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

Throughout his life, Ray Robinson Charles (1930-2004) never really escaped the alternating cycle of success and failure, both personal and professional that seemed his fate since birth. He had a rocky start. At five, he witnessed the death of his brother, became blind at seven and an orphan at fifteen. But battling the odds seemed to fuel his genius; he was one of the first artists to fuse gospel and R&B. Still, the struggle took its toll; Charles developed a heroin addiction. Hackford stresses the impact Charles’ childhood had on his adult life in a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards. This editing technique accelerates the movie’s pace; Ray’s quite long (178 minutes) but far from dreary. The film benefits from Charles role as ‘supervisor’ and it’s evident that he didn’t indulge in self-censorship; the singer’s dark side is clearly there for all to see from his drug habit to his adultery. While far from perfect in his personal life, Charles was a perfectionist in his work – he re-recorded some of his songs for this independent production (later widely distributed by Universal, and released in China by CAV Warner). Before dying of liver failure in 2004, Charles was able to sit through the first edit of the film to contemplate his own legend.
CAV Warner

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

Most people would do anything to escape prison. Michael Scofield, on the other hand, tries his best to get inside – to the delight of the audience. Scofield wants to get in the penitentiary to help his brother escape from death row, where he’s ended up after being wrongly accused of the murder of the vice-president’s brother. Of course, the case is more complicated than it seems, with conspiracies unfolding inside and outside the prison. Despite this synopsis, don’t expect prison-genre clichés. There are, of course, the compulsory baddies, corrupt and brutal wardens, and psychotic and perverted inmates. Yet the story is well-written, as well-written as Escape from Alcatraz, for example. For one thing, the series conveys a sense of realism; indeed, Prison Break was shot, in part, on location at the Joliet Prison in Illinois. We’re not giving anything away by mentioning that an escape scene in the program looked so convincing that several US prisons banned the TV series. In short, lock yourself in, get comfortable on your bunk, and enjoy the first season of this highly-suspenseful show. But get ready to do some hard time – the second season will air (in the US) from March to May this year.
Fox Television

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

During the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in Germany, eleven Israeli athletes were taken hostage by the terrorist group Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government unofficially recruited agents to execute the Black September operatives. Munich is a 165-minute edge-of-your-seat movie experience that examines the emotional and ethical toll upon the members of the Israeli task force sent to execute the terrorists. The film opens with a recreation of the fedayeen abducting and executing the Israeli athletes, followed by the Israelis exacting vengeance, spilling blood for blood. At the time, the Palestinian terrorists were viewed as heroes by their compatriots. The Israeli undercover assassins, employing terrorist methods, were also seen as heroes in Israel. Hero or terrorist? Merely a matter of perspective. This USD 75 million thriller raises some thought-provoking questions, questions that have yet to be answered thirty years later as the tit-for-tat cycle of violence in the Middle East continues. Munich received five Oscar nominations and a Directors Guild of America nomination. That said, the film performed better worldwide than in the US.
DreamWorks

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

(c) that's Guangzhou
Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
April 2006 issue

In Roman Polanski’s Oliver Twist, the central character is a paragon of stoic endurance. No matter what happens to the kid, he takes it with a smile. Actually, just a barely perceptible shrug of the shoulders. Twist is the center around which all the characters revolve, but he’s the least quirky, exciting, poignant, and human of them all. He’s the one to whom everything happens, but about whom audiences couldn’t care less. After his success with the 2003 Academy-Award-winning The Pianist, Polanski has made one of those rare films where supporting actors are the real stars. Of course, no Twist, no movie. But Oliver, on his own, is rather a boring young lad, devoid of excitement and personality. Reportedly, Paris-born actor/producer/director Polanski made this version of the Dickens’ classic for his children, unlike most of his previous works (including Hook and Repulsion) which children shouldn’t see unless they wish to be afflicted with life-long trauma. Which is not to suggest that Twist is children’s fare. By making Oliver a near-mute cipher, Polanski allows us to focus on his masterly use of the cinematic language, without contrived emotions to distract. In short, a triumph of compassion over sentiment.
SPHE

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

(c) that's Guangzhou
Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
April 2006 issue

Following Shanghai Story, a subtle, semi-autobiographical, family drama set in post- “cultural revolution” Shanghai, local director Peng Xiaolian has changed course. Her latest film, Shanghai Rumba, is a multi-layered romance set in the late 1940s. The film is drenched in the cinema milieu. An unhappily-married young woman dreams of genuine love. Later, she joins a leftist film production company, where she meets Ah Chuan, a popular actor. Shanghai Rhumba was released on St. Valentine’s Day this year, a fitting date for this love story which features two real-life lovers in the cast: actors Xia Yu (Waiting Alone, 2004) and Yuan Quan (the stage play Amber, 2005). Peng exploits this element of reality in the film, including subtle references to the romance, on-screen and off. Adding yet another level to the plot, the film was inspired by a 70-year-old, legendary love affair between the ‘Prince of Film’ Zhao Dan (Crossroads, 1936) and actress Huang Zongying. If that’s not enough sentiment for you, Shanghai Rumba’s exquisite production values offer a gorgeous representation of the city as it was (or is remembered by romantics) in its ‘golden years’. With stunning cinematography, gorgeous costumes and old-fashioned music-score, this is one film that lovers anywhere can’t afford to miss.
Shanghai Film Studio

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

(c) that's Guangzhou
Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
April 2006 issue

If Duplex were a real-estate property, Miramax producers might have thought twice before investing in a project built on such a shaky foundation. Produced in 2003, this 89-minute-long comedy only reached Chinese theaters this year. Likely to produce forced smiles than real laughs, this film is mercifully short, for which thanks is due to director Danny de Vito. The two-level apartment story lacks both a clear blueprint and quality material. A young, New York-based professional couple, played by Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore, finds their dream home in the form of the downstairs half of a Brooklyn duplex. Unfortunately, their neighbor is a nightmare. Unlike de Vito’s The War of the Roses (1989), Duplex ignores the fact that good comedy is anchored by truth. Instead of offering believable characters in exaggerated circumstance, it relies on a plot twist that rings false. De Vito tries (and fails) to plaster over the holes in the plot with cheap filler. The flick flopped in the US, and Barrymore (deservedly) won the 2004 Worst Actress Razzie Awards for her tasteless performance. Miramax

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

(c) that's Guangzhou
Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
April 2006 issue