Xiang ji mao yi yang fei

I saw it during the Toronto International Film Festival. While the ending was a little ambiguous, something the director himself pointed out in a needlessly self-flagellating air, this film nevertheless is as clever and as witty as anything by Fassbinder, whom the director quoted after the film (in regards to their similar work aesthetic: Theatre one year, cinema the next).

One is even tempted to label the film with pretentious descriptions such as "Seventh Generation" to mark its originality. Caveat emptor, though: The examination of the influence of a particularly American form of mass media in China is merely one aspect of the film, and as such doesn't go for the docudrama format as characterized by such films as The Insider, and to a lesser degree, Quiz Show. The focus from one narrative mode to another is handled admirably, especially from someone with a theatrical background. In fact, the film is filled with visual puns that never overstay their welcome and a remarkable photographic eye for a director who has up until now worked a theatrical muse.