Yang
Zhong is sort of like Mr. Roarke on Fantasy
Island, except he is always on the make.
For a price, his company realizes their clients’ fantasies. He is nobody’s altruist, but lessons will
still be learned in Feng Xiaogang’s Personal
Tailor (trailer
here), which
opens tomorrow in New York.
Yang
is the “Director of Dreams,” his right hand man Ma Qing is the “Spiritual
Anesthetist,” Miss Bai is the “Fantastician,” and Xiaolu Lu is the “Caterer of
Whims.” Together, they are “Personal
Tailor” and they are used to some strange requests, like the creepy woman with
a WWII martyr fetish in the James Bond-like prologue. Many of their fantasy scenarios are a
peculiar product of contemporary China, such as the chauffeur, whose recent
string of bosses were all government officials convicted of corruption. Believing
he would wield power more responsibly, the driver hires Personal Tailor to put
his ethics to the test.
Much
of the broad humor in Tailor is not
particularly suited to the American market.
However, art house patrons familiar with the Digital Generation and
related Chinese indie filmmakers will be amused by their next client. Having achieved every possible measure of
success for his “vulgar” films, a popular director hires Yang’s team to
experience the world of art cinema, which Personal Tailor equates with
hand-to-mouth Miserablism.
While
the first two primary assignments are played largely for laughs, the third is a
sweet tale with considerable heart. To
thank her for saving Ma from drowning, Yang’s team treats Mrs. Dan, a poor working
woman, to a pro bono day as a Nouveau Riche industrialist. Song Dandan adds a
touch of class and a strong screen presence in her “guest-starring” role and
Feng’s bittersweet vibe is quite potent, making it Tailor’s most appealing full story arc thus far.
Almost
shockingly, Tailor becomes quite
pointed and strangely touching in its concluding sequences. Lamenting the appalling state of China’s
environment, Yang disperses the team on a spiritual apology mission. It sounds corny, but it is effective. In fact, Tailor
reveals it was never the farce it pretended to be, but is in fact a work of
political protest. Yang and his
colleagues bemoan the rampant corruption, widening class inequality, and
environmental devastation just as strongly as Jia Zhangke’s followers, but in a
manner far more accessible to Chinese popular audiences.
Chen
Kaige regular Ge You is suitably manic as Yang, but dials it down nicely when
the film gets serious. Bai Baihe brings
appropriate sass and seductiveness as Miss Bai, while Li Xiaolu plays the more
demur Xiaolu Lu with greater sensitivity than one might expect. Zheng Kai has the odd moment too, especially
with the down-to-earth Song.
