund of the Rotterdam Film Festival, the project was able to go into production in early 1992. Production money was derived from the personal resources of its four producers, Cui Jian, Zhang Yuan, Shu Kei, and Christopher Doylre. Zhang Yuan graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 1989 and directed a series of Cui Jian music videos for MTV, one of which was lensed by Christopher Doyle. Doyle collaborated with Hong Kong filmmaker, Shu Kei, on the latter's directorial feature, SOUL (1986). It was only natural that the four of them would eventually join hands to produce BEIJING BASTARDS.

Principal photography for the film took place entirely in Beijing over 12 months. Shooting was often suspended due to lack of money. Post-production of the film was completed in June 1992 and was made possible with a grant from the French Ministry of Culture.

Ever since BEIJING BASTARDS, other independent films have emerged in China - the products of a whole new breed of independent and experimental Chinese filmmakers.