IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE — CANNES 2000

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Where Secrets Are Kept

Wong Kar Wai Tells All

By Cole Smithey

"That era has passed. Nothing that belonged to it exists anymore."

Wong Kar Wai's masterpiece of romantic longing, emotional expression, unrequited love, and unresolved jealousy, is a cinematic poem that stretches across time and Asian social barriers.

The film's indisputable beauty radiates with a burning glow that emanates from its charismatic lead actors, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. 

Set in Hong Kong, circa 1962, shared experience of wounded romantic repression plays out between neighbors whose spouses are sharing an affair.

The Korean War rages distant to our would-be lovers. Love is always an escape from loneliness.

A mutual decision to play out an imagined version of their spouse's affair, gives way to a simmering erotic tension barely masked by gesture, habit, and style.

Formality, dignity, and respect are unwritten rules of the couple's sexless romantic game of curiosity.

Every atmosphere is furtive.

Secrets are kept.

Erotically tinged gemstone colors explode in carefully crafted set designs and wardrobe elements that bleed off smoke from the burning chemistry between Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung.

Hollywood should be jealous, very jealous.

By this standard, Hollywood knows nothing of nuance.

The early '60s political and economic atmosphere of Hong Kong informs the way that Wong Kar Wai's iconic couple interact.

Public appearances are kept up.

Erotic sparks can ignite from a spoonful of mustard shared at a restaurant table.

Lust is secondary, but just barely.

The intimate negotiation that transpires between our star-crossed lovers takes place in an aura of negative space where things such as wallpaper designs and dress patterns set boundaries of sexual restraint.

There is a BDSM undertow to the couple's interactions. Theirs is a private code told in silences, and muted responses that no lie detector could catch.

Although the film's ending feels rushed, it speaks to the audience as a cauterizing effort at mirroring the disjointed fragmentation of quickly passing time and far lost promise.

Memories are lasting, especially when the romantic stakes are so deep.

The film's impeccable soundtrack places the characters in an era of Big Band music whose standards fueled a utopic atmosphere of charm, class, and romantic connection.

You'll be humming Nat King Cole's version of "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas" for days, and nights after seeing this film.

"In The Mood For Love" was an instant classic when it premiered at Cannes in 2000. It remains Wong Kar Wai's finest cinematic achievement.

In the words of Lou Reed, "you're over the hill, right now."

Relax, the romantic pressure is over.

Memories are all that's left in a lover's memory box.

Tear up the letters; they don't prove anything.

Keep your secrets.

Rated PG. 98 mins.

COMING HOME — CANNES 2015

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SMART NEW MEDIA PRESENTS

ColeSmithey.com

Cannes, France — Audiences familiar with master filmmaker Zhang Yimou for his opulent martial arts-themed films, such as “Hero” (with Jet Li), “House of Flying Daggers,” or the hilarious “A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop,” should adjust their expectations to take in Yimou’s current masterpiece of minimalist storytelling.

Superb performances by the incomparable Gong Li (Zhang Yimou’s reliably brilliant stock actress), and the wonderfully understated Chen Daoming, are electrifying to watch as they play an aging married couple reunited after years of forced separation.

These are surely two of the finest film performances of 2015. The actors’ exquisite pairing brings to mind Michael Haneke’s “Amour,” for which Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva gave extraordinary portrayals as an older couple living in Paris.

Li and Daoming play Geng and Lu Yanshi, a married couple separated (for political reasons) and reunited during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Communist agents arbitrarily targeted and imprisoned college professor Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming). The intellectually warm family man was accused being a “rightist.”

After years of imprisonment Lu has escaped from internment in a “reeducation” labor camp to reunite with his wife and a daughter who barely knows him. Yimou’s precisely composed picture opens with the recently escaped Lu waking up in a filthy train tunnel-hiding place. The escaped prisoner is a refugee in his own country.

Lu’s beautifully poised wife Geng works as a teacher at the school where her teenage daughter Dandan (Zhang Huiwen) hopes to land the lead in a state-sponsored (read, propaganda) ballet performance, a role she clearly deserves based on her dancing abilities. Lu’s escape brings Communist Party agents to Geng’s apartment, issuing strict instructions for Geng and Dandan to report immediately to them if Lu attempts to get in touch with either of them.

Regrettably, Lu underestimates his captors’ cunning ability to track his improvised plan to meet his wife on a train platform during the morning rush. Lu is captured as he witnesses his wife beaten by Communist soldiers. The violent event permanently traumatizes Geng. She suffers a head wound that robs her of her ability to recognize her own husband after he finally returns to her several years later at the end of the Communist reign of power.

“Coming Home” is built on a novel by Yan Geling, the author of Zhang Yimou’s last film “The Flowers of War,” a foray into Westernized Chinese political propaganda. However, unlike the flawed “The Flowers of War,” which was inexplicably told from the perspective of an alcoholic American (played by Christian Bale), “Coming Home” is an emotionally centered story told through the eyes of two people who want desperately to be together.

That Geng is unable to recognize Lu as her husband creates a crisis that the couple works through with the help of their daughter. On the same day of every month Geng waits for Lu’s return at the train station, even though her husband stands beside her. Geng’s dedication to Lu is as strong as his is to hers, and they both understand it deep down.

Rated PG-13. 109 mins.

 

RED CLIFF

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Wave a White Flag
John Woo's Must-See Chinese War Epic
By Cole Smithey

John Woo delivers on "Red Cliff's" reputation as the most expensive Chinese-language film ever made. "Red Cliff" is a mesmerizing war epic that concentrates on ancient techniques of military strategy as played out on a grand stage.

Set in 208 AD, the 131-minute film hits the ground running as general Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) asserts his power over the Han Emperor Xian (Wang Ning), leading his troops south to conquer regional warlords, the benevolent Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen). But Liu Bei has a secret weapon: a skilled advisor Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), whose brilliant counsel makes for some dramatic plot twists.

The ensemble of actors including Vicki Zhao and Tony Leung Chiu-wai give stellar performances in a lush piece of mythic history. The balance of natural beauty, complex characters, wartime drama, and epic scale, makes "Red Cliff" a must-see movie. And you'll have something to look forward to afterward: the second half of the two-part series ("The Battle of Red Cliff") comes out in January.

Compared to typical big spectacle Hollywood blockbusters like "2012," "Red Cliff" contrasts its visually stunning epic-scale compositions with a far greater sense of historic purpose. Woo's close attention to giving every weapon and prop a sense of handcrafted design gives his actors a strong sense of time and place. There are plenty of impressive big battle scenes on land and in the water. Every flinching muscle of horse and human comes across with an understanding of the stratagem behind each massive assault.

Cao Cao's million troops easily topple Liu Bei's Xu Kingdom and cause its citizens to run off with Liu Bei's army. In the desperate situation Liu Bei sends representative Zhuge Liang to form an alliance with the wealthy Kingdom of East Wu. In order for his request to be considered by East Wu leader Sun Quan (Chang Chen), Zhuge Liang must impress the Viceroy Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) with his musical skills in a duet that speaks volumes for Woo's nuanced balancing act of tradition, wisdom, and far reaching objectives. 

The story digs in with the allies encampment on the south bank of the Yangtze River in a steep area called Red Cliff. Sun Quan's fearless sister Sun Shangxiang (Zhao Wei) plays by her own rules when she disguises herself as one of Cao Cao's soldiers and goes behind enemy lines to spy on Cao's plans. The allies effect a brilliant stroke of strategy when they purposely attract nearly 100,000 flaming arrows from Cao Cao's battleships in order to gain ammunition. Later in the story, a knowledge of weather patterns proves dramatically effective for the allies.

The script was co-written by Woo with three other writers (Khan Chan, Kuo Cheng, and Sheng Heyu), and is based on the classic Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong. The fictionalized story is a popular touchstone all over Asia as evidenced by its wide appearance in Asian video games and comic books. The West has nothing like "Red Cliff" to draw upon for films. So while America teens swoon over the next "Twilight" installment or the next 3-D Avatar-inspired bit of eye-candy, you can go see a big spectacle movie with some meat on its bones.

(Magnet) Rated R. 148 mins.