Day: August 3, 2012

Love & Protest in Taiwan: LFM Reviews Girlfriend Boyfriend—GF BF

From "Girlfriend Boyfriend: GF-BF."

By Joe Bendel. In the 1980’s, student protesters across Taiwan started demanding a more democratic form of government. By 1997, the country functioned much like our own duly elected but media-driven dysfunctional system. While historic events unfold on a macro level, three classmates struggle with their own messily intertwined lives and loves in Yang Ya-che’s Girlfriend Boyfriend—GF BF (trailer here), which opens today in New York.

High school magazine editor Aaron is passionate about Mabel and the democracy movement. She likes him well enough and supports the cause, to an extent, but she really has eyes for Liam. Though he has affection for her too, it is definitely of the “just friends” variety. He pines for Aaron instead, but realizes that simply is not to be. Eventually, Aaron wins Mabel over, at least temporarily, but the three keep in close contact for the next decade or so, which leads to considerable pain and complications for them all. Meanwhile, they watch from the student barricades as political reform sweeps across Taiwan.

Granted, GF BF’s premise certainly lends itself to melodrama, but Yang’s approach to the material is unexpectedly restrained. Frankly, he passes up several golden opportunities for tearjerking. Similarly, he consistently eschews didacticism when depicting the student movement. In fact, the orderly, matter-of-fact manner the film portrays Taiwan’s revolutionary liberalization is rather surprising (and telling).

Nonetheless, GF BF has a wistful air of innocence lost that leaves quite an impression. Cinematographer Jake Pollock’s early candle-lit night scenes are particularly evocative. There is a real sense of time passing in the film, even though its ridiculously attractive cast never seems to age a crow’s foot over a dozen or so trying years.

From "Girlfriend Boyfriend: GF-BF."

Who would want to see Gwei Lun Mei age anyway? As Mabel, she vividly projects earnest sensitivity, without degenerating into an emotional basket case. It is a perfect starring vehicle for her. Likewise, Joseph Chang is also a pretty effective tortured slow burner as Liam. However, Rhydian Vaughan never really gets inside Aaron, leaving viewers with the impression of a rather shallow opportunist.

It is hard not to favorably compare the response to the Wild Lily Student Movement with the Tiananmen Square protests just one year earlier, but that is hardly GF BF’s central point. It is sort of like a Taiwanese Jules & Jim, intensified by tumultuous social change and the closeted homosexual dynamic added to their mismatched love story.

Like the lives it presents, GF BF can be a bit unwieldy, but it is consistently engaging viewing and also fascinating as a reflection of current Taiwanese socio-political attitudes. Recommended for those who enjoy a love triangle with a very definite sense of time and place, Girlfriend Boyfriend opens today (8/3) in New York at the AMC Empire and Village 7, as well as in San Francisco at the AMC Metreon and Cupertino Square, courtesy of China Lion Entertainment.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on August 3rd, 2012 at 11:35am.

Women’s Rights & Islam: LFM Reviews Invoking Justice @ The Asian American International Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. They are called Jamaats. In Muslim areas of Southern India, these neighborhood old boys’ networks supposedly apply sharia law. However, in practice, they regularly provide cover for abusive and even homicidal husbands. At least, such appears to be the case based on the evidence presented to the upstart women’s Jamaats. Deepa Dhanraj documents the efforts of the women’s Jamaat leaders to redress gender based injustices in Invoking Justice, which screens during this year’s Asian American International Film Festival in New York.

As per Indian custom, Islamic law officially supersedes secular law in the provincial south. It is a nice set-up if you are a man, particularly if you and your cronies are on the community Jamaat. If you are a woman, though, the system is literally rigged against you. However, a small but growing number of Muslim women have challenged the institutionalized misogyny by forming alternative women’s Jamaats. While their legal standing is rather iffy, especially by the local standards, the civilian police force has to deal with them. This often means the men’s Jamaats must as well, albeit rather grudgingly.

From "Invoking Justice."The kinds of cases women’s Jamaat activists investigate are frankly shocking, including several cases of spousal murder and one abused wife and mother desperately trying to divorce her pedophile husband. The women’s Jamaat founder Sharifa Khanam clearly knows the Koran and uses it to shame their male counterparts. Yet, on a fundamental level, they still acknowledge the primacy of Islamic law over civilian authority. Indeed, this begs an obvious question Dhanraj does her level best to ignore: is religious-based law compatible with any meaningful notion of justice? Indeed, viewers might well wonder if non-Muslims living in Tamil Nadu have any recourse for legal redress, whatsoever.

To be fair, Dhanraj largely adopts the observational approach, only sparingly mixing in traditional on-camera interview sequences. We see the Jamaat case-workers do the leg work and build the trust of families seeking their assistance. Tellingly, it is not just women who petition the women’s Jamaats for help, but often the male relatives of women who have been battered and even killed.

Invoking is certainly eye-opening stuff. However, if ever there was a film that could have benefited from a little confrontational showboating, it would have been this one. Ultimately, viewers will feel justice is not being served in Tamil Nadu and may well suspect the situation is even worse than it appears in Dhanraj’s documentary. Still, capturing courage on-screen is always a worthy endeavor. Earning a moderate recommendation for those concerned about the state of women’s affairs in the Islamic world, Invoking Justice screens this coming Saturday (8/4) at the Chelsea Clearview, as part of the 2012 AAIFF.

LFM GRADE: B-/C+

Posted on August 3rd, 2012 at 11:35am.