Ye ben

Apart from the 1948 Chrysler featured in many scenes that were ostensibly meant to depict China in about 1939, this is not a film to be challenged as to its settings. Everything about it suggests authenticity, even to the point of wondering whether it was based on fact. Although the story itself has some structural flaws in coherence, it is a very well made movie indeed.

I was struck by the musical score especially; it is by far one of the most expert blendings of Eastern and Western tonality I have heard in cinema. While traditional Chinese opera remains a mystery to me, I can appreciate how it must be essential to any full understanding of the story line. (Though "stagey" is the adjective that comes to mind, in terms of both the film and the opera within the film.)

Indeed, there is more than a little soap opera here. I am thinking Stella Dallas as played by Anna Mae Wong, or Love is A Many Splendored Thing with two guys in the main roles. But I am being facetious. I really liked this movie for its heart, and recommend it highly.

I do wish I had more information on the actors and director, however. I have no way of knowing whether this came out of Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or somewhere else.

I saw this film recently on TV and even on a small screen found it a wonderful viewing experience.

The story moves along at a graceful pace allowing us to observe a 'classic' love triangle in the context of 1930s Chinese culture. Others have provided excellent plot overviews and I would encourage you to read them below.

This film reminded me of the 'love' issues raised from a different angle in the Korean movie 'Bungee Jumping of Their Own'. Both movies tackle challenging subjects in a sensitive manner and leave you thinking about the characters and the plot for months afterward.

I am keen to see 'Ye ben' on a big screen and encourage anyone who wants a truly moving experience to do likewise.

For me - 9/10

FLEEING BY NIGHT (Ye Ben)

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1

Sound format: Dolby Digital

Tianjin, the late 1930's: A young cellist (Huang Lei) returns home from studies abroad and makes preparations to marry his childhood sweetheart (Rene Liu), the daughter of a wealthy businessman. But the relationship is soured when Huang meets and falls in love with a male Chinese opera singer (Yin Chao-te) who is being pimped by his mentor to a local gangster (Tai Li-jen). Tragedy ensues.

Several key personnel from CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON were reunited for this Chinese/Taiwanese co-production, including co-director Hsu Li-kong (longtime associate of director Tsai Ming-liang) and co-writer Wang Hui-ling. While it's a pleasant surprise to find a government-sanctioned Chinese film addressing a number of previously taboo subjects (corruption and hypocrisy in high places, gay romance, etc.), the results are decidedly mixed. Hsu's historical drama (co-directed with Yin Chi) relies for much of its dramatic impact on a measured accumulation of narrative details, mixed with all the expected trappings of traditional Chinese melodrama (villainous gangsters, thwarted love, enduring loyalty, lifelong tragedy, etc.). Too much time is spent on Huang's doomed relationship with Liu, and the subsequent romance between Huang and Lin is thwarted at every turn, frustrating audience expectations and leading some critics to question the film's sexual politics.

More a tragedy than a love story, the narrative builds to a genuinely heartbreaking conclusion: Few will be unmoved by a blunt, devastating sequence at the end of the movie in which Huang and Yin are 'reunited' after many years apart, all the more heartbreaking for the understated manner in which it is staged. Huang (LIFE ON A STRING, THE PHANTOM LOVER) makes an attractive and sympathetic protagonist, while Yin smoulders intensely in a difficult role, and Liu (who made an impressive debut five years earlier in the title role of SIAO YU) is quietly effective as the understanding wallflower laid low by her fiancée's deceit. Equally memorable is Tai, playing the nominal 'villain' as a sympathetic character hidebound by traditions and his place within Chinese society. Ultimately, some viewers will reject the film's deliberate pacing, while others will embrace its unassuming stateliness and grand romantic heart.

(Mandarin dialogue)

It is a story about two men and a woman --- more likely two boys and a girl as they were innocent and confused in their own way.

There may be no more complicated things than three kinds of love twisted between three close friends constantly influenced by surroundings. There are other films about this triangle, but set in the unsettling historic period before the country's new foundation and mixed with the fascinating Chinese verbal culture of Kun drama, this film offers one of the deepest and most overwhelming cinematic experiences I've ever had. Lei Huang and Rene Liu, as usual, brought forward nostalgically exquisite acting and Chris Babida's music was just as graceful as his any other works. Chao-te Yin was a surprising found, handsome with both manly fortitude and feminine delicacy.

It's original, subtle and very literarily poetic. The dialogues are sometimes so neotericly literary that it almost reminds me of Lu Xun, Lao She and all those great writers once in the junior Chinese books. Thus, some pieces were very unnatural as being said by the characters, but I think there is no problem alike when you only get their meanings from the subtitles, but also that's when some of its unique charm lost. I guess that's a universal problem when it comes to foreign language films.

It may not be perfect due to some factitious parts here and there, which in no way harm the beauty and depth on the whole. Most importantly, it manages to tell us: love is multifarious, but the universal truth about it is it comes from the heart. Be it tortured by circumstances, it will always find a way to last.

Strongly recommend it to Chinese viewers who need a nostalgic introspection and foreign film lovers who want something totally different from other foreign language cinematic experiences (Chinese ones of exclusive lower-class depiction included).

The film is well made and does have several moments that are very cinematic. However, it should not be trumpeted as an Art film just because it presents an alternative lifestyle. If the characters were straight, we would be looking at a normal love story.

I think this point is important because 2 other films came to mind as I was watching Ye Ben, namely Happy Together and In the Mood for Love. Both films were directed by Wong Kar Wai. It is when you contrast Ye Ben to Wong's films that you realise what is Art and what is not. In Happy Together, you could have a straight relationship and the movie would still be considered an Art film. This is supported by In the Mood for Love.

But Art aside, Ye Ben can stand on its own merits.