The New York Asian Film Festival is in full swing. It runs June 19 – July 5 at the IFC Center and every publication loves to say how, “craaaazy,” and “wacky” it is (oh, those funny Asians! Uhh…). Is that the case? Maybe. We went to go investigate for ourselves.
“Children of the Dark” Bearing a superficial resemblance to last year’s forgotten “Gardens of the Night,” “Children” happens to hit with the same superficial force. A tale about a child trafficking ring and the reporters out to cover it, “Children of the Dark” probably needs to be made, but by a more capable filmmaker than Junji Sakamoto, who embraces the lurid, discomforting realism of the situation. There’s a dedication to realizing these hard-to-stomach scenes of underage rape, and perhaps there’s something disingenuous in placing such a film alongside more fun-loving EXXXTREEEME cinema at this festival- the lurid angle is emphasized by a preposterous, half-baked final half hour where our poorly written heroes somehow provide movie closure to the grotesque turn of events, showcasing the film as something that wants to have its cake and eat it too. Too ridiculous to take seriously, too morbid and disturbing to enjoy, “Children of the Dark” is a moral and narrative dead end. [D]
“The Clone Returns Home”
You have the chance to clone yourself for your family’s benefit, knowing your loved ones probably won’t respond well to your newfound freak scientific existence. Do you do it? That’s one of many philosophical questions posed by this dense drama, where an astronaut who’s never been able to get over the loss of a twin brother finds his new clone existence haunted by his soul and the specter of failure. Long takes, spooky ambient sound and measured dialogue seem to be passe for many film in this festival, but “Clone” brings a nice touch of class, compared to “Solaris” because of its sci-fi trappings, but also its confident pacing and knotty, existential dread. Bring your thinking caps, boys and girls. [A-]
“Exodus”
When a lonely cop hears a seemingly half-baked theory from a peeping tom that women are planning to eliminate all men, he becomes obsessed, even as his wife and associates start to question his sanity. Every layer he removes from the case of the witness’s disappearance starts to suggest that maybe the theory has some juice behind it. “Exodus” is a peculiar film with a rhythm all its own, a deadpan comedy about an absurd notion played completely straight. Pang Ho-Chueng’s camera is all high and low angles, creating a voyeuristic appeal which only increases the natural curiosity of the viewer eager to solve this preposterous case. Simon Yam’s lead performance is especially nimble, as his character completes an arc from dedicated cop to sudden loose cannon, all within the realm of Ho-Chueng’s eerie sense of plausibility. [B+]
“House”
A lost film from 1977, “House” is a madman’s delight, the type of film this festival was made for. Like a version of “The Evil Dead” from a David Lynch-Takashi Miike collaboration, this surrealist madman’s battle with sanity features a group of lovestruck teen girls staying at their teacher/crush’s who find themselves coping with a vengeful ghost. Echoes of musical fare like “The Quiet Family” abound, though “House” is an extremely odd one-of-a-kind slapstick horror film, with musical numbers and random kung-fu thrown in. Scenes don’t lead into each other as much as they poke and dance into the next frame, an odd playfulness causing a series of tonal shifts so arrhythmic, yet never once throwing the film off its bizarre axis. A must. [A]
“Snakes and Earrings”
Based on a best-selling novel, this drama follows a young girl who finds herself entering a world of pain and mutilation when she tries to pierce, and then split, her tongue. It’s easy to imagine this as a surreal David Cronenberg freakout except for the fact that director Yukio Ninagawa keeps the action very low to the ground, portraying a heroine not unlike that friend we knew who explored less-than-vanilla interests and vanished from our lives. She gets stuck in a love triangle between a piercing and a tattoo enthusiast, having aggressive, inhuman, submissive sex with both that eventually becomes a love borne out of a death wish. However, the only surprise in the entire dreary, single minded narrative is an obvious last reel turn to thriller conventions, followed by another set of completely uncinematic passive choices by our protagonist. Early on “Snakes and Earrings” carries a strong, transgressive pulse, ideally suited for an hour-long short, but after the eighth identical sex scene where our lead character lies prostrate like a slab of meat while an effeminate male thrusts into her, the film’s run out of visual or thematic ideas. [C-]
“The Warlords” This war epic teaming Jet Li, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau initially has some juice in it. The tale of a nineteenth century band of marauders who rose from poverty to become a ruthless army is told with visual verve, with large, bad-ass battle scenes sure to get anyone’s hearts pumping, a mixture of close-combat martial arts and large-scale battles that we haven’t seen too much of. However, the film makes the tragic mistake of focusing on the more mundane interpersonal drama that pales in comparison to the historical chronicles, where we learn Jet Li’s war failure rises up the ranks and forms a brotherhood with the characters played by Lau and Kaneshiro, hiding the secret of his affections for Kaneshiro’s sister. “Warlords” succeeds on the epic, including fabulous bookend battles, but it flails with the all-too-familiar subplots about what brings brothers together in war. [C]