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

Dragon Squad is the latest attempt to revive Hong Kong's golden age of action movies. Directed by Daniel Lee (Star Runner), this multi-layered film also typifies the current approach to filmmaking in the SAR, aimed at overcoming the industry's decade-long financial crisis. It works thus: assemble an international team and piece together a movie with the widest appeal possible. Dragon Squad was co-produced by America's favorite mullet-coifed limb-breaker Steven Segal, and features a cast of recognizable stars, including the lead, Heo Jun-ho (Silmido), and Michael Biehn (Terminator). Unfortunately, some of the less experienced cast members reveal a startling lack of acting skill. The plot follows a team of Interpol agents who enter into a game of cat and mouse with a gang of mercenaries. It's formulaic and viewers won't find any surprises. However, the main problem is the abundance of main characters (a dozen) and the uneasy shifts between butt-kicking and dramatic sequences. That said, the action is terrific, and these scenes benefit from expert editing and, more importantly, the spirit of traditional Chinese swordplay. In spite of its many flaws, then, Dragon Squad delivers on one level, that is if you appreciate a well-placed, swift kick to the groin.
Shankara/Visualizer Film Productions

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

Looking back - but not necessarily in anger - is currently the theme of choice in the art-house film scene. Take Wang Xiaoshuai's Shanghai Dreams or Peng Xiaolian's Shanghai Story for instance. Both films concern the impact of the past on the present – especially that most troubled of decades from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s. In Sunflower, Beijing-based director Zhang Yang looks back (for 130 minutes) at a family in his home town. The story centers on Xiangyang, whose father, a painter, is sent to the countryside in 1969. When he returns seven years later, Xiangyang doesn't recognize him, or his parental authority. Yet slowly the father regains his influence and eventually leads his son to a successful painting career in the late 1990s. Zhang injects a personal note in the father-and-son conflict; his own father, Zhang Huaxun, was a successful filmmaker from the 1970s. As a result, this is personal filmmaking at its best, providing thoughtful analysis and psychological insight.This RMB 12 million film is one with which audiences can identify; the father-son relationship parallels the transformation of society as a whole, as evidenced in the radical shift from the traditional siheyuan to modern multi-story buildings. Still, the underlying sense of nostalgia is balanced by hope for the future.
Fortissimo Films/Ming Productions

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

Your boss cracks obscene jokes, constantly interrupts your work and still boasts of his great team leadership skills. He's cocky, ineffective, a foul-mouthed pseudo-philosopher devoid of any real qualities. Nevertheless, he inspires pity. Sound familiar? Well, then imagine him on TV. David Brent (Ricky Gervais) is the boss in the multi- award-winning TV-series The Office. Filmed in faux-BBC documentary-style using hand-held cameras, this series has a disturbing sense of realism which may explain its widespread popularity. Some scenes documenting the boss' boorish behavior will feel so familiar that the hair on the back of your neck will stand up. Add office flirtations and what you have here is a sense of déjà-vu all over again. But for one thing: the colorful British dialogue and Cockney slang might not be instantly recognizable, but somehow it translates well. You may be disgusted by the humor, but you'll laugh your arse off anyway. In any case, Gervais, a former radio DJ turned comedian/actor/writer/director has inspired an imitator: in the US, NBC produced an adequate (and successful) version of the series all on their own, without any bossing around from the man himself.
BBC

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

British director Guy Ritchie (the man critics love to hate) goes against the odds in this unusual, sexy gangster movie. Indeed, he sets the stakes so high that he risks losing the audience. Which is fitting, at least in one sense: the double or nothing bet is Revolver's main theme. Rather than rat out his associates, inveterate gambler Jake Green (Jason Statham) takes a seven year fall in the big house. While inside, he passes the time planning the perfect con, including the formulation of a set of Sun Tzu-like sure-win rules. Following his release, he puts the plan in motion, a plan designed to make him rich at the expense of his nemesis, crime boss Macha (Ray Liotta). As in his earlier gangster flicks (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch) the director favors eccentric characters, black humor, a plot that is too clever for its own good, oh-so-cool camera tricks and a catchy soundtrack. Produced by Luc Besson, Revolver has every trick in Ritchie's bag, with the addition of animated sequences. In the end, it's all a bit too much. The overly obtuse plot, experimental editing and excessive angst will leave most viewers feeling as if they've overdosed on valium. Ritchie is willing to take chances (he's Madonna's husband after all), but with this effort, he's bet the house and lost.
Europa Corp.

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

What is love? Hong-Kong filmmaker Peter Chan addresses this simple, yet unsolvable question, in his first directorial effort since 1996. Of course, the question gets complicated when you have a USD 10 million budget and an international cast and crew. The plot is thus: Ten years ago, Lin (Taiwan heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Sun (Chinese mainland actress Zhou Xun) were a couple living in Beijing. They split and went their separate ways. Fast forward to the present when they meet in Shanghai on the set of a musical. Lin tries to win Sun's love back, but she's romantically involved with the musical’s director, Nie Wen (Hong Kong's 'God of Song' Jackie Cheung). For a love-triangle, this sounds rather complex, at least on paper. But Chan has transferred the somewhat convoluted plot to the screen in a very straightforward fashion, and in the process raises an interesting question: What is the nature of reality and fiction? Produced by Andre Morgan (Million Dollar Baby), Perhaps Love is certain to seduce audiences and critics alike. Indeed, the film has already pocketed the Best Foreign Film award at the Queens Film Festival in New York, and many more awards are expected. So what is Love about? Guess we'll never know.
Applause Pictures

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

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
January 2006 issue

This new Harry Potter opus will surely bewitch the younger audience with its parade of bizarre characters and eye-popping special effects. Still, Harry himself has grown up and teenage fans can share his first brush with acne and puppy love. That said, there's not much time for romantic frivolities in this fast-paced plot where Harry is chosen against his will to represent his wizard school at the Triwizard Tournament. This fourth installment of a saga rests more than ever on the franchise's main assets: hatfuls of magic and SFX. Both are taken to the limit in one sequence, a flying chase between Potter and a dragon. Which is a good thing. The dazzling effects help one to forget the unequal performances. That said, the cast veterans are solid: for example, Brendan Gleeson (Kingdom of Heaven) is wonderful as the madcap 'Mad­Eye' Moody. Viewers indifferent to Potter's fantasy world will probably see the real magic in the real behind-the-scenes story: J. K. Rolling, unemployed for years after fleeing a violent husband, has become the wealthiest woman in UK. Incidentally, at the Shanghai premier, Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger promised, much like the makers of this global series, to "be back".
Warner Bros.

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

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
January 2006 issue