The Ninth Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival

Jimmy Tsai is hilarious in Ping Pong Playa, SDAFF's opening night film (IFC Films)

The San Diego Asian Film Festival kicks off its 9th year tonight with the opening night feature Ping Pong Playa by Jessica Yu. The film boasts a hilarious performance by Jimmy Tsai as a young Asian man obsessed with being a basketball player and taking on the name of C-Dub. The film taps into a similar vibe as the Filipino comedy The Flip Side that screened back in 2001. But since opening night films are often sold out, I have two alternate recommendations: Assembly from Mainland China and Public Enemy Returns from South Korea. Although the festival is strongly committed to showcasing Asian American films, I have always been more satisfied by the international titles where the emphasis is less on exploring identity and delivering a message, and more on pushing the envelope in creativity and storytelling.

Transsiberian

Emily Mortimer is an American abroad in Transsiberian (First Look International)

Transsiberian (opening August 29 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) is a kindred spirit to the recent Tell No One (still playing at Landmark's La Jolla Village Cinemas). Both films present themselves as thrillers with crimes, cops, deceit, and innocent victims fueling their tense and occasionally violent narratives. But the real and somewhat disguised core of both films is the marital relationship of the main characters. Tell No One was an obsessed love story dressed up as a thriller about murder and deception while Transsiberian is a film about a marriage under pressure despite its trappings as a tale of drug trafficking and international intrigue.

Zhang Yimou and the Beijing Olympics

Zhang Yimou directing Gong Li in Curse of the Golden Flower (Sony Pictures)

Zhang Yimou is a survivor. He survived China's Cultural Revolution, when he was sent off to the countryside to work. He survived battles with Chinese censors. And he has survived the criticism of a new generation of Chinese filmmakers. Some of them accuse Zhang of pandering to western tastes. Zhang Yimou has survived by recreating himself every few years.

Zhang, the acclaimed director of the recent Hero and House of Flying Daggers, recreates himself yet again as he takes on the task of overseeing the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games. An enormous undertaking both in terms of the scale of the work and the tricky politics involved in presenting his Communist host country to the rest of the world amidst criticism of human rights abuses. On Friday, he dazzled audiences with a eye-popping mix of Chinese cultural traditions and high tech flamboyance. And even though a bit of that sheen is wearing off with accusations of "fakery" in the telecast, Zhang still put on one helluva show.

I realize that this does not qualify as film yet I mention because Zhang Yimou is a fascinating person who has reinvented himself a few times during his career. In 1966, the Cultural Revolution caused the Chinese film industry to fall dormant and the film school to close down. People like Zhang Yimou were sent to the countryside as part of a nationwide movement to have China's urban youth educated by peasants. When the Cultural Revolution ended a decade later, Zhang gained admittance to the newly reopened Beijing Film Institute. The Institute's first graduating class rejuvenated the industry and became known as ‘the Fifth Generation.' but the Cultural Revolution left its mark on these new filmmakers. Zhang's first film, Red Sorghum, focused on a peasant girl sent off on an arranged marriage and later dealing with Japanese invaders in World War II.

Because of strict government censorship, Zhang and his fellow filmmakers had to learn the subtle art of allegory-- making films that questioned the status quo without seeming to. Zhang has had his share of censorship problems but as Christian Gaines, then director of the Hawaii International Film Festival, said in 2000, "He's very smart. Not only in terms of his filmmaking technique but also in terms of the politics he has to deal with."

So as the Olympics wind down and we head into the closing ceremonies, I hope you consider the surprisingly successful and varied career of Zhang Yimou not only in terms of the brilliant films he has created but also in terms of the difficulties he has had to face and triumph over. There should be a gold medal for a clever survivor like him.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

My apologies for not getting to this on its opening weekend but I think my sense of disappointment made me put it off. (Disappointment can make one very bitter and sad.) Now I know The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (opened August 1 throughout San Diego) is nothing more than a popcorn movie designed to lure summer moviegoers in the lull after Dark Knight and before the serious Oscar contenders start to roll out. But even silly pop movies have standards and this one falls short of those. Intensifying my disappointment is the fact that two of my favorite Hong Kong action stars (Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh) were cast in the film as enemies, and that promised a showdown that should have been as exciting as Jackie Chan taking on Jet Li in Forbidden Kingdom. But not even that paid off. Anyway, since I felt so shortchanged by the film, I decided to post up this behind the scene video (courtesy of Universal) about the making of The Mummy 3 as compensation. I think I enjoyed this featurette more than the movie.

Tuya’s Marriage

Tuya's Marriage (Music Box Films)

Last February mainland Chinese director Wang Quanan won the Berlin Film Festival's top honor, the Golden Bear, for his latest film Tuya's Marriage (opened July 11 at Landmark's Ken Cinema). Set in Inner Mongolia, the film focuses on hardworking woman who tries to provide for her two children and crippled husband. After winning the award, Wang said, "A very beautiful dream has become reality for me here. Perhaps this is the last glance at the herds people of the region. Ultimately they are going to disappear into the cities. I think that it is important, particularly in this time when the economy is booming, to ponder and reflect on what we're losing." And this tough, lovely film will be disappearing fast as well, its run ends July.

Up the Yangtze

The new documentary Up the Yangtze considers China's Three Gorges Dam project. (Zeitgeist)

The new documentary Up the Yangtze (opening June 20 at Landmark's Ken Cinema) begins with a few words from Confucius about the three ways one can learn wisdom. The first way is by reflection, which is richest; the second is by imitation, which is easiest; and the third is by experience, which is bitterest. The wisdom of China's decision to go ahead with its Three Gorges Dam - the biggest hydroelectric dam in history and some say a project headed for eco-disaster -- is at the heart of Up the Yangtze. But Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang doesn't come at his subject from the obvious angle of environmental lecturing. Instead, he serves up a personal narrative that focuses on the very human cost of building the dam and flooding the equivalent of the Grand Canyon. (You can also listen to the KPBS Film discussion of teh film.)

The Children of Huang Shi

Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Chow Yun Fat in The Children of Huang Shi (Sony Pictures Classics)

All right, I put off reviewing The Children of Huang Shi (opened May 30 at Landmark's La Jolla Village Theaters) as long as I could. The reasons I avoided reviewing this film are twofold. First, it's one of those painfully well-intentioned but badly executed films with a social conscience, and second, it's another English language film that wastes the talents of Hong Kong star Chow Yun Fat. Both things make it difficult to write a review. The former because criticizing a heartfelt film like this just makes you sound like a meanie, and the latter because it pains me to say anything bad about a Chow Yun Fat film. But the one nice thing I can say is that the film looked pretty.

Forbidden Kingdom

Jet Li and Jackie Chan are kung fu masters fighting over the training of wimpy white boy Michael Angarano in Forbidden Kigdom (Lionsgate)

Forbidden Kingdom (opening April 18 throughout San Diego) is being pitched to audiences as the first film to ever pair martial arts masters and Hong Kong superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li. But there's another pairing going on that in some ways may prove more important for the industry, and that's the behind the scenes partnership between China and the U.S. that brought the film to the screen. Variety describes the co-production as a possible "blueprint for a new wave of East-West cooperation." The film boasts an American director but with many of the actors and crew coming from Asia, and most of the scenes shot on location in China. The film also had a Hong Kong press junket and an April 15 release in Beijing before opening today in the U.S. The film serves up a mix of styles and languages as it strives for the widest possible global audience. Plus, by co-producing the film with China, Hollywood gets around that Asian country's import quota (that limits the number of foreign films released in China each year). So in many ways there's more at stake than just finding out who's the best kung fu master Chan or Li.

Teen Critic Enters the Forbidden Kingdom

Jet Li versus Jackie Chan in Forbidden Kingdom (Lionsgate)

By Carlos Sepulveda

I have always wondered who would win in a fight between Jackie Chan and Jet Li. When I heard they were making a movie together, I thought that maybe my question would finally be answered. The Forbidden Kingdom (opening April 17 throughout San Diego) is a movie that mixes fantasy, action, humor and adventure. The beginning of the movie dragged a bit, until we started to see more of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The story line of the movie wasn't very exciting or original, I even found several similarities between The Forbidden Kingdom and The Lord of the Rings.

Forbidden Kingdom starts off with a boy named Jason who is obsessed with Chinese Martial Arts movies. He stumbles across an ancient Chinese bow staff as he looks for more movies at a pawn shop. After falling from a building, Jason is unexpectedly transported back to ancient China to find the owner of the bow staff. Once in China he meets a drunk Kung Fu master, Lu Yan, who is played by Jackie Chan. Lu Yan and Jason embark on the journey to return the bow staff to the Monkey King who is trapped in stone until he has his staff again. On their way to the Monkey King they meet a girl, Golden Sparrow (played by Crystal Liu Yi Fei) and the Silent Monk (played by Jet Li). The four amigos join forces to beat the evil Jade Warlord who wants to keep the Monkey King from having his bow staff again.

When I was thinking about the film, I found similarities, as I mentioned earlier, to Lord of the Rings. I saw a connection between the two movies. In Lord of the Rings, the ultimate goal is to get the ring to the top of the volcano and have it destroyed. In Forbidden Kingdom, the plot is similar. In this film, they must get the staff to the Monkey King, but first they must defeat an evil Jade Warlord who resembles the evil Saruman from Lord of the Rings. In the scene where the Silent Monk makes his first appearance dressed in white riding on a horse, he looked very much like Gandalf. Those are a few of the things that reminded me of Lord of the Rings. But even though Forbidden Kingdom lacked originality, the movie made up for it with its humor and great fight scenes.

Although the movie left my original question unanswered -- I still don't know who would win in a fight between Jackie Chan and Jet Li -- it was still worth watching. It was very fun to see Jackie Chan and Jet Li fight each other. I like watching Jackie Chan movies because he uses no special effects or flying scenes. But in Forbidden Kingdom that's not the case. Since the movie had Jackie Chan and Jet Li in it, I was expecting the fight scene of the year along with lots of humor. The movie was not exactly what I expected but was still worth watching.

-- Carlos Sepulveda is a senior currently attending Mount Miguel High. Carlos enjoys reading in his spare time and running. He is most interested in history, politics and world issues. Carlos likes to watch foreign films, comedies and dramas.

Nanking

Nanking, a new documentary about "the rape of Nanking" (THINKFilm)

In the summer of 1937, Japan began a full-scale invasion of China. The Japanese army attacked Shanghai and launched a massive air raid campaign on the then Chinese capital of Nanking. Within a few months, Shanghai had fallen. By December, the Japanese invaded Nanking. The once bustling, cosmopolitan city was looted and burned, prisoners of war were executed, and the city's citizens were subjected to horrific violence at the hands of the invading Japanese soldiers. The events, eventually referred to as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of Nanking, lasted some six agonizing  weeks. The new documentary Nanking (opening February 1 at Landmark's Ken Cinema) looks to the events immediately prior to the invasion and the weeks of brutality that followed.