“As time passes, people change, circumstances change, and even dreams can change”
America—the “beautiful country” (美国)–has always fascinated many Chinese in the modern age, especially film-makers. The journey from China to seek economic prosperity and success in America, and in particular New York City (the “Empire City”, with its representation of everything both good and bad about the US), is a trope that has been exploredover and overagain in various tragi-romances that Cinema Escapist has reviewed.
None of these tragi-romances more directly deals with the cultural tensions between a new life in America and an old life in China, coupled with the reappearance of past lovers, than Rain Li’s Beijing, New York. This film explores the theme of being pulled apart, whether by geographical/cultural distance (i.e. between New York and Beijing) or by love (that of the present and that of the past). Rain Li, a cinematographer who previously worked on blockbusters such as Hero, brings together famed actor Liu Ye (who once acted as a young Chairman Mao in Founding of a Party and starred alongside Jay Chou in Curse of the Golden Flower) and model Lin Chi-ling (the legendary beauty Xiaoqiao in Red Cliff) to star as Lenny and Jasmine, respectively.
Lenny is a successful Chinese CEO who journeys on business to New York at the bottom of the 2008 recession. Carrying the weight of an economic superpower beginning to flex its muscles on the global stage, Lenny meets up with his old friends and asks them about Jasmine, a friend from his youth. Jasmine, who emigrated to the United States much earlier than Lenny to pursue her musical dreams, is now performing odd jobs to get by in New York, ranging from acting as a tour guide to singing at a jazz club in the evenings. On a fortuitous 4th of July, she meets Joe, an investment banker who was laid off and decided to pursue his dreams of photography and art. As Jasmine and Lenny rekindle their long-time feelings, Joe finds a muse in Jasmine as he photographs her for his very first art exhibition. The ensuing love triangle fills the majority of the plot, as Lenny and Jasmine communicate during nights and mornings via their mobile phones between New York and Beijing, and Jasmine participates in American high society with Joe while Lenny sleeps.
The story of Beijing, New York is nothing extraordinary and entirely predictable; any accolades then, are due to its incredible cinematography (unsurprising given Rain Li’s background) and the complex contrast in Jasmine’s life — the choice between a future American life with Joe, and the choice to pursue her past love for Lenny. Lenny’s lack of English-speaking abilities is particularly contrasted with how Jasmine switches seamlessly between English and Chinese at dinner parties; this serves as a broader metaphor for how Jasmine is both immersed in and caught between two worlds, forced to choose one or the other. Sweeping views of New York and Beijing accompany Jasmine’s story, and while they do not drive the story forward, they distinguish Beijing, New York from many other movies on the same topic.
While on the surface Beijing, New York appears to be a simple romantic drama encompassing a love triangle, in reality Rain Li set much higher expectations for herself in this directorial debut. Li herself said that Beijing, New York is an exploration of the “journey to find true happiness and the joy, pain, and adventure that ensues when one is forced to integrate their dreams into reality”. Li’s mission statement is a lofty goal that carries great promises, but unfortunately those promises are not met. While the film makes a valiant effort to touch on the human experiences of Jasmine, Lenny and Joe, it fails to engage the audience in the passion and sorrows of each of the characters. So while I may consider Beijing, New York less tragic than films such as My Old Classmate or But Always, its artistic bent and literary overtures create a high barrier for the audience’s heart to experience the movie and thus leaves the viewer with a feeling of want after the film ends. Beijing, New York pushes the us to experience it story with the brain; this ends up failing to satisfy all but the most sophisticated film reviewers.
That is not to say, however, that Beijing, New York is a poorly-written film. In fact, Beijing, New Yorkdeserves acknowledgement for its desire to address issues that many second-generation Chinese (and broadly, Asian) immigrants experience on a daily basis. While the Fung Bros and Wong Fu touch upon the Asian-American experience from a more comedic perspective, Beijing, New York uses the story of Jasmine, Lenny and Joe as an allegory for the individual, internal experience of being caught between two worlds — the East and West.
Beijing, New York (Chinese: 北京，纽约)—China. Directed by Rain Li. First released March 2015. Running time 1hr 48min. Starring Liu Ye and Li Chi-ling.
“Say Yes” is a Mainland Chinese romantic comedy based on the hugely popular 1991 Japanese television series “101st Proposal”, which was previously adapted for the small screen in Korean a few years back. Sticking to the premise of a working class everyman falling in love with a rich, beautiful cellist, this new version was directed by Taiwanese helmer Leste Chen, who teams again with his “Love on Credit” leading lady Lin Chiling, joined by the ever likeable Huang Bo (“Lost in Thailand”) as her unlikely suitor. An official co-production with Fuji Television, the film was a considerable hit back in China, pulling in nearly 3 billion yen during its first few weeks of release.
The film opens with Huang Bo as construction worker Huang Da out on the 99th in a string of unsuccessful blind dates. Although his rendezvous doesn’t work out, he runs into the gorgeous Yeh Shun (Lin Chiling), a cello player nursing a broken heart after being jilted at the alter by the possibly dead (!) Xu Zhuo (Godfrey Gao, “All About Women”). The two quickly become friends, though Huang Bo finds himself wanting more, despite her refusal to commit or to take him seriously. Regardless, he finds the confidence to step up his romantic pursuit, pushing her to face up to her past and to make a life changing decision about her future.
As a romantic comedy, “Say Yes” is at once both utterly predictable and pleasingly unconventional, earning top marks for its choice of Huang Bo as leading man, one of China’s most charismatic and versatile actors. Undoubtedly somewhere far down the list when it comes to glamorous male paramours, his presence immediately sets the film apart, and though it basically revolves around Yeh Shun’s struggle to accept the less than attractive Huang Da as a viable partner, this does ground things somewhat, at least in certain respects. This also marks the film as romantic wish fulfilment of a different kind, seeming to offer the average male viewer the hope of landing a girlfriend with the looks of Lin Chiling, while vaguely nudging female audience members to look beyond physical appearance and put more value on kindness, devotion and security. Whatever Leste Chen’s intentions, the film is one of the few genre outings in China to openly acknowledge the class gap between rich and poor, and while the script only pays lip service to resulting issues, it feels less materialistic than other recent rom-coms as a result, which is definitely a good thing.
Though this message, and indeed the central relationship as a whole never comes across as terribly heartfelt, there’s a definite spark between the two stars, and their fun chemistry helps to keep things engaging, Chen wisely taking a light and unpretentious approach and avoiding too much melodrama or anything heavy. Also in the film’s favour is a surprisingly bizarre and random plot, which packs in some odd twists along the way to its inevitable conclusion. Though in fairness this is unlikely to have been intentional, the way in which Chen throws in a series of belief-stretching contrivances and soap opera clichés makes for some effective humour, which sits comfortably with the surprisingly funny comic relief, actress Qin Hailu (“A Simple Life”) doing a sterling job in the often thankless wacky best friend role. Chen has a good sense of pacing, which distracts from some of the nonsensical plotting, and the film has a fluffy, glossy and very commercial look, benefitting from the fact that the product placement not as offensive as in other genre efforts.
Although there’s nothing special enough about “Say Yes” to make it appeal beyond the usual romantic comedy fanbase, it’s definitely more enjoyable and palatable than most, and it at least offers a few variations on the usual themes. Huang Bo is as fun to watch as ever and Lin Chiling pouts prettily, and with Leste Chen doing a perfectly serviceable job as director the whole thing comes together really quite nicely.
Smith (Clive Owen), a drifter at abus stop, sees a pregnant woman fleeing ahitman. Following them into a warehouse, Smith murders the hitman with a carrot and saves the woman. As more thugs arrive, Smith is forced to deliver the woman's baby (later named Oliver) during a firefight. Pursued by head assassin Karl Hertz (Paul Giamatti), the woman is soon shot and killed, forcing Smith to narrowly escape with Oliver.
Leaving the baby in a park, Smith hopes someone will adopt the child, only for a passing woman to be killed by Hertz. Realizing Hertz is trying to kill Oliver, Smith saves him, and attempts to leave him with a lactating prostitute named Donna (Monica Bellucci); despite his pleas, she refuses. Hertz arrives at the brothel shortly after and tortures Donna for information, only for Smith to return and kill Hertz's henchmen.
Taking Donna to his hideout, Smith realizes that Oliver stops crying when he hears heavy metal music, leading him to conclude his mother lived near a heavy metal club. Followed by Hertz, Smith is then forced to shoot his way out of his hideout, before he and Donna head to a nearby club. Heading above the club, they discover an apartment containing medical equipment and two dead pregnant women; Smith concludes the women were all impregnated with a specific man's sperm so they could birth matching bone marrow donors.
Hiding in a motel room, Smith and Donna are attacked by masked men during sex, forcing Smith to kill them while supporting Donna (apparently without her even being aware of the gunplay). Discovering his assailants' weapons are all "Hammerson" models unavailable to the public, Smith takes Donna and Oliver to a war museum, and hides them in a M24 Chaffee armored tank. Infiltrating the Hammerson factory, Smith witnesses Hertz and Hammerson in conversation about how they do not want the Second Amendment repealed by the next President, and notices Hammerson owns a German Shepherdcalled Duchess. Smith booby-traps the entire facility, allowing him to kill his assailants and escape.
Smith soon notices an article on Senator Harry Rutledge (Daniel Pilon), a presidential candidate campaigning for stricter gun laws. Smith deduces Rutledge has cancer and requires a bone marrow transplant, which is why he had surrogates impregnated with his sperm, and why Hertz and Hammerson want Oliver dead; should the infants die, the Senator will not receive a donation and will be unfit to run as President. Smith tells Donna to leave town, before Smith contacts one of Rutledge's henchmen to request an appointment. Meeting aboard a plane, the Senator confirms Smith's suspicions, only for Smith to notice dog hair on his trousers.
Discerning the hair belongs to Duchess, and that the Senator struck a deal with Hammerson, Smith takes Rutledge hostage, only for Hertz and Hammerson to appear. Escaping from Hertz, Smith kills the Senator and leaps from the aircraft with a parachute. Killing several pursuing henchmen, Smith is shot and, after safely landing, soon collapses due to his injuries. Smith subsequently awakes in Hammerson's mansion. Hertz tortures Smith, breaking his fingers to learn where he sent Donna and Oliver. As Hertz prepares to cut Smith's eyes, Smith manages to break free and kill several thugs. Cornered and struggling to use his gun, Smith places live rounds between his broken fingers and, by detonating them using a fireplace, shoots and critically wounds Hertz. As Smith and Hertz both grab pistols and struggle to kill each other, Smith manages to fire first and kill Hertz.
Boarding a bus with Duchess, Smith soon stops at an ice-cream parlor, only to find Donna working as a waitress while watching Oliver. The film ends as a group of amateur robbers enter the parlor; his hands in bandages, Smith shoots them by using a carrot to pull the trigger.
