Sun | April 23, 2006

The Definitive Bootleg DVD Review of Wong Kar-Wai's (Master)piece "2046"

By Chee-Ming Hung

I hated "2046." I don't know if it's okay to feel this way, given all of the praises from some top critics... and every Asian I have ever met, ever. "You don't like it?" one Chinese girl asked me. "But... you're Chinese. Why don't you like?"

Maybe I had missed something in the film that should have resonated with anyone who understands the existence of tofu that smells like poop as a delicacy.

But I only saw the movie once, while I was trying to sew a button back onto my wool coat (yes it took me that long), on a bootlegged version of the film from China (I saw the film a year before it hit American theatres). The quality of the DVD wasn't bad, just the content sucked.

These days, I judge a movie from it's first pass. I wanted to be in "Jurassic Park." "The Muppets Take Manhattan" took me away. I never wanted the story to end in "The NeverEnding Story." Even if these films don't hold up afterwards, if I liked it then, I'll give it the a-okay.

But with "2046" I will never feel this way.

The movie follows the life of a huge Hong Kong movie star (I can't seem to get the thought of this out of my head) attempting to play a writer who gets his material from the other Chinese movie stars he has sex with. Some of the scenes are actually quite hot, in a non-pornographic way. I normally don't see flicks of Asians getting it on, so it was a nice change of pace for me.

Yes, there is an emotional aspect to the film, and a deep philosophy behind love and time. But it was reaching... and after twenty minutes of watching this drag on, I was tempted to fast forward to the "good parts."

You have to hand it to the director, Wong Kar-Wai, for making the movie as elegant and easy-on-the eyes as can be (and just short of the soft lens that Barbara Walters uses obsessively in her annoying "10 Most Fascinating People of the Year" programs). Wong consistently does this technique with all his other films. I could barely concentrate on my button-sewing project as I watched the film, feeling like it would be nice to be in that dreamlike world of the future. Or maybe I was just feeling tired.

My general impressions of the film, aside from not liking it, are as follows, in no particular order:

- If that's what the future looks like, I don't want any part in it. It's like "Blade Runner." Way too congested. I wouldn't mind visiting there for a few days, but then I'd have to get out, and back to more peaceful surroundings, like Nova Scotia, or Queens.

- Wow, that Japanese guy is strangely good-lookin. HE should star in the picture, and switch roles with Tony Leung, whose face gets leatherier with every new film.

- The writer's entries (or inner voice) is lame. I could care less what he wanted to say. I just wanted to see him make it with Zhang Ziyi, or Ziyi Zhang, or whatever the hell she wants to call herself these days.

But I couldn't get into the characters at all. They bored the hell out of me. The dialogue was so-so at best, forgetful at worst. Ultimately, 2046 was so artsy I wanted to take the DVD out and wash it down with "Shallow Hal" or any other Farrelly Brothers film that isn't "Stuck on You."

I don't think it's just me. I've seen many Asian movies in my time and I've liked some. In the realm of Wong Kar-Wai, "Happy together" was good, "Chungking Express" was great. But "In the Mood for Love" sucked. And since "2046" was intended to be a follow-up to that piece, my reaction is, at the very least, consistent.

I think he's trying too hard. I think he should keep it simple. And stop hiring the same damn Asian actors. They're already in 1,500 other films. Unlike "independent" Hollywood, there are rarely fresh faces in Hong Kong independent cinema. With Wong's talent potential, he could really make something here work. Until then, the 2046 DVD goes into the junk pile, along with the latest CD sent from America Online.

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Chee-Ming Hung has published three books within the past two years, is a regular contributor to Slate, Esquire, and Highlights for Children, and is a complete and utter liar. His lives in New York where his pants are currently in flames.

Posted by Chee-Ming at 06:58 PM | Comments (1)

Sat | January 07, 2006

Gift Culture

This prompt was taken from the GRE issue essay topics pool. The idea is to take a position on the statement and "present your perspective" on the issue.

"To truly understand your own culture—no matter how you define it—requires personal knowledge of at least one other culture, one that is distinctly different from your own."

As a person of Asian descent raised amidst American culture, I have much first-hand experience with cross-cultural disconnections. Much of what I know about Asian culture comes from trying to understand why my instinctive behavior is so dysfunctional in American society. It is true that to understand what something is, you must understand what it is not.

Intuitively, I have a reflexive desire to give gifts to others. This differs from the massive stint of gift-giving which occurs around the holiday season in the United States. It is common in Asian culture to give small gifts, which may not be very special or remarkable, and which are given almost in passing-- for no particular memorable occasion. They are given "just because." Moreover, whereas holiday gifts are often given with the understanding that the person is also going to give you something, these gifts are given freely, with no obligation to reciprocate.

How do I know that gift-giving is an aspect of Asian culture? I have never been told. I learned from my experience with both cultures. The most extended example is a friend I had once, in college. I realized that I gave her a lot of gifts, and she never gave me anything. She simply never thought to. I perceived this pattern in my experience with others, also.

Specifically, I learned from the dysfunctionality of gift-giving between myself (a person of Asian culture), and persons of American culture. Gift-giving "works" in an Asian society because not only do you give things to people, but people give things to you. Although there is no formal or specific obligation to reciprocate, there is a general, open-ended tendency to do so. Otherwise, you give and give, and never get anything back, and something falls out of the equation.

From this I can also extrapolate something more general about Asian culture-- it is oriented towards the other, with a consideration for the others' needs, that is absent in American culture. In Asian culture you look out for others and they look out for you. In American culture, you must take care of yourself.

From personal experience with the differences between cultures, I am able to understand and operate more effectively in both.

Posted by Lily at 01:35 PM | Comments (72)

Tue | September 20, 2005

Eyes Wide Shut

On a starry-night in 1997, I was walking with two female friends (Martine and Pam) down the French Quarter in New Orleans, a young smiling African-American came to me and said, “If you go 20 steps in this direction, there is House of Blues, and if you go in this direction…………” Rightfully so, he expected a tip, but I was a poor graduate student then, and I had no money in my pocket. He got flustered that I did not even tip him a dollar. A few minutes later, he saw me and the friends I was with, and he shouted in jest, “Ladies, dump this Chinese guy, he is no good.” I am not Chinese but Indian in ethnicity. We all laughed.

I do not know whether he survived the grinding poverty of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. We may remember him fondly even today and my friend Martine reminds me of the incident quite often but was he just a comic or a real human being to us?

Another starry-night in 1993, I sat on the floor next to the feet of some of the greatest Jazz musicians at the Preservation Hall in French Quarter. Between playing jazz, they would talk to all of us in thick N'Awlins accent seasoned with age that I barely understood. Sitting next to somebody’s feet in Asian culture is a mark of respect.

However, no matter the respect I showed or laughed with the African-Americans, I met in New Orleans for a brief moment – I failed, I failed miserably. When I walked past a project in New Orleans countless times, I never stopped and thought – how they were dancing with death, mired in poverty, violence, and dreams laid waste. Amongst all this, there is also a little, happy kid running with his pet dog who wants to be an astronaut.

After Hurricane Katrina, I better learn to keep my eyes and heart open. This time, I have seen their pain.

Note: Also, cross-posted at http://kushtandon.squarespace.com/journal/2005/9/20/eyes-wide-shut.html

Posted by Kush at 05:59 AM | Comments (0)

Fri | September 16, 2005

Saving Paper

A respect for paper plays a role in Asian culture I am not sure I entirely understand. It has some historical basis, I am sure, and an anthropologist of Asian culture might know. It plays a role in some Asian cultures and not others, and in some Asians and not others. Some Asians have told me they have no concern with saving or wasting paper. My Japanese friend says saving things is not a Japanese thing. But what of all the Japanese stationery products? Surely it shows a reverence for paper.

I will speak from my experience and judge later whether it's Taiwanese or Chinese or how far it goes around Asia (or if it's just me). Speaking for myself: I have a respect for paper, for saving paper, and for saving things in general. I am a little bit over it now which is why I can write about it. For a long time I hesitated to write because I did not want to deface the paper with my imperfect words. And then in writing class not only do you deface the paper with words, you make ten copies of it and distribute it to your peers.

But I am over it now and I print ruinous things all the time. I wasn't always this way. Growing up I revered books, and it took me awhile to shed this and take books with skepticism. Now unfortunately I am disinclined to believe that anything written will be good simply because it's been published. Even things that get good reviews turn out to be bad.

It's a bit of a disillusionment and those were definitely happier times when I believed every book, everything written on paper, was a piece of magic. That belief in the sacredness of print came from my mother and father who continue to this day to have a reverence for things written on paper. My mother once read aloud to me what was written on the shoebox of some moderately priced winter boots she had bought for my brother: "'The best, softest leather.' See? The best." "Mom, it's not the best just because it says so," I said. I've more or less gotten over the phase of snapping testily at my parents for exhibiting the same flaws that I have suffered from and with much effort excised from myself. No one likes to see someone mirroring the things we're trying so hard to repress or rid ourselves of.

I still save jars and make them into pencil and pen holders or containers for hair ties. And feel remorse when I throw things away. You take what you like from your culture and do your best to shed what isn't useful. In the case of paper, you don't worry about wasting it. But at least you recycle it.

Posted by Lily at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)