The Bird People in China

"The Bird People in China" is one of those films you hear very little about, but that piques your curiosity after reading the synopsis. And then you watch it and realize what a gem it is.

Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike is renowned for his ultra-violent films. This is a delightful departure for him and proves what a tremendously versatile director he is. Yes, there are some snippets of violence, including a rather brutal machete attack. But that's all offset by the film's wonderfully whimsical nature.

The film revolves around a Japanese businessman sent to a remote Chinese village to inspect the jade mines for his company. Along for the ride is a yakuza man to ensure the businessman's company's debt is paid off.

The film not only chronicles their colorful journey - those turtles must be seen to be believed - but then taps into the characters' psyches as they reach the village and suddenly find themselves trapped there. These two disparate men both find themselves enchanted by this magical place.

I won't give away much more of the story because you really should watch this film. Miike injects magical realism into his story and some moments are beautiful in every sense of the word. There's also plenty of humor. The van scene is positively hilarious, especially given the driver's deadpan reaction.

The film's very much about our need to dream. But it also tackles important issues such as the encroachment of civilization and the importance of keeping some places pristine and innocent, no matter how valuable they might be to the rest of the world.

If you like interesting foreign-language films that open a whole new world, then do yourself a favor, see this film. You will not be disappointed.

I've just finished watching The Bird People in China and have skimmed the other reviews on IMDb. Like most of the others, I do enjoy Miike's work, though not to the level of unconditional love that seems to be common here. In my limited experience, around nine Miike films so far, none have been a waste of time and several are fairly amazing. Notably Audition, though definitely not for the faint of heart.

This film left me with mixed emotions. It truly has touching moments, but it also suffers from common issues with Miike films... disjointed structure, unmotivated action (particularly from the Yakuza character), a bit of excessive violence, a kitchen sink approach to ideas... every possibility explored, even when simple would have been more effective, and finally a liberal borrowing from other films. In fact I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned in other reviews. Miike clearly took much of the premise and emotional content from the movie Local Hero. A corporate drone begrudgingly travels to a remote village and, to his amazement, is touched by the locals and the lifestyle. There's more to the similarities but I don't want to give away too much. Though I will note that he pays homage to his source material by throwing in a Scottish song as a major motif. I also didn't buy into the ending... it seemed to detract from the more realistic aspects of the film.

All of this aside, the film is worth seeing. The scenery is amazing and fairly unique, the photography handsome (considering the budget), Masahiro Motoki as Wada is quite good (as he was in Okuribito/Departures), many of the secondary characters are wonderfully drawn (another Miike specialty), it's genuine and funny at times, and it takes you on an unusual journey, an actual adventure... rarely a dull moment.

This is my second comment on a movie on this board. But after finishing this movie yesterday, I just had to write something about this fantastic movie. I have seen about 6 movies from Miike but this one was hard to find. I couldn't rent it anywhere but I really was interested in this piece of cinema because I liked the story and that it was something completely different from other Miike movies (although none of his movies are alike). So I ordered the DVD (artsmagicdvd version).

From the beginning I was really into the movie. And after finishing it, I enjoyed every second of it! It has humor, adventure, a little action and emotion! The scenery in this movie is fantastic and I want to visit these places in the movie If I know where they are! Miike takes you into his dreamworld and you don't want to leave. It is fantasy but believable and not over the top. The story is surrounded by mystery and I wanted to know all about it. I won't tell about the story because you can read that on this site. I just want to recommend this movie to every fan of Miike, well....to everyone who can enjoy a piece of rare cinema with a great story and beautiful scenery. Sometimes a movie is great but the ending is a let down. I think this movie is really completed, from beginning to end. Ohh....and the music is great as well. It is one of those movies you want to see again the moment you finish it. I hope Miike makes a movie like this again in the future; slow, beautiful, mysterious.....

I think it is very strange that a lot of crap is put on DVD but a fantastic movie like this is hard to find. I had to import the DVD and I can imagine not everybody likes to do that. So in Holland this gem isn't released. So I hope people just order a copy, just get one anyway you can, you won't regret it! On the DVD there is an interview with Miike, an audio commentary and some extra stuff. There is a trailer of this movie on the disk as well. But I STRONGLY suggest not to watch that before watching the movie. Why? Because the ending is in the trailer!!! I think that is very strange and I am happy I didn't watch it before the movie otherwise it would have spoiled the ending for me.

So you get the idea, I am very enthusiastic and I think you will to after seeing this beautiful film. What are you still doing behind your desk? Go get a copy!

I got hold of this film simply because I spent some time travelling in Yunnan last year. Seeing it today was magical, so evocative of the people, this lush country, the amazing sense of isolation and belonging. Made me want to throw down this job and go straight back again. This is an enjoyable, thoughtful, well made film; the star really has to be the setting though, that feeling of all the time in the world, being with the aged mountains to watch the days go by. You can really understand what drives Ujiie near the end of the film. The sense of impending loss, as even now China marches its wilderness towards modernity, balanced with the benefits its people hope for. The phenomenon of the global tourist has to now decide how it accepts the replacement of the way of life for the self-determining people they go to visit.

This mans versatility is overwhelming. "Bird People of China" is nothing less than a humanistic drama filled with humor and warmth, from the man who brought us such violence-masterpieces as Ichi and Fudoh. I have no idea how he does it, but apparently this guy can make all types of movies equally well. Whats more is that the more of his films you see, the more recognisable they become, even though they're all totally different. In this film he really uses his (great) sense of humor, and allows for his characters to grow on you, and the result is a fantastic movie, and actually feels very chinese in style and theme. Greatly recommended for fans who think they know Miike...

9/10