Coosa Creek Mambo

I’ve thought that Asian films are where it’s at these days, but I base that opinion on an embarrassingly small set of data: Wong Kar-Wai, Hsiao Hsien Hou, Zhang Yimou, Tsai Ming Liang, Ang Lee (I know, I know, he’s more of an American than anything else, but gimme a break). Of course, I am able to comfort myself by pointing out that I live in the wilds of Alabama, in which there is not even a hint of an art theater. (Well, there is one I’d call a semi-arthouse in Montgomery, but that’s two hours away, and I’m getting old.)

But now I feel a little better, because while it’s true that if you live in Seattle, you’ll be able to see Hou’s latest or Wong’s or Park’s, and maybe a smattering of others if you’re in San Francisco or New York, there’s still a vast . . . well, middle-belly of Asian films out there that don’t get distribution in this country. And, strangely enough, they’re the ones our entertainment-oriented public might actually take to, if given half the chance. This from Derek Elley at Variety:

Far East moviemaking may seem to be well repped on the international map, but the reality is far different, with the West cherry-picking films that mirror either Euro-style art movies or out-of-date cultural cliches. No case is more egregious than that of Asia’s most populous nation — China — whose pic industry is still largely an undiscovered country.

Between the peaks of a handful of big-budget helmers (Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Jiang Wen, Feng Xiaogang) and the shoreline of “indie”-cum-”underground” hardcore auteurs (Jia Zhangke, etc.) lies a vast plain of midrange filmers whose pics are almost unseen outside Asia . . .

And what are the films strewn across this vast plain? Elley continues:

The problem isn’t making movies, it’s getting them shown — even within China, where local exhibs tend to discriminate against quality commercial fare. In that respect, China is not much different from any other country, and certainly closer to the Yank model of pure market forces dictating distribution rather than the European one of distribution and exhibition subsidies.

But . . . these middle-brow, entertaining Asian films don’t get distributed outside of China:

It’s a familiar story for mainland directors who just want to make regular movies that aren’t historical blockbusters or auteurist exercises. There’s now a generation of savvy helmers who feel disenfranchised by the local exhib/distrib system and ignored by the West.

Hmmm . . . methinks there’s a disconnect somewhere . . . Joe & Jane Blow film-goers complain that they just want to be entertained, and fair enough: that’s their right. And there’s a whole un-tapped country full of entertaining movies, ripe for the plucking, but they ain’t being plucked. Why not?

Well, I don’t think one of the reason’s a secret . . . they aren’t in English. That’s right, fellow film fans, they’re in a foreign tongue. If we could just get all those Chinese directors and scriptwriters and etc. to work in English, they might do a little better.

But wait, you say . . . I like movies in a foreign language, I’d go see some of these entertaining genre pics from mainland china. And that’s probably true: you and three other of your film-blogging buddies might go see Guan Hu’s Eyes of a Beauty, and the next thing you’d see is the distributor and exhibitor in the unemployment line, along with their wives and dogs and two point five kids.

Look at what Elley says does work outside of China: historical blockbusters and auteurist excercises. Pretty pictures and clashing armies — think Zhang — and director-focused, personal films, the kind at which Tsai and Hou excel. And it seems to me that the people up for a foreign flick must be of two varieties: the first — broader and more diverse (it includes chop-socky fan-boys and girls, historical romance lovers, as well as more standard cinephiles) enables films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero to be modestly successful. The other, much smaller group include the hard-core art house fans, who appreciate Crouching Tiger and Hero, but wistfully remember the good old days, when Anonioni was king and Truffaut could do no wrong. They’re the people who’ve worn out their Criterions playing Persona for anyone who’ll sit still long enough and observe a moment of silence every year on Kurosawa’s birthday (it’s March 23, by the way).

In other words, they’re people like me, and I resent being in the grip of market forces that prevent me from seeing the world’s greatest films. Maybe it’s time to admit that free-market capitalism doesn’t work for art any more than it works for health care or air travel or any number of other things . . . what about subsidizing art theaters like communities do art galleries? How about requiring theater chains to have “art access” theaters in the same way cable TV companies are required to have community access channels? There are a variety of ways we could boost the exhibition of quality cinema in this country if we put our minds to it.

Tags: Asian film, Hou, Tsai