I rarely review new releases, but I spent the past 6 days watching "Love in the City," just released in China on January 9. It features Beijing actress Gao Yuanyuan, HK actor Shawn Yue (Yue Man Lok), and two Japanese actors, Takuya Suzuki and Naoko Miyake. You can already read summaries on Google, so I will not go into the plot.
What did impress me about the standard Asian-length film (90 minutes running, 120 minute script) is that it was far from the usual "romance with complications." The title is extremely sappy (Mandarin: Nan Cai Nu Mao). It can be translated as "A man brings talent, a woman brings beauty" (into a relationship). Of course this is the ideal in "traditional" Asian culture -- a smart dude meets a pretty gal and they live happily ever after or at least produce lots of offspring and honor their ancestors together. However in this case, both couples (Gao and Yue, Suzuki and Miyake) bring both talent and beauty, although both elements are subdued. None of the four are extraordinary but they are inherently balanced, within themselves as individuals and as couples.
One thing that bothers me about this film is language. It is not clearly explained (and none of the locals talk) but many of the Chinese leads, except for Gao and Yue, speak with heavy Northern accents. It seems that Yue's character is a local person but his parents speak like Northerners. Yue himself speaks Mandarin very well (especially for a HK native), just like a Taiwanese person (most Taiwanese are descended from migrants to the island from Fujian province, on the southeastern edge of China). I realize that "standard Mandarin" is still defined by northern pronunciation but I am very strict about linguistic authenticity. It could be that Yue's parents in the film are actually from the north (cf. Cultural Revolution and re-shifting of the population). I must also say that Gao gave an excellent performance as a deaf woman just learning how to speak (her doctor wants her to stop using sign language since she has a hearing aid -- although she strategically and secretly removes it when her new mother-in-law starts jabbering on and on -- a technique every woman could learn from). She really did her research well and plays the part genuinely, without resorting to affectation. Last but not least, Suzuki speaks Mandarin Chinese flawlessly. I don't
know if it's because he studied the language intensively or if it is
actually one of his native languages (in the film, his character is
half-Japanese, half-Chinese).
This short but long-awaited film is good (no thumbs, bananas, or whatever -- I prefer qualitative over quantitative evaluations). Bilingualism is a critical feature, both in spoken and body language, and although Chinese advertisements purposefully focus on only the Gao-Yue pairing, the Suzuki-Miyake combination must be regarded.
Watching this film has also confirmed that Yunnan province is worth visiting. I am not familiar with Southwestern China, especially the parts where the film was made (Dali, Lijiang), but it is green and beautiful. I hope that I will be able to go with Wiser Half (follow his blog -- yes, gratuitous advertisement -- www.xanga.com/marshaln, and you'll know why he wants to go to Yunnan too) and we'll march south of the clouds together!
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