DWF ’18: Brother Pao Going into Town

Wu Dayou is sort of like a Chinese Tora-san, but he doesn’t realize a country rube like him is not supposed to win the girl. In fact, his guileless is his secret weapon. He has come to Beijing in search of the hometown sweetheart who went M.I.A., but he might just find love with someone else in Yang Yinan’s Brother Pao Going into Town (trailer here), which screens today as part of the Spotlight: China! sidebar at this year’s Dances With Films.

Wu kept up a steady correspondence with Dadan for months until she suddenly went quiet. We can all guess she found herself a sugar daddy (euphemistically called a “god-father” in the subtitles), but that thought never crosses his naïve mind. He will be staying with his brother Wu Qiantu, who is trying to make it as a scrappy art dealer, but he has just been taken by a scummy competitor.

About the same time, Wu Dayou loses his phone to Liya, a struggling art student desperate enough to pull such a petty scam. However, Dayou will soon get his phone back. In fact, he will cross paths with Liya repeatedly over the next few days. The same will be true for all the other characters who play a role in this story, because for a lug like Wu, Beijing is just one big small town.

Brother Pao is not high art, but it is the sort of mass market fare that is not often programmed at film festivals. There is a lot of shticky, slapsticky humor, but it is likably modest and genial. Eventually, Wu and his brother will forge a new family with the colorful characters who get pulled into his orbit. Frankly, it would be rather clever of the Hallmark Channel to acquire this film, because it could expand their audience without alienating their current viewers (notwithstanding a handful of sex jokes).

Guo Jinjie is earnest as the day is long as Wu Dayou. It is a rubber-faced performance to be sure, but you can see a bit of sad-clown in there too. Wen Qi serves nicely as a foil to him as the tough-on-the-outside, sweet-on-the-inside Liya. Ironically, Liu Lijun delivers the film’s real moment of bittersweet poignancy as Dadan, while Zhang Qian is generally amusing as tart and grizzled Old Xu.

Brother Pao might be unrealistically upbeat—its like a Chinese Rent, but with a middle-aged square and an all’s-well-that-ends-well conclusion—but its depiction of the Chinese art market is what really feels off. Some of the world’s most successful avant-garde artists hail from China, but the market leaders in this film all seem to be practicing the tradition of handscroll painting that dates back millennia. Still, the sixty-nine-minute Brother Pao Going into Town is a weirdly reassuring viewing experience. For those who want to check it out, it has its North American premiere this afternoon (6/15), during the 2018 Dances With Films.

DWF ’18: Gatha (short)

The despoilment of the nation of Tibet is not merely an environmental tragedy. It also holds religious implications, due to the sacred status of the nation’s many natural wonders. Mount Kangrinboqê is a perfect example. The Himalayan peak is a frequent pilgrimage destination for believers of the Buddhist, Bon, Hindu, and Jain faiths. Two brothers will embark on the arduous trek in director-choreographer-screenwriter Tang Chenglong’s visually arresting and symbolically resonant short film, Gatha (trailer here), which screens today as part of the Spotlight: China! sidebar at this year’s Dances With Films.

As the two brothers slowly prostrate themselves towards Kangrinboqê, we can see the grubby modern world started to intrude on Tibet’s pristine mountains and valleys. However, from a pilgrim’s perspective, the landscape is still wild and unforgiving. They will traverse deserts, forests, and mountain ranges on their pilgrimage. Along the way, they also express the ecstatic joy of their faith through dance. Yet, there will also be sorrow, because that is very much a part of the cycle of life.

Geng Zibo and Chen Shifei dance with the striking strength and physicality, but their grace is just as evident. They are well-served by Tang’s dynamic choreography, which incorporates elements of martial arts and hip hop, but also expresses delight and wonder. Somehow, it evokes ancient mysticism, while still looking really cool and sleekly modern. Geng and Chen perform in natural settings that would dwarf most performers, but they still command the stage. Nevertheless, the staggering power of the Tibetan locales cannot and will not be denied.

Gatha is essentially an allegory, but it is deeply moving. It is also a sensory feast and a superb technical package, with special credit clearly due to “executive director” A Luo, who is also credited with the aerial photography and some of the camera work. This is one of the most ambitious and rewarding dance films in years, but it also serves as a timely reminder of what is at risk in occupied Tibet. Very highly recommended, Gatha screens this afternoon, as part of the Spotlight: Kids from China short film program, during the 2018 Dances With Films.

DWF ’18: Hometown on the Cloud

It is time for Meet the Parents, Naxi style. Luo Li is finally going home to meet her fiancé Mu Shu’s parents in Lijang, deep within Yunnan province. Unfortunately, they are still rather attached to his ex, A Mei, who also happens to be his betrothed, according to Naxi custom. It is awkward for her, but Mu Shu’s sister Mu Yu helps take some of the heat off her when she brings home a foreigner fiancée. Cultures and family members clash in Zhang Chunhe & Wang Lei’s Hometown on the Cloud (trailer here), which screens tonight as part of the Spotlight: China! sidebar at this year’s Dances With Films.

Luo Li is a student of Naxi culture. That is how she met Mu Shu. In recent years, he has made his fame and fortune in Beijing as a modern sculptor, incorporating traditional Naxi elements into his work. His parents really ought to be more open to her, but they are emotionally attached to A Mei. Working as the village school teacher, she has coached the village children to several victories in traditional folk singing tournaments. Basically, she is Heidi, without the goat.

Alas, Mu Shu’s parents and just about everyone else in the village bitterly resents Mu Shu for breaking off with A Mei. To make amends, he agrees to go through the ancient decoupling ritual, even though that would seem to make her embarrassment even more public. Not that Mu Yu’s fiancé would know. As a foreigner, he will have to make himself scarce, to prevent tainting the ceremony.

Zhang & Wang capture the staggering beauty of Lijang as well as the distinctive colors and rhythms of Naxi culture, but there narrative hits some weird notes (starting with the implied notion the best way to honor Naxi culture is by commoditizing it). Nevertheless, it offers an intriguing window into an under-represented ethnic minority.

Our resilient Luo Li has real star potential and veteran character actor Zhao Xiaoming is suitably craggy and crabby as Mu’s father. Frankly, the cast is quite professional and polished despite the film’s obvious independent status—even produced outside the [embattled but experienced] Beijing indie network.

Hometown looks terrific and it is generally well-meaning. It has been a struggle for many minority cultures to survive in China, especially during the Cultural Revolutionary, so it is nice to see Zhang & Wang helping to preserve it on film. At times, Zhang’s screenplay drifts into melodramatic terrain, but he and his co-helmer maintain a brisk pace. Recommended as cinematic tourism (with an attractive cast), Hometown on the Cloud screens today (6/15), as part of the 2018 Dances With Films.

DWF ’18: Murder Made Easy

There is no better training for murder than the traditional one-set, five-character stage thriller. Just ask Sidney Bruhl in Death Trap. Maybe he isn’t such a good example, but Michael learned from the best: Dame Agatha. Years ago, his late friend Neil directed a hit summerstock production of The Mousetrap, featuring several of his selfish so-called friends. To settle scores, Michael will move the homicidal shenanigans from the stage to real life in David Palamaro’s Murder Made Easy (trailer here), which screens during this year’s Dances with Films, in Hollywood, CA.

It is the one-year anniversary of Neil’s death, but Michael and his widow Joan have clearly not moved on, despite the obvious sexual tension percolating between them. They both bitterly resent the betrayals of his friends, such as the hammy Marcus, whom is expected for dinner shortly. When he arrives, it is game on. Henceforth, there will be twists and turns, shifting loyalties, and a mounting body count.

MME is clearly a fond homage to old school stage and film thrillers, such as Death Trap, Sleuth, and Wait Until Dark. It directly refers to The Mousetrap, but Michael’s Nietzschean pretensions also clearly echo Rope. In any event, it is a great deal of fun watching Palamaro and his on-the-money cast drop one shoe after another.

Co-leads Christopher Soren Kelly and Jessica Graham nicely carry the picture, appearing on-screen together nearly the entire way through. Yet, they still manage to surprise us. Kelly (who was also terrific in the criminally under-heralded Infinity Chamber) is all kinds of sinister, but he also makes the most of some wickedly droll dialogue (especially when skewering the hippy dippy Cricket). As Joan, Graham is a femme fatale to die for.

You expect to have reversals and revelations in a film like this, but Palamaro and screenwriter Tim Davis still manage to fool us through some clever magician-style misdirection. It is a neat single-location thriller that will be especially entertaining for viewers that appreciate the tradition. Highly recommended, Murder Made Easy screens tonight (6/14), as part of the 2018 Dances With Films.

DWF ’18: The Lake Vampire

There have been some colorful serial killers in Latin America, like “The Ogress of Colonia Roma” in Mexico, “The Rainbow Maniac” in Brazil, Dorángel Vargas (“The Hannibal Lecter of the Andes’) in Venezuela, and Fidel Castro & Che Guevara in Cuba. However, Zacarias Ortega (also of Venezuela) can top all of their body counts put together, except maybe not Castro and Guevara. He claims to have killed under many names including the titular media-created moniker in Carl Zitelmann’s The Lake Vampire (trailer here), which screens during this year’s Dances with Films, in Hollywood, CA.

It is a heck of a mystery. A rash of severed heads have been discovered, but rather disturbingly, their missing bodies were drained of blood before they were decapitated. It is exactly the sort of lurid case that could be failed novelist Ernesto Navarro’s next book. However, the killings attributed to the so-called “Devil of the South” are not the first time this M.O. has been encountered in Venezuela. Retired police detective Jeremias Morales has investigated at least two other serial killings that employed the same technique. During the course of those inquiries, Morales starts to suspect Zacarias Ortega and Ramon Perez Brenes are indeed the same person, especially after his suspect tells him so directly.

Lake Vampire is a super-creepy fusion of a real-life blood-sucking serial killer with some darkly fantastical speculation. It is also one of the most adept films at employing flashbacks for dramatic purposes. Zitelmann hops back to at least three prior time periods, but he always maintains temporal clarity and justifies each rewind with some juicy revelations. Slyly, he preserves a great deal of ambiguity regarding the killer’s true nature until the big climax, but his sinister vibe signals something unnaturally infernal is afoot.

Regardless, the procedural stuff is smashingly effective, thanks in large part to Miguel Ángel Landa’s understated but quietly driven performance as Morales, sort of in the tradition of Morgan Freeman in Se7en, but much more existential. Abilio Torres nicely mirrors him as the younger Morales seen in considerable flashbacks. Plus, Eduardo Gulino chews the scenery Hammer-style as the various possible incarnations of Ortega.

Whether you decide to classify Lake Vampire as a serial killer film or a vampire movie, it is arguably one of the best of either sub-genre to come along in a good while. Granted, the final-final conclusion is a bit of a letdown, but that is par for the course. What matters is how the film gets there—and Zitelmann takes us on a really twisty rollercoaster ride. Unusually smart and unsettlingly eerie, The Lake Vampire is very highly recommended for thriller and horror fans when it screens tonight (6/11), as part of the 2018 Dances With Films.

DWF ’18: Stay (short)

They are like the characters from Sex and the City, but with a slightly deeper craving for supernatural power. This satanic cult of women is determined to enter into a Faustian bargain with their favorite demon, but they still have relationship issues in David Mikalson’s short film Stay (trailer here), which screens during this year’s Dances With Films, in Hollywood, USA.

They are an evil sisterhood, determined to achieve power through infernal means. One of the order will even willingly offer herself up as a sacrifice to seal the deal. Unfortunately, Carol does not keep her eyes on the prize. In fact, she even makes eye-contact with the unholy entity. That means they will have to repeat the whole damned (literally) ceremony. Yet, there might be a mutual thing going on between it and Carol. Then things get dark—really, really dark.

Wow, it is impressive just morbid Mikalson is willing to get. This is guaranteed to be a divisive film, but real horror fans will find it funny as you-know-where. Anna Seregina is perfectly deadpan as Carol, while Davey Johnson goes the full Doug Jones as the demon and also gets to deliver the nonchalant punchline as a surprise third act character.

Stay really is rather disturbing, precisely because it is so savagely amusing. Yet, it has more genuine closure than most satanic panic horror movies. In fact, that note of finality is precisely why it works so well. Conclusive endings—more filmmakers ought to try them. Recommended for viewers who like their comedy on the wicked side, Stay screens tonight, as part of Midnight Shorts 1, at the 21st Dances With Films.

DWF ’18: Chasing Bullitt

The remake of The Thomas Crown Affair was pretty good and the unnecessary redo of The Magnificent Seven did not ruin any careers, but they are really pushing it with the new Papillon. Le Mans is the one Steve McQueen film that probably will never get rebooted. Even before it was released, bad word of mouth dogged McQueen’s passion project. It was an awkward juncture for his career, but rather than restoring his mojo, McQueen is obsessively searching for the classic Mustang GT 390 from his 1968 mega-hit in Joe Eddy’s Chasing Bullitt, which premieres during this year’s Dances with Films.

Le Mans is considered dead in the water, but Steve McQueen is still Steve McQueen. He is attached to Junior Bonner, Papillon, and The Getaway. The one he says yes to gets made. However, he is not eager to get back to work. He is still bitter over losing control of Le Mans and his marriage is hanging by a thread. McQueen will not make a decision until his agent tracks down the Mustang that got away from him after the filming of Bullitt (celebrating its 50^th anniversary this October).

Of course, he really wants that car, because he is Steve McQueen, but it is also a convenient stalling tactic. As he tracks down a lead, he will ruminate on his bitter possible break-up with his first wife, Neile Adams, as well as the counseling sessions that he so clearly resented. Essentially, Chasing Bullitt is a memory play that you could almost mount on-stage if cars did not play such a significant role.

Andre Brooks really is a spooky dead-ringer for McQueen and he quite successfully approximates of sense of his potent presence, without descending into shticky mimicry. In fact, Brooks humanizes the icon of cool rather compellingly, conveying all his insecurities and bringing out his dark side. Yet, Brooks or Eddy never tarnish or belittle McQueen as a man or an actor.

Augie Duke is also terrific as Adams McQueen. Frankly, her scenes with Brooks could be difficult for some fans to watch, but both thesps connect with the tragic element of their marital strife. The film explicitly suggests they were the loves of each other’s lives, but their marriage was still undermined by Hollywood pressures and his personal issues. There are lighter moments too, including a spot-on Jason Slavkin channeling a nebbish Dustin Hoffman as he clumsily feels out McQueen for the potential Papillon film.

Eddy also channels The Thomas Crown Affair through his use of split screens and retro visual design elements, which is totally cool. Most importantly, he does right by his subject. There are light fictional elements, like a pretty hitchhiker, but the broad strokes stay true to the historical record. Despite the personal problems McQueen struggles with (or runs away from), the film is still quite a bit of fun. In some ways, it also serves as a meditation on his own enduring star-power. (Seriously, nobody will ever top a filmography that includes Bullitt, The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, The Thomas Crown Affair, and The Towering Inferno.) Affectionately recommended for Steve McQueen fans and anyone fascinated by the psychology of fame, Chasing Bullitt screens tomorrow night (6/8), during the 2018 Dances with Films.