34: Kinamand

In this poignant Danish tale, hapless plumber Keld (Bjarne Henriksen) finds his world crumbling when his wife of 25 years (Charlotte Fich) walks out on him. The dejected Keld soon falls into a routine of eating at the neighborhood Chinese grill, where he befriends the owner -- who offers Keld a sizable sum to wed the restaurateur's sister (Vivian Wu) in a marriage of convenience. Will love bloom despite the language barrier and clash of cultures?

Sweet.

#33: Please Vote for Me

Though China's government is Communist, the third grade election for the prestigious position of Class Monitor at the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan is being decided by a democratic vote. In this enlightening documentary, filmmaker Weijun Chen captures all the action as the three candidates -- two boys and a girl -- go all out to win: performing in a talent show, debating each other and delivering speeches to their classmates.

WOW. This is a puppet show in so many ways, but it's still compelling. I don't believe children are pure as puppies, but they are highly suggestible -- and the combination of parental suggestion and pressure to excel, on the one hand, and what looks like sheer manipulation of elementary school cliques (by teachers, parents, filmmaker?), makes it difficult to tell what's really going on. What the kids say is certainly a reflection on their values -- the values of their parents. And it's interesting to listen in on that.

#27: The King of Masks (1999)

Nearing the end of his life, Wang -- a locally renowned street performer and wizard of the venerable art of mask magic -- yearns to pass on his technique. But custom prescribes that he can only hand down his craft to a male successor. Anxious to preserve his unique art, the heirless Wang buys an impoverished 8-year-old on the black market. When the child divulges a dreaded secret, Wang faces a choice between filial love and societal tradition.

Lovely and kinda plot-heavy, surprisingly. The summary above really only captures a piece of the film -- there are many little twists and turns, nearly all revolving around Wang's desire for a male heir to whom he can teach his art. So many things about these lives are hard: the selling of children, the lack of value placed on girl children, the need for a male to inherit knowledge and name, life on the street, infant/child mortality, et cetera.

A couple things that struck me while viewing:
There was something about the score and cinematography seem very melodramatically Western to me at moments, but that's likely an artifact of my own limited film knowledge. Is there a parallel with Sichuan opera? (which has a minor role in the film)

Calling the boy "doggie" was more than a little odd, though -- it would be interesting to hear from someone who can offer an alternate translation of the actual dialogue.


And hm... with King of Kong and King Corn, this is kind of a humorous run I'm having here (though I had to abandon King Corn for now due to audio problems). I wonder what else there is... the Last King of Scotland (which is already in the queue), the King of Comedy (haven't seen for a LONG time), the King of New York, King of California (Michael Douglas), and Ping-pongkingen (the King of Ping-Pong). The last is now at the top of my queue.