Maybe not the biggest news of the day, but this writer faithfully promised her teenage self (sad little dork that she was) to eternally take note of anything even remotely “Twin Peaks”-related, so news about Chinese-American actress Joan Chen, aka the perpetually tormented Josie Packard in the David Lynch/Mark Frost show, will always find a home here. And yes, before you complain, we know Chen is a much-admired actress both in China and the U.S., and impressed in turns in “The Last Emperor,” Ang Lee’s “Lust, Caution” and, um, “Judge Dredd,” but frankly, we’ll always think of her as the fragile-with-a-core-of-steel mill owner suffering increasingly insane tongue-lashings from Piper Laurie, so there.
Peakie-defensiveness aside, Chen is set to direct and star in one section of the forthcoming triple-storied omnibus film “Seeing Red” – all three sections of which tell tales of female revenge based in New York’s Chinatown; all three sections to be directed by women (Chen, Liselle Mei and one other to be announced).
Now we’re not mad on trilogy or quadrilogy or whatever-number-ilogy films, because it’s historically proven that at least one of the sections will not live up to the standard of its companions, and usually what results is an uneven, unsatisfactory viewing experience – just think of “New York Stories” or “Four Rooms” or even “Night on Earth” (in which Jarmusch directed all five segments, but that still didn’t stop each one being compared, often detrimentally, to the others). However we suppose there is a role for this kind of film if it gives lesser-known filmmakers a chance at getting some kind of audience, without having to assume the entire risk for a feature by themselves. And if we look at “Seeing Red” more as a triple calling card for three relatively new talents (we’re safely assuming the last director to be added isn’t going to be a Campion or a Bigelow), then it is at least setting itself up for some modest success by keeping its remit narrow (women, revenge, Chinatown) and tailoring itself to a small but well-defined audience (all segments are apparently to be shot using both English and Chinese). We wish it well.