While
watching this movie, I was reminded a lot of Flowers of Shanghai. Even
though the story and subject are very different, the feel of the two films are
pretty similar, especially in their frequent use of long static shots in
dialogue-heavy group scenes. The
similarities were so striking that, after the first half-hour, I looked up the
director on IMDb, and sure enough, Hsiao-Hsien Hou directed both A City of Sadness and Flowers of Shanghai. Nice to see that my instincts were right.
After
World War II, we follow the ups and downs of the Lin family in Taiwan. The three adult brothers (the fourth went
missing during the war and never came home) navigate uncertain days under the
mainland Chinese government as they try to earn money, enjoy themselves, and
fall in love amid a backdrop of civil unrest.
The
historical context is interesting, a story that I only know the barest details
about. I like the way the film depicts
Taiwan’s political upheaval, coming out from Japanese rule during the war to
then be subjugated by the mainland. It
begins largely in the background of the story – occasional interludes of
government officials making pronouncements over the radio, references to
protests in Taipei – and grows gradually over the course of the film, until we
get to the point that any of our characters are in danger of being detained by
the government or getting injured in a riot.
I like
the three brothers and the dynamic between them, but the actual plot has a hard
time keeping my interest. It’s a very
long film, over two-and-a-half hours, and much of the story feels too
meandering and incidental to sustain that length. The plot drifts rather than drives, and while
I was watching, my attention definitely wavered as it went on.
Tony
Leung Chiu-wai plays Wen-ching, the youngest brother. Wen-ching is a thoughtful young
photographer. Deafened after an accident
in childhood, he rarely speaks but communicates fluently in writing, bolstered
by occasional gestures and emphasizing noises.
He is very attentive in his work, values his friendships, and develops a
close bond with Hinomi, the sister of his best friend.
As far as
I know, this firm predates any of Leung’s string of blind characters (I know two isn't a string, but there are know that I haven't reviewed yet.) Like all those, he obviously shouldn’t be
playing this one either, but given that the movie came out in 1989, it’s not
exactly surprising. What is interesting, though, is that
Wen-ching wasn’t initially supposed to be Deaf.
That aspect of his character was changed after it became clear that
Leung couldn’t speak Mandarin or Taiwanese fluently enough, and the specific
filming method Hou used prevented him from dubbing Leung with someone else’s
voice, as has been frequently done with Mandarin-language movies Leung has made
on the mainland. So, to work around it,
Hou made the character Deaf instead.
It speaks
to Leung’s strength as an actor that the director made substantial changes to
the film, including multiple dialogue scenes of Wen-ching writing back and
forth with another character, rather than replace him. When you can’t speak the language required
for the character but the director just says, “We’ll make it work!”, that’s
when you know you’re bringing something special to the table.
Recommend?
In
General
– Not necessarily. While it has some
interesting stuff, it’s also pretty slow and not all that engaging.
Tony
Leung Chiu-wai
– Maybe. Even without spoken dialogue,
Leung brings a nice presence to the role.
Warnings
Violence,
sexual references, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.
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