Da wan

I didn't believe the guy in the DVD shop down the street when he recommended this "black comedy", I'm generally not a big fan of Chinese humor. But he assured me that this was the first film of its kind in China, and so I bought it in spite of my reservations. After watching Big Shot's Funeral I'm really glad that I gave it a chance.

This movie was so much funnier than i thought it would be! First of all, it stars one of the best comic actors out there, You Ge (YoYo). He's got the deadpan delivery down pat. Second, the whole scenario of Sutherland's character as a director staging a new version of The Last Emperor was hilarious, from the eroticized woman ostensibly giving birth, to the child actor drinking his cola - subversively funny commentary on Orientalism and commercialism. Then we get to watch as YoYo completely immerses himself in planning a ridiculously extravagant funeral for a guy who a) he barely knows, and b) isn't dead yet! Seriously, that's a great comic premise in any language.

My main complaint about this film is Rosamund Kwan's character (Lucy). She just didn't seem to fit, and about halfway through the film I started to get really annoyed with her as her actions didn't seem to make any sense at all.

Not that this movie is really supposed to make sense, it's just that in the farcical scheme of things Lucy seemed to kill all the fun. The other thing is that the last 10 or 15 minutes of the film didn't really work at all; it's almost like the director couldn't figure out how to wrap things up so he just threw together a bizarre collection of scenes without bothering to relate them to the rest of the film. But these kinds of problems aren't a big deal in a movie that's not to be taken seriously in the first place. I would especially recommend it to foreign viewers who are only used to stuff by Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige; Big Shot's Funeral is a nice contrast to all those Very Serious movies set in the Very Distant past.

Puzzled?

Do you like to be puzzled? Do you like movies having a surprise ending?

Then it is a must to watch " Big Shot's Funeral" - a film about the difficult matter of making films. Sounds serious- but it isn't, in fact it is pretty funny.

Film within a Film

A documentary cameraman Yo-Yo(Ge You)is hired to document the way a fabulously successful director Don Tyler (Donald Sutherland) is remaking Bertulucci's movie "The Last Emperor". During the process of work the director feels more and more uninspired, if not disillusioned.

When understanding comes without Language

Lucy (Rosamund Kwan), his personal assistant tries hard to keep him going, but in a strange way Yo-Yo having no command of English touches him and arouses his interest. Due to a misunderstanding ( Lucy is trying to mediate between the two men) Tyler catches the idea that in China even a funeral is a comical event and asks Yo-Yo to arrange something like that for him just in case of his death.

To Be or Not to Be

When the director goes into coma, Yo-Yo starts immediately to arrange the whole thing. He approaches King ( Ying Da), a blond Chinese concert promoter, to make up the event as a gigantic media spectacle. How to finance such a comedy funeral? No big deal - product placement will help. When all space is sold - Tyler recovers, which clearly means that Yo-Yo is in big trouble and the film has to come to an end. The puzzle is solved in a surprising way - go and find out yourself.

As You Like It

For sure you won't regret going to the movies although you will not learn so much about China or Chinese culture and life styles. This film turns out to be a satire on media, commercialism and "Big Shots". And for all those who don't want to do without love - you do not have to.

Written by: Eva Behrendt, Dorothea Maurer, Martina Koepp, Karin Schmidt-

participants of the Berlinale- film - workshop "At the Movies",2002

It you plan to see this movie because you love Hong Kong Action, you will probably be disappointed. When I saw it some young kids left the cinema in the middle of the movie, since no one had been killed or beaten up yet.

For me this movie is more related to the American independent movie scene. The script is well written, the actors are excellent and the movie comments our society and life/death in general. Most of all it is a really fun movie. Totally unpredictable, totally wild at times, deep and philosophical at times, all in all the best comedy I have seen for at least a year!

I recommend this movie to you!

"Da Wan" is an absolutely brilliant satire. It portrays the onslaught of Western and capitalist culture in China, movie studios' obsession with the bottom-line as opposed to artistic merit, the fun and foibles of cross-cultural exchange, and the often rough intersections of business and identity. Car chases, explosions, and slick martial arts fight scenes are not to be found in this gem of a film.

I highly recommend it!

I feel that this movie was successful on many levels, not least of which being the natural movement in and out of Chinese and English - a tribute to the bi-lingual and bi-cultural understanding of the writers and actors. As a native speaker of both English and Mandarin, I never felt the dialogue to be stilted and, I felt it was well written in both languages. In fact, the writers and crew really brought to life the cultural clashes of when East meets West in more obvious and subtle ways to count. It would take a careful viewing with some very culturally fluent Chinese viewers to pick out many of the inside jokes.

Da Wan also succeeds in weaving together many different comedic forms. Not only is there clever use of slapstick and physical comedy, the film wittily integrates satire, irony, farce and a very Chinese brand of buddy comedy. Here, You Ge shines as straight man to Da Ying. Likewise Rosamund Kwan brings a real subtlety to her role as a Chinese American falling slowly for You Ge's Chinese, Chinese character. Though the movie doesn't hit you over the head with this, it is yet another way in which the movie subtly brings in an East meets West conflict.

The only part I find overtly questionable is the ending - at points, it feels contrived, though I still feel that it is competently executed. Perhaps just a bit too conventional for a movie that I feel otherwise seems fresh and uncliched.

The film is not without its flaws. The aforementioned ending is an example.

Also, Donald Sutherland's role near the end leaves something to be desired.

The character doesn't quite behave believably. However, overall, I would highly recommend this film. Clever, witty and culturally intelligent, it's surprisingly good.