THOMAS PODVIN’S FREELANCE WORK
Freelance writer - translator - Editor

Liu Jie swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. In that, he’s a rare breed: a fledgling director with little experience (though he worked with Wang Xiaoshuai on Beijing Bicycle and Drifters) but plenty of high ideals. Indeed, his directorial debut, Courthouse on Horseback (COH), is a poignant, unflinching exposé of China’s rural judicial system, one that earned him a Horizons Prize at the Venice Film Festival this past September.

COH is a low-budget film shot in semi-documentary format and is set in the isolated Ninglang County in Yunnan. It is based on a real-life character – a venerable old man named Feng, an itinerant, circuit court judge, who delivers justice to the backwater hamlets of the province; until one day, such are the demands of the job, he dies of exhaustion.

Like judge Feng, Liu is something of a martyr – he sacrificed his wedding money to finish off the film. At the same time, he sees himself as something of a visionary – one who will hopefully influence other Chinese film directors to resist the temptation of profit over integrity.

“Due to the impact of commercial culture in the past half decade, Chinese cinema has become more and more superficial,” laments Liu. Indeed, he views Chen Kaige’s Yellow Earth (1984) as an example of the golden age.
Unlike Chen, who has all but surrendered his artistic vision to special effects of late, Liu champions a minimalist approach to filmmaking. “I discarded all filmmaking techniques and filmed this movie using the most simple and unadulterated means possible,” he says.

Indeed, in COH the scenery is real; there are no special effects and with the exception of seasoned actor Li Baotian (Judou, Shanghai Triad) and the up-and-coming, Lu Yulai (Peacock), the cast is made up of non-professionals. As an unknown director with limited means, Liu, of course, had little choice. Still, his tale of a judge on the bumpy road to truth has much more relevance than many another current screen offering. The big question is: will it draw a crowd? Well, it might have, had it been given a fair trial, but with a mere five day theatrical run, and just one screening a day and not everywhere in China, one might say the jury is still out.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
November 2006 issue

Though produced and distributed by the highly-successful Huayi Brothers (The Banquet, A World without Thieves, Kekexili), Chen Daming’s One Foot off the Ground (OFOTG) isn’t conceived as a vehicle for Western film festivals. Rather, it presents a realistic and contemporary view of everyday life in China in contrast to the recent slough of fantasy films directed by other big name Chinese directors. “I wanted to show a different side of China,” says Chen, “something that you rarely see in Chinese films that make it outside of the country.”

Chen – a screenwriter/actor and Quentin Tarantino’s assistant-director on Kill Bill – wrote a strong script, later edited by Hollywood producer Chris Lee (Superman Returns). Lee describes the film as a Chinese version of Four Weddings and a Funeral – filled with emotional resonance and endearing quirky characters.

The story revolves round an out-of-work opera company, who are obliged to earn their living with a variety of odd jobs, including selling dogs with fake pedigrees, and training roosters for cock fights. No prima donnas, these characters are raw and leathery, a fact well-reflected in their nasal Kaifeng dialect. In the vein of Ning Hao’s Crazy Stone– a rollicking Sichuanese comedy about a band of thieves – the regional flavor adds spice and special meaning to this film.

“[OFOTG] is very Chinese,” says Chen, “but it also has very universal ingredients. It’s a strong character-driven film.” One that Chen is well-equipped to write.
His blowsy characters are informed by his own youthful experiences performing Peking Opera in Kaifeng – a third-tier city in Henan. At 17, he left home and toured China with an acting company, and later entered the Beijing Film Academy. After graduation he went to America, and worked in Hollywood for ten years.
Chen returned to Kaifeng in 2005, a full 20 years since he left town to make his mark in the world. OFTOG then, is in one sense a look back. A fond and wistful look back to Chen’s days with the Peking Opera and his memories of three good friends in the troupe.

Like many people who have been forced to adapt to changing circumstances in China, the three performers often stumble, but their years of hard training makes it a little easier to get a least one foot back on the ground.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
November 2006 issue