PERSONAL TAILOR opens tomorrow

Huayi Brothers and

China Lion present

 Personal Tailor / Si Ren Ding Zhi

Directed by Feng Xiaogang

Screenplay by Wang Shuo

China, 2013, 117 minutes

Personal Tailor, the new satirical comedy from Chinese director Feng Xiaogang, opens tomorrow in several major metro areas in the U.S. and Canada. This is in keeping with China Lion's policy of releasing films theatrically here to closely coincide with their release in China, where Personal Tailor is to formally open today, December 19th. Check IMDb, Fandango or local listings for theaters and showtimes in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Washington D.C, Honolulu, Vancouver and Toronto.

The film's title is the name of a dream fulfillment service whose corporate motto is, "What you don't dare imagine, we dare to do." For a short period of time, typically a day or two, the four members of the company will help an individual realize something that they otherwise would never experience. Yang Zhong (Ge You, The Banquet, a.k.a. Legend of the Black Scorpion, 2006) is the director of dreams; Miss Bai (Bai Baihe) serves as the personal fantastician to the clients; Miss Lu (Li Xiallu, Blood Brothers, 2007) is the caterer of whims; and Ma Quing (Zheng Kai, My Lucky Star, 2013) is the spiritual anesthetist.

Miss Lu and Ge You as visiting dignitaries to the chauffeur who would be a powerful person

After an introductory sequence that plays like a black-and-white World War II movie set in Europe, the film switches to color. There are three main stories in this omnibus film. The first, "Honest Instincts," stars Fan Wei (Back to 1942, 2012) as a chauffeur. A succession of his past corporate bosses have been convicted of corruption and his fantasy is to be in a position of power to prove that he's incorruptible and would therefore make an outstanding cadre.

Miss Lu, Ge You, Miss Bai and Ma Quing watch a performance by their vulgar film director client

In "Bloody Vulgar" Li Chengru portrays a film director who has made nothing but cheap, vulgar entertainment. His desire is to go art house. The staff of Personal Tailor come to realize that they are all vulgar, so they should follow their instincts, then do the exact opposite. Fans of Seinfeld will recognize this ploy from the episode in which the George Costanza character does exactly that and turns his life around, albeit temporarily. This segment features a brief cameo by Jackie Chan, and one minor character brings to mind Vulgaria director Pang Ho-cheung, at least judging by their distinctive hairstyles.

Mrs. Song and Ge You

The final fantasy is "Mo' Money," which stars Dandan Song (House of Flying Daggers, 2004)) as Mrs. Song, an old woman who once saved spiritual anesthetist Ma Quing when he fell  into a river during an earthquake. She dreams of being immensely rich, and the lengths to which she, assisted by the staff of Personal Tailor, will go in order to "spend" her wealth are among the funniest moments in the film.

Which brings me to the dilemma of rating and evaluating Personal Tailor. As far as I'm concerned,  comedies are the most difficult category of films both to make and to review. For the filmmaker it's a matter of generating at least an adequate number of laughs from the intended audience, whether it's a broad and general one or a specifically targeted audience. As a reviewer, I feel I have to consider not only what made me laugh and if these things are likely to make others laugh, but also will things that I didn't find funny possibly or likely amuse others.

The situation is compounded with a foreign film, where viewers not understanding the language have to deal with subtitles. (This of course doesn't apply, or barely applies to physical comedy, which transcends language. Witness, for example, the widespread appeal of such silent film stars as Chaplin, Keaton, and Harold Lloyd.) And a satirical comedy has the additional factor of how familiar does one need to be with what is being satirized in order to appreciate the humor.

All in all, I have to say that Personal Tailor succeeds quite well as comic satire from a foreign country. I'm sure that the more familiar one is with present day mainland China, the more one is likely to be amused by the film. But the subjects of the three main sections -- sanctimonious self-righteousness, artistic pretensions, and the flaunting of obscene wealth -- are all topics that know no borders. Feng does a fine job of puncturing their respective bubbles,

I enjoyed the movie a lot and I'll go on record as believing that anyone inclined to see it will find Personal Tailor quite entertaining and amusing. Go see it, give it a chance, and find out for yourself.

ACF 2049: Theatrical release of PERSONAL TAILOR set for Dec 20th

On Friday, December 20th, China Lion will release the Feng Xiaogang comedy Personal Tailor in theaters in select cities. It’s said to be a very unique film and akin to The Dream Factory, a prior project of his.

Personal Tailor will be playing at:

AMC Empire (New York)
AMC Atlantic Times Square (Los Angeles area/Monterey Park)
AMC Puente Hills (Los Angeles area/Rowland Heights-City of Industry)
SilverCity Riverport (Vancouver)
Cineplex Odeon Yonge & Dundas (Toronto)
Regal Cinemas Dole Cannery (Honolulu)

Check local listings for showtimes.

Feng's previous works also include Back to 1942, a drama about a terrible famine that struck China’s Henan province during World War II. That film, also released by China Lion and available on Netflix streaming, was China’s submission to the Foreign Language category for the Academy Awards this year. For my review of Back to 1942 at the 24Framespersecond website, click here.

I'm excited about the upcoming release of Personal Tailor from this talented, controversial and outspoken Chinese filmmaker. I expect to receive a screener soon, so look for a review here at AsianCineFest on or before December 20th.

ACF 093: Who Killed Empress Wan in "Legend of the Black Scorpion"?

SPOILER ALERT !!!
This article reveals some plot points in the film
Legend of the Black Scorpion.

Several people have been referred to my review in ACF 079 when they ran searches that asked, in essence, "Who killed Empress Wan in Legend of the Black Scorpion?" I didn't discuss the matter in my review, but since there seems to be at least a fair amount of interest in the question, here goes.

The short, and correct, answer is that the film does not reveal who kills Empress Wan (Zhang Ziyi) at the end of the film. Neither Feng Xiaogang, the director, nor the cast have said. In his interview on Disc 2 of the Dragon Dynasty DVD release, actor Daniel Wu (Prince Wu Luan) teasingly says that he knows but won't tell.

My thought, when I first saw the film at the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival, was that it was the ghost of the dead Emperor, Prince Wu's father, who killed her. I mean, if his armor can bleed, why couldn't he strike her down after all the misfortune that she'd caused, even if she didn't do it deliberately?

One of the members of Subway Cinema, the organization that sponsored the festival, told me that he thought it was Minister Yin, who had been sent into exile by the Empress. The logic here was that he was the only significant character that was still alive. Turns out this was close to the mark.

Bey Logan, in his terrific commentary accompanying the movie on Disc 1, discusses what he knows, and sheds considerable light on the vexing question. According to him, the script originally called for the one maid who is seen in several shots throughout the film (she's in the background in the screen shot above) to kill the Empress. Furthermore the murder was done at the bidding of Minister Yin, who certainly had motives.

I believe Logan also said that scenes that would have given the maid greater presence, and perhaps some that actually showed the order being given and the deed being done, either were not shot or were deleted when the director decided to make the ending ambiguous.

So there's the best answer available that I know of. As Logan delightfully puts it: "It was the maid what done it."

ACF 079: "Legend of the Black Scorpion" Streets Tomorrow

Legend of the Black Scorpion will be available on DVD from Dragon Dynasty tomorrow, Tuesday, February 26, 2008. The film is director Feng Xiaogang's retelling and retooling of Shakespeare's Hamlet. This adaptation is set in 907 A.D. during a turbulent time in the Tang Dynasty. The Emperor has been killed by his brother, who becomes Emperor Li. This role is played by You Ge, best known for his comic roles, but here showing he's more than up to the task of taking on a very serious dramatic role.

Emperor Li caresses the neck of Empress Wan

Li is motivated at least as much by lust for the Emperor's young wife as by a desire for power. Empress Wan is played by Zhang Ziyi. To accommodate her age, the scenario was rewritten so that she and Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu, as the Hamlet figure) had planned to be married. The widowed, and now-dead, Emperor instead had taken her for his own wife, thereby making her the Prince's step-mother.

The film begins at a remote open outdoor theater (shot in the same bamboo forest as the one in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), where Prince Wu Luan has been immersed in music, theater and dance as a way of fleeing the court after his father married his beloved. Masked performers, seemingly out of a Greek tragedy or a Japanese Noh play, are cut down one by one by masked assassins sent by the new Emperor to kill the Prince. He manages to escape just when we think he's been done in.

The Empress and Prince Luan

The film then shifts largely to the palace, to which Luan returns. Here he deals with the conflict between his distaste for court intrigue and his obligation to avenge his murdered father. But this is not your standard Hamlet, and if anything the film is more about Empress Wan than it is the prince. She desires to rule the kingdom alongside Luan, but must craftily deal with the new emperor's fixation on her.

Empress Wan in the main hall, one of the film's many incredible sets

Feng wanted the film to have the feel of an opera, and the vast and opulent interiors of the palace certainly give it an operatic grandeur. So too do the costumes and the overall attention to detail, which is remarkable.

Legend of the Black Scorpion is a dark and bloody drama, while at the same time being a lush and scrumptious feast for the eyes. And the action sequences, which are interspersed throughout the narrative, are of the incredibly high caliber we've come to expect from Yuen Woo-ping. The man has an incredible imagination and command of what moves and wire work are just right for every situation

The film is getting the Two-Disc Ultimate Edition treatment from the Dragon Dynasty label. The first disc offers both the original Mandarin and an English-dubbed soundtrack. Another audio option is a feature length commentary by Bey Logan, an authority on Hong Kong cinema who has worked in the industry there.

Having seen the film at its New York premiere at the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival last summer, I chose to watch the DVD release with Logan's commentary. He's done a number of them for other Dragon Dynasty releases, but this was the first opportunity I've had to listen to a complete one, and it was terrific. The tone is conversational, not academic, and the man is incredibly knowledgeable. It's a perfect example of what a commentary should be and has made me eager to listen to his offerings on other Dragon Dynasty DVDs in my collection.

Disc Two has an interview with director Feng (in Mandarin with English subtitles) and another one with male lead Daniel Wu (in English). There are also two featurettes that include interviews with most of the principles and some behind the scenes, making-of footage. One thing that I was most impressed with was how genuine Ziyi Zhang comes across. She's so animated, spontaneous, and physically expressive. In these extras, you'll notice that the film is usually referred to as The Banquet, its original international English title.

Legend of the Black Scorpion gets an ACF rating of 3.5 out of 4 stars, highly recommended. I feel I should mention that when I first saw the film I though it was good and probably would have given it 3 stars. But on second viewing, I've been more impressed and hence the additional 1/2 star.

As for the DVD extras, they get a 4 star rating - outstanding. Dragon Dynasty has again put out a great package.

Links (all imdb):

Legend of the Black Scorpion (a.k.a. The Banquet)

Feng Xiaogang, director

Zhangi Ziyi, actress (Empress Wan)
Daniel Wu, actor (Prince Wu Luan, the Hamlet figure)

You Ge, actor (Emperor Li)
Xun Zhou, actress (Qing Nu, the Ophelia figure)

Li Zhang, cinematographer
Yuen Woo-ping, action choreographer
Tim Yip, art direction (he won the 2000 Oscar for Best Art-Direction-Set Decoration for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
Tan Dun, composer