Kinamand

A rare gem as a Sino-Danish venture, this film is about the ordinary human existence of living without drama and love unexpressed. Our protagonist is a dumpy, boring plumber who plays chess. Unsurprisingly, his wife of many years is unexcited and wants to leave him. Keld, our plumber, has little to do with little money to spend so he routinely visits a restaurant each night which leads to our story.

Keld, played by Bjarne Henriksen is convincingly boring and homely. His excitement for the day is choosing between #4 and #5 on the Chinese menu. A pro forma marriage to help payments for his divorce turns to be the most colorfully warm moment in his life. He learns to love Ling as he awkwardly fits into the Chinese family. Ling, played by Vivian Wu is mysterious, beautiful, and traditional. One has to wonder whether she loves Bjarne, but it is apparent that she does have a quiet caring affection for him. But neither can verbally communicate love to each other. Another restaurant patron (Kunde) voices first concern for the interracial relationship and then offers wisdom that not expressing love is like purgatory, not between heaven and hell. If you don't do anything, he says, you can't go either way and it is worst.

The acting is terrific, truthful and humble. There are touching moments as when Keld is practicing to profess his feelings in mandarin. Or when his son rats on him to get him in trouble -- the investigators say there was no evidence of a marriage (or love?). So painful for Keld and the audience since we know what is apparent to some isn't true. And there are funny, candid moments such as Keld sitting awkwardly between the elderly couple in the silk robe in front of the Chinese television programming. Or when he pretends to speak of love in mandarin in front of the immigration official.

A quiet gem of the ordinary human experience. Even a boring existence is priceless.

Chinaman (2005)

A completely sweet, slow but never plodding, predictable but never boring movie. Yes, all those things. It's the sweetness of the main character, who is admittedly a bit of a lug wrench socially, who lifts this story very far. His love interest, of sorts, is perhaps too restrained (we would say inscrutable in the old days), but maybe that's appropriate. I have a funny feeling not really, not necessarily, in 2005.

But overall, there is an update of what multiculti means in contemporary Europe, and in a prosaic way. Beautifully, but again respectfully, filmed, and acted with gentle, precise, grace. A nice film, a very good film, and certainly a feel good film whatever the tragic aspects. I'd not miss it.

"Chinaman" is a deceptive film. While it appears very simple and perhaps even a comedy on the surface, the film is much deeper, more sensitive and very engaging. I must warn you though, this is NOT a film everyone will like. It does not have a happy Hollywood style ending and the film is pretty unconventional. As for me, I liked that the film didn't try to fit a formula and didn't even mind the sad portions of the film. But I do recommend you have some Kleenex nearby--just in case.

At the beginning of the film, Keld's wife tells him that she's leaving him for good. You have absolutely no idea why or what their marriage had been like--all you know is that she wants out as soon as possible. Not surprisingly, Keld is depressed and directionless--and Bjarne Henriksen makes this very apparent in his performance. Part of his depression and directionless is evident in his habits. He goes to the same Chinese restaurant every night and he sells off all his furniture. Sitting in an empty apartment, Keld is just drifting through life--waiting for his divorce to be final.

One evening when he's at the Chinese restaurant, the place's plumbing goes crazy and Keld jumps into action. After all, he is a plumber. And through the course of this, Keld and the owner of the restaurant become friends--so much so that his new friend makes him a VERY unusual proposition. He wants Keld to marry his sister, Ling, in order to allow her to remain in the country. Naturally, it will be a marriage in name only. She'll move in with Keld but their relationship will be business. However, rather expectedly, a closeness develops between them and after a while, Keld realizes he's falling in love with his new wife. Now the rest of the film is NOT what you'd expect--it is a very unusual film to say the least. But, Henriksen's excellent performance and the film's nice direction and script really hooked me. A very unusual and bittersweet film--and one that left me very impressed.

I saw the film today, and seldom have I been so touched by a movie. Not only I, but most of the cinema was going through the emotions of laughing and crying, as we were following the story of Keld and Ling. Being a Dane married to a Chinese woman myself, I could strongly relate to how the oriental mystique and beauty was affecting Keld's life so much. I have always been a great fan of Vivian Wu, and I think that her performance in this movie was great, even though it is a smaller part than for instance my all-time favorite "Pillow Book". Bjarne Henriksen who carries most of the film, gives a great performance, demonstrating what a truly great actor he is. One of my favorite moments in the film is a pan over the area where the main events take place. To me it displayed how fragile life is. It also matches beautifully with a similar pan later in the movie that I will not reveal. I personally think that Henrik Ruben Genz has created a masterpiece.

Being in the U.S.A., I kept expecting this lovely poignant film to crumble into gratuitous violence or some other cheap surprise. As it went on, keeping everyone's motives human and showing them coming to do the right things in relationships, it ended up resting at the top of my recommendation list (even above Antonia's Line). Besides the simple story and impressive character acting by everyone, the experience and skill apparent in the lighting, color choices and sequence of each scene, the interesting angles of every take, and the top drawer casting were all distractingly above the norm. I kept thinking, 'Wow!' Still not sure why this is in the comedy category. We were out of Kleenex by the end, and totally content. If the English subtitles were big enough to read, it would be perfect.