My Favorite Asian Films 94: Saturday Fiction

"Saturday Fiction"

2019 / China / Original Title: Lan Xin Da Ju Yuan / 126 minutes
Director: Lou Ye
Cast: Gong Li, Mark Chao, Pascal Greggory, Tom Wlaschiha, Huang Xiangli, Ayumu Nakajima, Wang Chuanjun, Zhang Songwen, Joe Odagiri

I think I have been misunderstanding director Lou Ye for a long time. I haven't seen that many of his films, but I had thought the ones I had seen so far were rather small, chamber-drama-like films, and I felt that changed with his previous work, "The Shadow Play".

This film is, surprisingly, a spy movie centered on the great actress Gong Li. The setting is the magical city of Shanghai just before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Gong Li plays a role as a famous actress who is also active as a spy. Since it is a spy film, I won't touch on the detailed story development any further, as it would be completely uninteresting if I spoiled it.

Now, about Gong Li. I have seen many of her starring films since her vivid debut in director Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum," and I believe she was around 52 or 53 years old at the time of filming this. However, her fundamental charm has not faded, and her noir-style action, including the gunfights, is also superb. The only thing is that her Japanese in the scene where she impersonates a Japanese woman is a bit halting, but for the Japanese officer Joe Odagiri, who is dazed by a hypnotic drug, it probably wouldn't feel out of place (laughs).

Joe Odagiri and Ayumu Nakajima also appear from Japan. Joe Odagiri plays a somewhat foolish role (pardon me), while Ayumu Nakajima plays a fierce, cold-blooded, martial-arts-oriented officer who perhaps symbolizes the Japanese of that era; both gave excellent performances.

The style feels a bit different from before, but the sense of realism and speed created by the frequent use of handheld cameras is what one would expect from Lou Ye. The plot, which intentionally blurs the boundary between the fiction of the stage play within the film and the fiction depicted by the film itself, moves back and forth between reality and unreality like a labyrinth or a Mobius strip, confusing the viewer. And the final resolution is nothing short of brilliant.

Following the previous work, this is a noir/action film, but it is also a pure love story. With its wonderful, somewhat dark monochrome visuals and thrilling plot, it is my favorite film among Lou Ye's works.

The film poster visual for this is also truly novel and wonderful. The bold design, which is not found in Japanese film posters, has a huge impact. Japanese designers might not be good at this kind of forceful, rough, and original design.

Official selection for the Competition section of the 76th Venice International Film Festival