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

This is not old news; Shanghai Dreams has just been released with English subtitles on DVD, finally giving local audiences the chance to view this Grand Prize winner at the 2005 Cannes film festival. Set in the 1980s, Shanghai Dreams is a return to form for the director whose career has been languishing since his groundbreaking Sixth Generation debut The Days. An exploration of the limits (and betrayals) of authority, the film explores the predicament of a generation whose city-born parents resettled in China’s impoverished interior during the “cultural revolution” to help jump-start the country’s industrial march of progress, but who now yearn to go home as China begins to take its first steps toward economic liberalization.
Wanting a better life for his children, a father repeatedly exhorts his teenage daughter to concentrate on her studies and forces the girl to break off her relationship with her factory-worker sweetheart; events soon take a tragic course. Bleak, yet fascinating.
Zoke Movies

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

Within the current state of Hollywood cinema, material to satisfy one’s appetite for well-written drama and well-acted comedy is hard to find. Of course, there’s always TV. And make no mistake, the multi-award winning TV-series Desperate Housewives fills both desires quite nicely, thank-you very much. The story of four bourgeois housewives in an American suburb is a fresh departure from any other TV-series, especially those involving neighbors or family issues. Indeed, the witty, silly, sexy, elegant characters make the 23 episodes attractive to all audiences, young, old, male, female or otherwise.
Skillfully blending drama, romance, thrills and suspense, the series is, at times, a tad surrealistic: the story is told from the viewpoint of the four best friends’ recently dead friend – a suicide no less! Credit should be given to actresses Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman and Nicollette Sheridan, if not for their fine efforts this US primetime soap wouldn’t rank on the top of the entertainment ladder.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

For a decade, Hollywood director Michael Bay has created a series of commercial successes (Bad Boys II and Pearl Harbor), but somehow his films are often associated with supermarket or popcorn cinema. Sure he delivers entertainment, but his films are quickly seen, and just as quickly forgotten. You can look in vain for any substance – Bay serves up baked-bean movies – they fill the entertainment hole but leave you with nothing more than a little gas. The Island is not much different, though at least it has a plot. A fairly good plot.
The performances from leads Ewan McGregor or Scarlett Johansson are acceptable, but the conspiracy-theory story of this futuristic thriller should keep you guessing until the end. If it doesn’t, well you can imagine you’re watching a 120-minute long commercial; this film features a host of brand name product placements. By the way, Bay’s next project is a live adaptation of the robot TV-series Transformers.
Dream Works SKC & Warner Bros

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

Within the current context of the South-Korean film industry, wavering between commercial flicks and copycat productions of Hong Kong and Hollywood films, Kim Ki-duk stands out as an exception. Although very different in subject matter, all his films bear a similar depiction of Korean society’s blending absurdity with sex and violence. A skilled technician and director, Kim has improved with each movie reaching the peak of his art with the gut-wrenching and mesmerizing Samaritan Girl (2004).
Innovative and minimalist (there’s barely any dialogue), The Bow portrays the bond between an old man and a young girl. The bow is also a musical instrument, a means of warding off men as well as a fortune-telling tool. Probably the best Korean director of his generation, Kim proves once more he can explore human nature with simple, poetic, graceful yet cruel stories.
Kim Ki-Duk Film/Happinet Pictures

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

Fifth-generation director Peng Xiaolian (Zhang Yimou’s classmate at the Beijing Film Academy), spent many years filming the city – as is evidenced in Shanghai Story, Shanghai Women and Once upon a time in Shanghai. Completed in 2003, the film was released for the 2005 mid-Autumn Festival, a favorable time for family reunion, a topic addressed in Peng’s tenth film. The story is thus: The children of a former bourgeois family gather in their former French concession home to take care of their old mother. Many generations cohabit and collide; each of them carrying their own burden – teen granddaughter’s condoms, daughter’s divorce aftermath, son’s lousy marriage...
Peng elegantly displays the city, while portraying a touching family tale. The movie is an audio-visual treat with excellent production, innovative cinematography and smart sound design. Shanghai Story won numerous domestic and international accolades last year – and took home four Golden Rooster Awards, the Chinese equivalent to the Academy Awards.
Massway/Tomson Films

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue

Shot on location at the South Pole, and starring the Emperor Penguin. And what a location it is. Adelie Land in Antarctica is the harshest place on earth, where temperatures can drop to -100°C and winds reach 150 mph. During the nine-month winter, the penguin virtually starves during its quest through this white desert to find the perfect spot to mate. French filmmakers have long been attracted by wildlife-feature films (Microcosmos and the Traveling Birds), and have a knack for blending scientific observations with a dramatic narrative. The result is a new movie genre: the animal docu-drama. This entry is one of the best, though the Chinese theatrical version is less than charming due to the many cuts. Indeed, all that remains is annoying; the Chinese narration is clumsy, and the print is blurred and grainy. Look for the English version, narrated by Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman.
Bonne Pioche/Buena Vista

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
October 2005 issue