"Chinese Box" was originally reviewed Sept. 24 at the Toronto International Film Festival. Trimark opens the film in New York and Los Angeles on Friday.
Personal transitions are always tricky, especially when backdropped by a cataclysmic political change. That's the crux of "Chinese Box", a rigorously balanced story about three people whose unbalanced lives are thrown further off track by the transition of power from Britain to China in present-day Hong Kong.
While a brainy construct, this Wayne Wang-directed film smacks of schematic and dramatic devices that engender "Chinese Box" with an artificial, hyper-stoked quality. Still, with the attractive acting leads of Jeremy Irons and Gong Li and Wang's scruffy sensibility, "Chinese Box" should invigorate the art house scene with, at least, some flashy fireworks. It received mixed audience reaction at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
Once again, Irons stands proudly as the ravaged representative of the once-powerful but now enfeebled British empire. Indicative of the film's overwrought metaphor, Irons stars as John, a British business writer who has covered the hurly-burly Hong Kong scene for 15 years but is stricken with a terminal disease. He's got six months to live and, coincidentally, the British turn Hong Kong over to the Communists in six months -- see where this is going?
Despite a perceptible stiffness in its overreaching thematics, the scenario by Jean-Claude Carriere and Larry Gross is a smoldering tapestry of conflicts, compromises and, since it's Hong Kong, out-and-out chaos. Everything is all very noisy and messy and, alas, unattainable. Of particular vexation for John is his longing love for a beautiful Chinese woman, Vivian (Li), who runs a karaoke bar and angles for a cushy future with a ruthless "businessman" (Michael Hui).
Spurred to action by his medical diagnosis, John makes his intentions clear, albeit in a muddled, impaired way. The combination of prescription pills and his own tormented desperation thrust the normally placid, chilly Brit into a hyperactive hysteria. In essence, he must compress not only his feelings but his viewpoints into the little remaining time he has. He takes to filming the last days of British Hong Kong with a video camera, focusing in on a beautiful but facially scarred street hustler (Maggie Cheung) who preys on tourists and dopey men. Again, another character as grander metaphor -- old Hong Kong as streetwise scam artist, preying on the outsiders.
Despite showing its story seams, "Chinese Box" -- thanks to the gripping performances and to Wang's aptly restless visual style -- is often mesmerizing. In his distracted delirium, Irons is touching as the writer who realizes he has never synthesized what he has to say nor won the woman he really loved. As the Chinese immigrant girl who plied her way into quasi-respectability, Li's nervy allure and tranquil rage are an intoxicating blend. In a supporting role, Cheung smolders as the elusive streetwoman.
Characteristically, Wang spices the story stock with a raucous mix of sounds and sites. The searing cinematography of Vilko Filac and rowdy score of Graeme Revell are perfect technical correlatives for this cacophonous cinematic.
Personal transitions are always tricky, especially when backdropped by a cataclysmic political change. That's the crux of "Chinese Box", a rigorously balanced story about three people whose unbalanced lives are thrown further off track by the transition of power from Britain to China in present-day Hong Kong.
While a brainy construct, this Wayne Wang-directed film smacks of schematic and dramatic devices that engender "Chinese Box" with an artificial, hyper-stoked quality. Still, with the attractive acting leads of Jeremy Irons and Gong Li and Wang's scruffy sensibility, "Chinese Box" should invigorate the art house scene with, at least, some flashy fireworks. It received mixed audience reaction at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
Once again, Irons stands proudly as the ravaged representative of the once-powerful but now enfeebled British empire. Indicative of the film's overwrought metaphor, Irons stars as John, a British business writer who has covered the hurly-burly Hong Kong scene for 15 years but is stricken with a terminal disease. He's got six months to live and, coincidentally, the British turn Hong Kong over to the Communists in six months -- see where this is going?
Despite a perceptible stiffness in its overreaching thematics, the scenario by Jean-Claude Carriere and Larry Gross is a smoldering tapestry of conflicts, compromises and, since it's Hong Kong, out-and-out chaos. Everything is all very noisy and messy and, alas, unattainable. Of particular vexation for John is his longing love for a beautiful Chinese woman, Vivian (Li), who runs a karaoke bar and angles for a cushy future with a ruthless "businessman" (Michael Hui).
Spurred to action by his medical diagnosis, John makes his intentions clear, albeit in a muddled, impaired way. The combination of prescription pills and his own tormented desperation thrust the normally placid, chilly Brit into a hyperactive hysteria. In essence, he must compress not only his feelings but his viewpoints into the little remaining time he has. He takes to filming the last days of British Hong Kong with a video camera, focusing in on a beautiful but facially scarred street hustler (Maggie Cheung) who preys on tourists and dopey men. Again, another character as grander metaphor -- old Hong Kong as streetwise scam artist, preying on the outsiders.
Despite showing its story seams, "Chinese Box" -- thanks to the gripping performances and to Wang's aptly restless visual style -- is often mesmerizing. In his distracted delirium, Irons is touching as the writer who realizes he has never synthesized what he has to say nor won the woman he really loved. As the Chinese immigrant girl who plied her way into quasi-respectability, Li's nervy allure and tranquil rage are an intoxicating blend. In a supporting role, Cheung smolders as the elusive streetwoman.
Characteristically, Wang spices the story stock with a raucous mix of sounds and sites. The searing cinematography of Vilko Filac and rowdy score of Graeme Revell are perfect technical correlatives for this cacophonous cinematic.
- 4/14/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Personal transitions are always tricky, especially when backdropped by a cataclysmic political change. That's the crux of "Chinese Box", a rigorously balanced story about three people whose unbalanced lives are further thrown off track by the transition of power from Britain to China in present-day Hong Kong.
While a brainy construct, this Wayne Wang-directed film smacks of schematic and dramatic devices that engender "Chinese Box" with an artificial, hyper-stoked quality. Still, with the attractive acting leads of Jeremy Irons and Gong Li and Wang's scruffy sensibility, "Chinese Box" should invigorate the art house scene with, at least, some flashy fireworks. It received mixed audience reaction at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
Once again, Irons stands proudly as the ravaged representative of the once-powerful but now enfeebled British empire. Indicative of the film's overwrought metaphor, Irons stars as John, a British business writer who has covered the hurly-burly Hong Kong scene for 15 years but is stricken with a terminal disease. He's got six months to live and, coincidentally, the British turn Hong Kong over to the Communists in six months -- see where this is going?
Despite a perceptible stiffness in its overreaching thematics, the scenario by Jean-Claude Carriere and Larry Gross is a smoldering tapestry of conflicts, compromises and, since it's Hong Kong, out-and-out chaos. Everything is all very noisy and messy and, alas, unattainable. Of particular vexation for John is his longing love for a beautiful Chinese woman, Vivian (Li), who runs a karaoke bar and angles for a cushy future with a ruthless "businessman" (Michael Hui).
Spurred to action by his medical diagnosis, John makes his intentions clear, albeit in a muddled, impaired way. The combination of prescription pills and his own tormented desperation thrust the normally placid, chilly Brit into a hyperactive hysteria. In essence, he must compress not only his feelings but his viewpoints into the little remaining time he has. He takes to filming the last days of British Hong Kong with a video camera, focusing in on a beautiful but facially scarred street hustler (Maggie Cheung) who preys on tourists and dopey men. Again, another character as grander metaphor -- old Hong Kong as streetwise scam artist, preying on the outsiders.
Despite showing its story seams, "Chinese Box" -- thanks to the gripping performances and to Wang's aptly restless visual style -- is often mesmerizing. In his distracted delirium, Irons is touching as the writer who realizes he has never synthesized what he has to say nor won the woman he really loved. As the Chinese immigrant girl who plied her way into quasi-respectability, Li's nervy allure and tranquil rage are an intoxicating blend. In a supporting role, Cheung smolders as the elusive streetwoman.
Characteristically, Wang spices the story stock with a raucous mix of sounds and sites. The searing cinematography of Vilko Filac and rowdy score of Graeme Revell are perfect technical correlatives for this cacophonous cinematic.
CHINESE BOX
A film by Wayne Wang
Producers:Lydia Dean Pilcher, Jean-Louis Piel
Director:Wayne Wang
Screenwriters:Jean-Claude Carriere, Larry Gross
Story:Jean-Claude Carriere, Paul Theroux, Wayne Wang
Co-producers:Heidi Levitt, Jessinta Liu
Line producer:Andrew Loo
Associate producer:Francey Grace
Director of photography:Vilko Filac
Editor :Misako Shimizu
Music:Graeme Revell
Production designer:Chris Wong
Costume designer:Shirley Chan
Sound mixer:Drew Kunin
Color/stereo
Cast:
John:Jeremy Irons
Vivian:Gong Li
Jean:Maggie Cheung
Chang:Michael Hui
Jim:Ruben Blades
Running time -- 110 minutes...
While a brainy construct, this Wayne Wang-directed film smacks of schematic and dramatic devices that engender "Chinese Box" with an artificial, hyper-stoked quality. Still, with the attractive acting leads of Jeremy Irons and Gong Li and Wang's scruffy sensibility, "Chinese Box" should invigorate the art house scene with, at least, some flashy fireworks. It received mixed audience reaction at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
Once again, Irons stands proudly as the ravaged representative of the once-powerful but now enfeebled British empire. Indicative of the film's overwrought metaphor, Irons stars as John, a British business writer who has covered the hurly-burly Hong Kong scene for 15 years but is stricken with a terminal disease. He's got six months to live and, coincidentally, the British turn Hong Kong over to the Communists in six months -- see where this is going?
Despite a perceptible stiffness in its overreaching thematics, the scenario by Jean-Claude Carriere and Larry Gross is a smoldering tapestry of conflicts, compromises and, since it's Hong Kong, out-and-out chaos. Everything is all very noisy and messy and, alas, unattainable. Of particular vexation for John is his longing love for a beautiful Chinese woman, Vivian (Li), who runs a karaoke bar and angles for a cushy future with a ruthless "businessman" (Michael Hui).
Spurred to action by his medical diagnosis, John makes his intentions clear, albeit in a muddled, impaired way. The combination of prescription pills and his own tormented desperation thrust the normally placid, chilly Brit into a hyperactive hysteria. In essence, he must compress not only his feelings but his viewpoints into the little remaining time he has. He takes to filming the last days of British Hong Kong with a video camera, focusing in on a beautiful but facially scarred street hustler (Maggie Cheung) who preys on tourists and dopey men. Again, another character as grander metaphor -- old Hong Kong as streetwise scam artist, preying on the outsiders.
Despite showing its story seams, "Chinese Box" -- thanks to the gripping performances and to Wang's aptly restless visual style -- is often mesmerizing. In his distracted delirium, Irons is touching as the writer who realizes he has never synthesized what he has to say nor won the woman he really loved. As the Chinese immigrant girl who plied her way into quasi-respectability, Li's nervy allure and tranquil rage are an intoxicating blend. In a supporting role, Cheung smolders as the elusive streetwoman.
Characteristically, Wang spices the story stock with a raucous mix of sounds and sites. The searing cinematography of Vilko Filac and rowdy score of Graeme Revell are perfect technical correlatives for this cacophonous cinematic.
CHINESE BOX
A film by Wayne Wang
Producers:Lydia Dean Pilcher, Jean-Louis Piel
Director:Wayne Wang
Screenwriters:Jean-Claude Carriere, Larry Gross
Story:Jean-Claude Carriere, Paul Theroux, Wayne Wang
Co-producers:Heidi Levitt, Jessinta Liu
Line producer:Andrew Loo
Associate producer:Francey Grace
Director of photography:Vilko Filac
Editor :Misako Shimizu
Music:Graeme Revell
Production designer:Chris Wong
Costume designer:Shirley Chan
Sound mixer:Drew Kunin
Color/stereo
Cast:
John:Jeremy Irons
Vivian:Gong Li
Jean:Maggie Cheung
Chang:Michael Hui
Jim:Ruben Blades
Running time -- 110 minutes...
- 9/24/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Johnny Depp outfits "Faust" in American Indian garb in "The Brave", a Competition entrant so grave and monotonous that only festival cineastes are likely to stay awake throughout.
In this latest example of a movie star dabbling in the auteur, narrative pacing and story structure are scattered to the winds, while showy textures are overused throughout. In short, this "Brave" is all feathery headdress and little else. Well, save for yet another sedentary oddity from Marlon Brando, who plays "Tu-Ra-Lu-Ra-Lu-Ra" on the harmonica for a few bars.
In this contemporary retelling, Depp stars as Raphael, an American Indian who has done time in the joint as well as suffered with alcoholism. Literally throwing the bottle away one day, he decides to turn over a new leaf, to seek out a job and provide for his wife (Elpidia Carrillo) and two young children. Leaving his ramshackle shanty, Raphael takes the bus into town and learns of work in a warehouse. Descending into the bowels of this stony fortress, he meets his future employer, wheelchair-bound loony Mr. McCarthy (Marlon Brando), who explains the nature of the job: For $50,000 in cash, the "worker" will endure an electric chair, tortured as close to death as possible. In essence, anyone who accepts that agreement is not likely to survive.
Raphael makes his pact and heads for home, whereupon he promptly begins to make amends to his family for all his bad ways. Unfortunately, these apologetic scenes are stretched out in redundant detail as the "good" father spends time with each respective member of his family. For good measure, he buys all sorts of stuff, from electric lights to a wide screen, causing his wife and neighbors to fear that he has gone back to his old ways. Other than these reparations, little else propels the drama, with essentially the same scene played over and over again with each respective character. In between, innumerable shots of Raphael walking across the desertscape or, equally as exciting, waiting for the bus, provide punctuation.
The projector malfunctioned during the press screening, causing a couple minutes of darkness. If a marketing firm had wired the audience, it is unlikely they would have discovered any discernible pulse-rate difference during the blackout than when the film was actually proceeding.
While one usually has to attend an Eric Rohmer retrospective to experience such tedium, Depp seems to have learned from other greats as well. Not since the early, nastiest days of Bunuel have group and crowd compositions featured such an assortment of deranged and deformed-looking individuals, as if a festival of cretins was up and running.
Technically, one marvels at cinematographer Vilko Filac's luminous skyscapes, but unfortunately Depp's over-reliance on such imagery lessens the impact. Iggy Pop's score brings an apt, hollowed-out texture to the proceedings.
THE BRAVE
In Competition
Majestic Films
And Jeremy Thomas present
An Acappella Pictures Production
A film by Johnny Depp
Producers Charles Evans Jr., Carroll Kemp
Director Johnny Depp
Screenwriters Paul McCudden,
Johnny Depp, D.P. Depp
Based on the novel by Gregory McDonald
Exec producer Jeremy Thomas
Dir. of photography Vilko Filac
Production designer Miljen Kljakovic
Editor Pasquale Buba
Music Iggy Pop
Costume designer Lindy Hemming
Cast:
Raphael Johnny Depp
Mr. McCatrthy Marlon Brando
Larry Marshall Bell
Rita Elpidia Carrillo
Father Stratton Clarence Williams III
Frankie Cody Lightning
Lou Jr. Max Perlich
Lou Sr. Frederic Forrest
Running time --123 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In this latest example of a movie star dabbling in the auteur, narrative pacing and story structure are scattered to the winds, while showy textures are overused throughout. In short, this "Brave" is all feathery headdress and little else. Well, save for yet another sedentary oddity from Marlon Brando, who plays "Tu-Ra-Lu-Ra-Lu-Ra" on the harmonica for a few bars.
In this contemporary retelling, Depp stars as Raphael, an American Indian who has done time in the joint as well as suffered with alcoholism. Literally throwing the bottle away one day, he decides to turn over a new leaf, to seek out a job and provide for his wife (Elpidia Carrillo) and two young children. Leaving his ramshackle shanty, Raphael takes the bus into town and learns of work in a warehouse. Descending into the bowels of this stony fortress, he meets his future employer, wheelchair-bound loony Mr. McCarthy (Marlon Brando), who explains the nature of the job: For $50,000 in cash, the "worker" will endure an electric chair, tortured as close to death as possible. In essence, anyone who accepts that agreement is not likely to survive.
Raphael makes his pact and heads for home, whereupon he promptly begins to make amends to his family for all his bad ways. Unfortunately, these apologetic scenes are stretched out in redundant detail as the "good" father spends time with each respective member of his family. For good measure, he buys all sorts of stuff, from electric lights to a wide screen, causing his wife and neighbors to fear that he has gone back to his old ways. Other than these reparations, little else propels the drama, with essentially the same scene played over and over again with each respective character. In between, innumerable shots of Raphael walking across the desertscape or, equally as exciting, waiting for the bus, provide punctuation.
The projector malfunctioned during the press screening, causing a couple minutes of darkness. If a marketing firm had wired the audience, it is unlikely they would have discovered any discernible pulse-rate difference during the blackout than when the film was actually proceeding.
While one usually has to attend an Eric Rohmer retrospective to experience such tedium, Depp seems to have learned from other greats as well. Not since the early, nastiest days of Bunuel have group and crowd compositions featured such an assortment of deranged and deformed-looking individuals, as if a festival of cretins was up and running.
Technically, one marvels at cinematographer Vilko Filac's luminous skyscapes, but unfortunately Depp's over-reliance on such imagery lessens the impact. Iggy Pop's score brings an apt, hollowed-out texture to the proceedings.
THE BRAVE
In Competition
Majestic Films
And Jeremy Thomas present
An Acappella Pictures Production
A film by Johnny Depp
Producers Charles Evans Jr., Carroll Kemp
Director Johnny Depp
Screenwriters Paul McCudden,
Johnny Depp, D.P. Depp
Based on the novel by Gregory McDonald
Exec producer Jeremy Thomas
Dir. of photography Vilko Filac
Production designer Miljen Kljakovic
Editor Pasquale Buba
Music Iggy Pop
Costume designer Lindy Hemming
Cast:
Raphael Johnny Depp
Mr. McCatrthy Marlon Brando
Larry Marshall Bell
Rita Elpidia Carrillo
Father Stratton Clarence Williams III
Frankie Cody Lightning
Lou Jr. Max Perlich
Lou Sr. Frederic Forrest
Running time --123 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 5/12/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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