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

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

Although Cantonese is spoken by 66 million people from southern China (Hong-Kong, Macau, Guangdong), south-east Asia and, indeed, in cities all around the world, very few reference books on this knotty language have ever been published. Subtitled The Language of Hong Kong Movies, Street Gangs and City Life, Hutton and Bolton have compiled a 500-page dictionary of everyday Cantonese including colloquialisms and slang from sources as diverse as comics, street gangs, teenagers, magazines and movies. Many of the entries have never been listed in common dictionaries before. The dictionary is aimed at foreign students and Chinese alike. The foreword, signed by a former police officer, states that the book is a valuable and useful tool, containing authentic word usage from the Hong-Kong underworld. Triad-trash talk aside, this is a practical guide to the vulgar and the vernacular that will help the reader to get around the oral Cantonese trickiness.
Singapore University Press/available at www.nus.edu.sg/npu

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

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
January 2006 issue

In his introduction to this book Jonathan Spence writes that "It is a basic belief of most historians, including myself, that the more time elapses after an event has taken place, the easier it is going to be to interpret that particular event..." During the height of the "great proletarian cultural revolution" (1966-70) Li Zhensheng worked as a photojournalist for Harbin's Heilongjiang Daily, shooting film for the newspaper and, as it turns out, for himself. While some of his photographs were published at the time, Li hid the bulk of his work in the hope that it would provide documentation of the period for others in the future. Forty years later that time has come. This book provides an amazing visual record (400 photos) and includes a preface, introduction, text by the photographer, a chronology, maps, and extensive photo captions. The photographs were selected from a collection numbering in the tens of thousands and many have never been seen before. Li's inventive techniques and powerful images make him one of the premier Chinese photographers alive today. This book, which takes its name from the literal translation of Li's accreditation as a photographer, is part of the key to understanding one of the most turbulent eras of modern Chinese history.
Phaidon

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

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
January 2006 issue

Re-TROS have been gigging around Beijing for the last two years under the name “Re-establishing the Rights of Statues” before releasing this debut album on the Badhead label – and simplifying their name in the process, thank god. Indeed, simplification best describes their brand of post-punk, reminiscent of late 1970s David Bowie with elements of Joy Division. On Cut-Off!, this neo-punk trio delivers six tracks running thirty minutes: tight, straightforward guitar riffs, un-fussy base lines and solid drumming. Minimalism, however doesn’t necessarily mean minimal quality.
Indeed, the band’s meticulously-polished sound owes a lot to Brian Eno. While on a visit to China in October last year, the legendary producer of David Bowie, U2 and Depeche Mode added color and texture to the Beijing band’s sound and even mixed in some keyboard on a couple of tracks. Nor, for that matter, are the English lyrics simple. Indeed, each song tells a different story. “If the Monkey Becomes the King” refers to the famous novel Journey to the West while alluding to the stupidity of mankind; while “TV Show” offers a somewhat bitter challenge to authority. All said, this release will appeal to the band’s already large following (built on the back of their stunning live performances) but its minimal running time will leave them craving for more.
Modern Sky/Badhead

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

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
January 2006 issue

This compilation from Beijing-based independent label New Bees provides a perfect sampling of what happened in the Chinese music scene last year. Or at least what happened on the New Bees label in 2005. In fact, this release is something of an advertisement for its latest signings with the inclusion of artists’ biographies and links to their websites. So what happened? Not much apparently. Most bands appear to have followed the long-standing formula of emulating their Western idols, be they punk, rock, rap or new wave. Crystal Butterfly for example, owe the title of the successful debut album Magical Mystery Tour to the Beatles and their sound to British pop-rock bands like U2. Chinese vocalist M.I.K., who sings in English, clearly takes his cue from new-wave gloom band, The Cure. Oddly, the last track on this CD, “Stay By My Side” is the real thing, sort of, a country pop tune from Swedish band The Club 8, whose 2005 release Strangely Beautiful peaked at number 18 in US charts. With a total of ten cuts from eight different bands, Indieblog Music may not enlighten anyone on the Chinese alternative-music circle, but it will inform those who are interested about who is influencing whom.
New Bees/available at www.newbeesmusic.com

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

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
January 2006 issue

Singer/songwriter Christopher Peyton has cultivated paradox in both his private life and his music career. Born in the seventies in North-Carolina to a conservative-minded family (Peyton is the son of famous preacher, Wesley Peyton); in 2004, Peyton the son co-hosted the UK TV-show Queer Eye for a Straight Guy, in which five gay men offered lessons in good taste to straight men. While his father might not have approved of the show, the son hasn’t abandoned his roots entirely. Christopher began his career at the age of six as the lead vocalist in his father’s gospel choir. That influence is evident in his eponymous debut album which features a number of pop gospel tracks, but also a few tunes that were designed to get the hips shaking in a lewd manner. “A Higher Place”, for example, went on to become an Ibiza anthem and was played at clubs worldwide. In short, Peyton is not a man you can pin a label on: he’s religious, gay, a night crawler, and intellectual – with a degree in English literature. His lyrics are often autobiographical: “Keep The Faith” speaks of his religious beliefs, “Love’s Going’ On” of his ‘coming out’ and how that affected his relationship with his parents. Like the man himself, Peyton is a mesmerizing and lighthearted CD, a cocktail of gospel, soul, and dance music, influenced by artists such as Seal and The Christians. At the same time, it’s a sensitive and intense piece of work; one that transcends all the paradoxes of its creator.
High Note

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

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
January 2006 issue

The combined challenge of unauthorized Internet downloads and hard copy piracy rage, has forced a number of music labels to think twice about investing in new acts. As it turns out, reality TV offers a low-cost solution to the problem. Take, for example, the 13-week-long “American Idol” series, which helped develop the connections among small-screens, wannabe stars and record buyers. In the US, the Fox Network show attracted a following that numbered in the millions and turned a few croaking toads into golden-throated princes and princesses of pop. True, there’s nothing of the amphibian about Kelly Clarkson, though we suppose she trained her voice under the shower. At 20, the former Texan waitress won first prize in the first season of American Idol and secured a record deal. Her first single “A Moment Like This” sold 250,000 copies in its first release week, while her debut album Thankful went double platinum. What’s more, her record company saved a bundle in marketing and promotion costs.
Breakaway, Clarkson’s second and more mature CD, marks a parting of ways with the American Idol image. “What you see is not what you get” she sings on one of the self-composed tracks. What you get is an independent woman, á la Sheryl Crow, with unoriginal but effective ballads and pop-rock melodies supported by solid and sorrowful vocals. Breakaway sold five million copies worldwide and proved Clarkson, in an artistic and commercial sense, is more than a flicker on the screen.
Sony-BMG

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

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
January 2006 issue