Red Corner

This film revealed the Chinese justice system accurately. I am from China. I have experienced the Chinese justice, it favors the rich and man with connections with the officials, they can forge evidence to frame you, and you can do nothing about it disregard your strong evidence indicate otherwise. People here are nothing but slaves to the powerful red machine. Those corrupt officials always get away with it. Maybe that is why the Hong Kong counterparts want universal suffrage to guarantee their rights not being violated. This film tells the accurate story of how the Chinese Justice System works. The party officials control the lawyers and judges from behind and decide the outcome of the lawsuits.

Red Corner is quite obviously a comment on the current situation in Red China. Being a good friend of the Dalai Lama and Tibet in general, the "the Chinese government and army are all bad people" argument is what keeps this film going. It could almost be considered a crash course on what is still going on in China today. Don't get me wrong, the film is actually quite well done and has a good story to go with it which makes it more than a two hour CBS special.

The whole plot centers around the Gere character being framed for a murder of a Chinese girl. The girl just happens to be the daughter of an important general which makes Gere's chances of survival all the less. Sure, all of the cliches are built into this film, especially the wrongfully imprisoned man (haven't the 90's been a real haven to these kinds of films ever since "The Fugitive?"). But the plot is still interesting the film throughout and other than a few twists that seemed unnecessary, keeps focus until the end. I never will understand why Gere didn't just stay at the embassy, he must have been somewhat crazy.

The bond between the two main characters starts off very cold and warms until the end with an airport scene that was very fitting. After watching the film you'll know what I mean. The chase scene through the city is very exciting although at times farfetched, but still makes for some good action in between a few dramatic scenes. Even without on screen violence ala American History X or Saving Private Ryan, this film still manages to invoke fear simply knowing that the Chinese will do whatever they please, regardless of human life.

This film only helps to show China as an unhumanitary state with archaic laws and traditions. When one is forced to plead guilty in order to have leaniency directed towards them, something is really wrong. Hopefully this film will open some eyes to the situation and be a catalyst to future change.

7/10 stars.

Overall, this isn't a bad movie. It's a pretty decent courtroom drama - sort of "Law & Order Beijing." It's got a lot of suspense, and it provides a fascinating glimpse of the inner workings of the Chinese justice system. I offer that last point with the proviso, of course, that the star of this movie is Richard Gere, and Gere is known for having a somewhat anti-Chinese (or, more accurately, anti-People's Republic of China) outlook. The view of China presented here is an ominous one - and that's not entirely fabricated. I travelled to China a few years ago. I never got in trouble with the law (thank goodness!) but still when you're walking through Tienanmen Square and a column of Chinese soldiers suddenly comes marching right toward you shouting at you, you know that the basic message (even though you don't speak Chinese) is "get out of the way or we'll trample you!" So, yes, even in completely unthreatening circumstances, there are vaguely threatening elements to being in China.

In this movie, Gere plays Jack Moore, an American businessman trying to close a deal in China, who picks up a girl at a nightclub. She ends up being murdered in his hotel room, he's the prime suspect and it's clear that "the system" has decided he's guilty before he even goes on trial and the court flat out refuses to hear any evidence that supports him and challenges the obviously pre-arranged verdict. How Moore can triumph over this system is the issue.

All that's pretty good. Gere's performance is good. The problem is the "one American man takes on the entire People's Republic of China" scenario. Yes, Moore had a court appointed defence lawyer (played by a young U.S. based Chinese actress named Ling Bai) who becomes increasingly sympathetic to him and wants to prove his innocence, but essentially Moore does it all himself. Even in the courtroom, he essentially takes over the case, questioning witnesses - even when his lawyer is there. That all was a bit too much, and it strained the movie's credibility too far. Still, it's an entertaining and suspenseful if perhaps implausible couple of hours.

This is a very well written and directed film with good locations and very good acting. The discourse on the Chinese approach to justice and the potential for corruption in their state-centered society is sharp and, from my experience, accurate. It is delivered as part of an entertaining story with very strong performances by the leads. I like Richard Gere in this, as I do Ling Bai's performance. Their chemistry attracts the viewer and helps us through the difficult issues the film addresses. A must see.

Rambling drama about a US salesman arrested for a murder he did not commit, Red Corner has actual footage of Beijing convincingly mixed with the main shooting which gives the impression that the movie was actually made in China - and presumably with the approval of the Chinese authorities. Unfortunately, this is not really true, and the main Chinese lead - Ling Bai, whose name means 'white light' or 'white spirit' - was at Tiananmen in 1989 and emigrated to the US shortly thereafter. I've met students who lived in China at the time who absolutely refuse to discuss the situation back home; that Ling Bai does is testimony to her 'white spirit', and she really does steal the show from Gere here, in a kind of reverse Casablanca 'hill of beans' role. Whether the depiction of conditions in the Chinese judicial system is accurate or not, the movie does succeed in making the viewer understand that there are two views to almost anything, and that in China, as anywhere, power corrupts. Stacking the deck against consular officials is a nice touch, for these people are truly the cowards and turncoats the movie makes them out to be. The plot swerves from the inexplicable to the Orwellian to a love story (which does, it is true, sort of come out of nowhere), but the final scene on the tarmac does much to salvage that. Maybe Gere wanted to make the Chinese look bad, but they certainly don't need his help. Based on an incident that happened not in China but in Italy, Red Corner is viewable without ever coming close to being a great film. Its one claim to greatness is Ling Bai - she's absolutely fabulous.