Zen Noir

I went to this movie with great hopes. Knowing it was written by a zen student, I too a zen student looked forward. I was not disappointed. Some cliché and old myths run by, yet the creativity and NOIR style of the film was excellent. It was very funny as well. My concern is that the film may best be appreciated by those in the know on zen only. But I have recommended this film to every 'spiritual' person I know. Dealing with the notion of death and change is not an easy thing, but this film deals with these issues in an amusing, enjoyable, yet penetratingly deep fashion. The inclusion of Kim Chan is a stroke of genius. He's great as the old zen master.

A detective receives a call about a murder at the Buddhist Temple. He enters the Zendo, with his gun drawn, and pointing it at the rows of black-clad, shaven-headed meditators, shouts "Nobody move!" Now, if you get the humor in that, this film is for you. If you do not get the humor in that, please avoid this one; you'll feel bored, confused, and cheated.

This is a clever little Indie about the zen experience. The casting is good, the dialog sufficient. It's funny and sad and pithy and cosmic, and the writer/director struggled for many years to make it happen, but it's a film for insiders only. There was a steady stream of people leaving the theatre the night I saw it - maybe 20% of the audience left the place -- which is unusual for San Francisco. People are usually on the patient side here, especially with "art films" and exotica. Even I did not stay for q & a with Rosenbush. As I mingled with the crowd leaving the theatre at the end of the film I was hearing a lot of negative comments, but they were the comments of people who had no idea what they had just seen. How many people have a background in emptiness and egolessness? These are just not common concepts in American pop culture.

This film is opening in a dozen cities next month, which is good, but there should be a disclaimer so a lot of people don't waste their money, time and attention, and give it a bad rap, which it definitely does not deserve.

P.S. For a much more accessible treatment of Buddhism, see the diamond-perfect Korean film "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring Again." No pre-requisites for that one.

P.P.S. - I got a real kick out of the review from Boulder. Ha! If there ever was a film made for Boulder Buddhists, this is it. Probably the only place on earth, outside Dharmsala, that would draw a packed house and a standing ovation. ha!

At the Moondance Festival in Boulder, CO. the small Chataqua community house was packed to the rafters as the movie that won the Sand Castle award for "best feature film" played. The questions people ask is how did he set the orange on fire (and there were lots of oranges) and where did he get the idea to make a farce about a comical noir detective using ancient Chinese Buddhist humor? And at the same time, he raises existential questions (not answering every one of them for us) to leave us with a movie koan to watch over and over again. It was the easiest meditation I sat through (yes you had to sit for 71 minutes) but the pythonesque humor gets you through it...theater that lives on and on. Kim Chan fans should try to stay until the end of the credits, if they want to see him having fun, too. Beautiful imagery, fine performances.

"Zen Noir" is overall an enjoyable film with a decent storyline, but it has many amateurish elements that weaken the production significantly.

The story involves a nameless detective investigating a possible murder at a Buddhist temple, only to find his perspective on life challenged and transformed as he learns more about the situation. It's a simple concept that presents a pretty broad illustration of some Buddhist tenets, but the detective's character arc is engaging and strong enough to carry the story. I did not find the film's treatment of Buddhism too esoteric, as it concentrates mostly on the detective's perspective and growth.

The writing is mostly clever but has uneven parts. Despite the film's overall dedication to witty and unexpected dialogue, it includes moments like a sophomoric "laypeople are people who can get laid" joke. The comedic aspects in general feel very forced and weak, consisting of silly and predictable gags or very awkward slapstick. The director clearly didn't know how to make slapstick acting visually funny but insisted on trying a few times anyway, disrupting the film's otherwise thoughtful flow.

The detective and the monks are adequate actors, but the woman playing Jane proved very dull and tedious. It felt as if she was cast primarily to pad out the film by speaking very, very slowly as if she was bored with the script. The biggest problem with Jane is that we're supposed to care about her character, but she doesn't have any particular appeal or even interesting qualities.

The film is only 70 minutes, though, so if the concept of a hard-boiled detective investigating at a Buddhist temple sounds entertaining or amusing, you can probably get some enjoyment from Zen Noir. Honestly, if this film had been cut down to a mere 45 minutes, it would probably have contained all its necessary and most engaging elements.

Wow. You won't see ANY films like this. Completely original. Funny, mysterious, slightly disturbing. HIghly recommend. And, if you know anything about Zen Buddhism, a must see. This filmmaker has created a little work of art in Zen Noir. It takes you on a ride that is constantly throwing you off balance, and whacking your synapses in weird places, but in a humorous almost loving way. He creatively merges the worlds of Film Noir and Zen Buddhism, and they blend together perfectly. You definitely leave with more questions than you went in with. I'd tell ya more, but I don't want to be a spoiler. Actually, I think this is unspoilable. I'm still not even sure what happened.