Joe Bendel – Page 261 – LFM: Libertas Film Magazine

War and Famine in Henan Province: LFM Reviews Back to 1942

By Joe Bendel. Over the centuries, it has been tough to be a Chinese peasant. Famines have been a fact of life, but because they have been traditionally interpreted as a sign of heavenly displeasure with the ruling authorities, those in power have been more inclined towards denials than an activist response. Such was the case during the Great Leap Forward and such was the case during the Republican era, at least according to Feng Xiaogang’s latest historical epic, Back to 1942, which opens today in New York.

The war is not going well for the Nationalist forces, but Chiang Kai-shek is trying to keep up appearances with the Allies. He is looking to Henan’s granaries to support his beleaguered troops and his local administrators do not have the guts to explain the boots-on-the-ground reality to him. Faced with high taxes, drought, locusts, and the Imperial Japanese military, the peasants of Henan do what they have traditionally done: take flight to Shanxi.

It turns out the drought is a great leveler. Amongst the refugee contingent is Landlord Fan and his family, accompanied by their (sort of) faithful servant and their formerly resentful tenants. As they trudge towards an unwelcoming Shanxi, they are victimized by deserters and strafed by the Japanese, losing what little they had left. While the Nationalist government turns a blind eye, American journalist Theodore H. White sets out to shame them into action. Yet, even when relief is authorized, it is held up by graft and incompetence. So pervasive are the horrors, they might even cause the ardent Father Sim to lose his faith.

Back is a tough film to take. Based on Liu Zhenyun’s memoir (adapted by the author), Feng’s film puts his characters through the ringer for precious little pay-off. Granted, it was a bleak period of history, but viewers are still left with the feeling of “all that for this?” As one would expect from Feng (whose jingoistic Assembly happens to be a ripping good war film), Chiang Kai-shek rather takes it in the shins. However, the film arguably has a soft spot for trouble-making Americans, like White (indeed, defying authority is what we’re best at, or at least it used to be).

Like the inverse of Iron Man 3 casting Andy Lau, Back to 1942 recruited some name actors to appeal to the American market, including a not half bad Adrien Brody as White. Unfortunately, Tim Robbins looks completely out of place as Father Thomas Morgan. Almost as if by design, the refugee characters largely blend together into a throng of downtrodden humanity, but Assembly star Zhang Hanyu stands out as the humbled Father Sim; for shell-shocked angst, he is the man to get. Likewise, Ziwen “Fiona” Wang has her moments as Xingxing, the disillusioned former daughter of privilege.

Although Feng is remarkably adept at staging big warfighting scenes, there is little of the spectacle of battle in Back. Instead, he concentrates on the overflowing transports and teeming masses of refugees. It is all quite a big, impressive production, but after a while it becomes exhausting overkill. For hardy war movie enthusiasts, it opens today (11/30) at the AMC Empire and Village VII and in San Francisco at the AMC Mercado, courtesy of China Lion Entertainment.

LFM GRADE: C+

Posted on November 30th, 2012 at 12:46pm.

Scott Adkins Enlists: LFM Reviews Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

By Joe Bendel. How did Luc Deveraux go from being the hero of the original Universal Soldier to the messianic villain of the latest installment? One can hardly tell from the five previous of films. While only two or possibly three are considered “canonical,” none bear much narrative relationship to each, besides some shared names and unreconstructed 1980’s style action. At least 1999’s The Return had Kianna Tom, and the latest outing recruits Scott Adkins. Somewhat fittingly, the action star of the future is out for revenge against an action star of the past in John Hyams’ Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, which opens today in New York.

One night, Luc Deveraux broke into innocent citizen John’s home, killing his wife and daughter and leaving the man in a coma. When John comes to, he is interviewed by an FBI agent, who conveniently points him in Deveraux’s direction. Of course, the audience can immediately tell it is all an implanted memory designed to turn John into a vengeful tool of the government. Nonetheless, the opening segment’s violent cruelty is a definite buzz kill.

As John proceeds on his manipulated mission, Deveraux and his band of rogue Unisols try to stop him with a series of hallucinatory messages and some straight forward muscle provided by Magnus, one of the most recently “awakened” Unisols enlisted into Deveraux’s doomsday cult. While Deveraux and his apparently immortal former nemesis Andrew Scott have developed a serum to counteract the Unisol programming, it appears that its net effect merely switches their blind obedience to Deveraux, himself. Frankly, there seems to be plenty good reason for the Feds to be hunting Deveraux, regardless of their methods.

From "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning."

For some reason, a number of critics have embraced Reckoning even though it merely revisits the same sort of terrain John Frankenheimer’s infinitely superior Manchurian Candidate first staked out decades ago. At this point, the film’s moral ambiguity and government paranoia are so old hat, they are just plain boring.

Still, bringing in Adkins helps. He will be making action films long after his above-the-title Expendables 2 co-stars. Playing to his strengths, there are a few nifty fight sequences, including a particularly well choreographed melee in a sporting goods store. As Adkins’ baseball bat wielding opponent, former UFC Champ Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski nicely steps into the Randall “Tex” Cobb-ish role of Magnus.

Watching Adkins and Van Damme have another go at each other is certainly entertaining, but Reckoning lacks both the slickness and the self-awareness of a quality B-movie beatdown like the old school Assassination Games. Hyams (son of Peter) seems to want to do Universal Soldier as adapted by Philip K. Dick, but most fans would rather see the Golan-Globus version. Not nearly as original as it believes it is, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (or UniSol 3½) is only recommended for hardcore Adkins and franchise die-hards when it opens today (11/30) in New York at the Village East.

LFM GRADE: C

Posted on November 30th, 2012 at 12:45pm.

Martial Arts Noir: LFM Reviews Dragon

By Joe Bendel. China is a big country. In 1917, a man could get lost there if he had a reason to. A court investigator suspects an unassuming paper-mill worker is such a person in Peter Ho-sun Chan’s martial arts historical-procedural Dragon (a.k.a. Wu Xia), which opens this Friday in New York.

One day, Liu Jin-xi wandered into town, catching the eye of Ayu, a single mother deserted by her husband. Liu married her, adopting her clan name and providing the sort of stability she yearned for. Then one day two escaped convicts start terrorizing the community. Liu dispatches them with a series of “lucky shots” in an unlikely melee that could have been choreographed by one of the great silent film comedians. Or perhaps not.

Xu Bai-jiu is not buying it. Highly skilled in arcane knowledge, the investigator can practically see Liu radiating chi. Putting two and two together, Xu deduces Liu is actually Tang Long, the presumptive heir of the ruthless 72 Demons criminal clan. Unfortunately, Xu’s efforts with the corrupt judiciary attract the attention of the 72 Demons, who come reclaim their turncoat brother, one way or another.

Considering Wu Xia (as Dragon was then known) broke Michael Jackson’s record for the largest public billboard, one might expect it to be a big sprawling epic. Yet, Dragon is a moody character driven piece, dominated by the cat-and-mouse game played by Donnie Yen’s Liu and Takeshi Kaneshiro’s Xu. Of course, action director Yen does his thing when the Demons show up – including late 1970’s Shaw Brothers superstar Kara Hui, who appears as the Demon Master’s lethal wife. Fans will be happy to hear he stages some great smack-down action, including a super finale smartly incorporating the film’s holistic themes.

Yen has the right mix of affability and earnestness for Tang-trying-to-be-Liu. Yet it is Xu who emerges as the film’s truly tragic figure. Cerebral and intense to the point of snapping, Kaneshiro makes a great movie anti-hero. A man who uses acupuncture to deaden his emotions and holds regular dialogues with his subconscious, Xu’s unyielding fealty to the letter of the law bears bitter fruit for everyone, most definitely including himself. Tang Wei is also right on the money as the sensitive Ayu, still struggling with abandonment issues.

Chan knows his way around the set of a large scale action film, having helmed The Warlords and produced Teddy Chen’s high octane Bodyguards and Assassins. He certainly delivers the martial arts goods, but it is his early scenes establishing Liu as a family man, filmed with a pastoral beauty by Jake Pollock or Lai Yiu-fai, that set-up the film’s dramatic essence so effectively. It is a life viewers will agree is worth fighting for. Smarter and more emotionally engaging than most wuxia period action films, Dragon (or Wu Xia) is highly recommended for genre fans when it opens this Friday (11/30) in New York at the Village East.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on November 27th, 2012 at 11:22am.

Polo, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: LFM Reviews Beware of Mr. Baker

By Joe Bendel. Notorious British Rock and Jazz drummer Ginger Baker is the sort of difficult individual people often call a “character” to be polite. There is plenty of “character” talk going on throughout a new warts-and-all documentary profile of the former Cream musician. However, some of his very former colleagues choose not to mince their words in Jay Bulger’s Beware of Mr. Baker, which opens this Wednesday at Film Forum.

Baker is the king of widely acclaimed but short-lived bands, like Cream, Blind Faith, Ginger Baker’s Airforce, Masters of Reality, and a dynamite legit jazz band Baker formed during his Colorado residency. He is a major reason why each outfit struck a chord with listeners and critics alike, and also the primary cause of their premature demise. Just ask Eric Clapton, Baker’s colleague from Cream and Blind Faith. Bulger does exactly that. While the timeless guitarist tries to be diplomatic, it is clear Baker the Wildman scared the holy heck out of him—and probably still does.

It is mind-blowing to watch Baker’s repeating pattern of career comebacks cut short by self-sabotage. A case in point would be his African sojourn, partly documented in Tony Palmer’s rather engaging Ginger Baker in Africa. Arguably at the height of his fame, Baker went off the grid, traveling to a decidedly unstable Nigeria to explore traditional forms of music. Yet somehow he managed to fall in with Fela Kuti, who was not particularly inclined towards Europeans appropriators, only to alienate the musician-activist by joining the Nigerian ruling class’s Polo Club (that part Palmer misses out on).

In fact, polo has often been the downfall of Mr. Baker. Those ponies are expensive and they draw the attention of tax inspectors like a magnet. Still, the polo club Baker founded in Colorado and the jazz concerts his group gave after matches emerges in Bulger’s account as a brief high point in the drummer’s chaotic life.

While not Bulger’s uppermost concern, Beware makes a compelling case on behalf of Colorado’s local jazz talent. If you can satisfy Ginger Baker, than you can play with anyone. In fact, he had a great ear, recruiting excellent musicians like Fred Hess and trumpeter Ron Miles, who also appears as an interview subject. Of course, most of the film’s potential audience will be more interested in the likes of Clapton, Steve Winwood, Stones drummer Charlie Watts, Cream bassist Jack Bruce, Johnny Rotten, Lars Ulrich, Stewart Copeland, Femi Kuti, and various ex-wives. If there is anyone Bulger couldn’t get, they aren’t missed.

There is something perversely inspiring about Baker’s resiliency. He keeps doing it his way, regardless of the consequences. Beware captures all the madness of the Ginger Baker experience, but Bulger tries his best not to let it overshadow the music. Naturally, Baker is often his own worst enemy in this respect. Yet, somehow viewers will want to listen to Baker’s classic tracks after witnessing his spectacularly anti-social behavior. That is a neat trick Bulger deserves mucho credit for pulling off. A thoroughly entertaining documentary chocked full of unforgettable headshaking, face-palming moments, Beware of Mr. Baker is recommended for fans of rock, jazz, world music, and all around excess when it opens this Wednesday (11/28) at New York’s Film Forum.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on November 27th, 2012 at 11:21am.

LFM Reviews Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria @ The African Diaspora International Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. They lack the official recognition of the Falasha Ethiopians, but a small group of Igbo Nigerians remain convinced they are part of one of the ten lost tribes of Israel. ‘Small’ would be the word to emphasize here; in a country almost entirely divided between Christian and Muslim believers, Jewish Nigerians are a distinct minority. Nonetheless, growing numbers of Igbos are embracing Judaism as part of their heritage. Jeff L. Lieberman documents their lives and faith in Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria, which screens as part of the 2012 African Diaspora International Film Festival in New York.

It is complicated, but many Igbo believe they are the modern day descendants of the Tribe of Gad. It could certainly be possible, but it would have been one arduous trek. One has to have a little faith. Still, the Jewish Igbo point to striking ways their language and culture corresponds to Hebrew and Jewish religious practices. Tragically, the Igbo experience during the 1967-1970 Nigerian Civil War also somewhat paralleled that of European Jewry during World War II, with an estimated three million Igbo killed due to the massacres and economic blockades perpetrated by the Muslim north.

ReEmergingJewsofNigeria — From "Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria."

Whether Eri, fifth son of Gad, really made it to Nigeria hardly matters to Rabbi Howard Gorin, who emerges in Re-Emerging as one of the most impassioned international advocates for the Jewish Igbos. Like Rabbi Gorin, the Jewish scholars who have visited the Igbo community describe the experience for Lieberman as inspiring and even humbling.

Indeed, there are some surprisingly affecting moments in Re-Emerging. Lieberman also supplies a good deal of helpful cultural-historical context without bogging down the film in anthropological minutia. Nor does Lieberman turn a blind eye on the institutional corruption afflicting Nigeria at large. Yet he raises the intriguing question of what Igbo Judaism might mean for African-Americans, many of whom are descended from captured Igbo slaves, without fully exploring the implications.

Re-Emerging is an informative film that broadens one’s perspective on both the Jewish and African Diasporas. Indeed, it is a laudably inclusive selection of this year’s ADIFF that ought to expand the festival’s audience. Recommended for multicultural and multi-faith audiences, Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria screens next Monday (12/3) at the Columbia Teachers College Chapel as the 2012 ADIFF continues in venues throughout New York.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on November 27th, 2012 at 11:21am.

LFM Reviews Toussaint Louverture @ The African Diaspora International Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Toussaint Louverture was a freed slave, an abolitionist, and a onetime slave-owning plantation master. He led an epic life dramatized in all its messy glory throughout Philippe Niang’s two part French miniseries, Toussaint Louverture (trailer here), which screens in its entirety as the centerpiece selection of the 2012 African Diaspora International Film Festival in New York.

Told in flashbacks, viewers know right from the start that Napoleon will eventually have his fill of Louverture, consigning him to prison, where his lackeys interrogate the Haitian general for the whereabouts of an apocryphal buried treasure. In a way, Louverture was lucky to be there. Having watched a cruel slaver murder his father, the young Louverture would have been next had Bayon, a more humane plantation holder, not interceded (evidently, this scene involves some dramatic license, but so be it). Recognizing the boy’s talents, Bayon somewhat reluctantly teaches Louverture to read and even grants him his freedom as a young man. The evolving, cliché-defying relationship between the two men is one of the strongest elements of this bio-drama.

Eventually, Louverture takes arms, but again this is complicated. Serving as an officer first for the Spanish and then the French, Louverture fought against every European power in Haiti at one time or another. Although he is an abolitionist, Louverture strives to maintain strategic ties to the colonial landlords. The Louverture Niang shows the audience is not a class warrior. He wants to keep their capital in Haiti—he just doesn’t want to be considered part of it. However, this inevitably brings conflict with hotter heads intent on score-settling.

Indeed, the tragedy of Niang’s Louverture is the way cynical white, black, and mulatto Haitians exploit racial resentment to further their power games. It is also fascinating to see how the chaos of the French Revolution shaped events a hemisphere away. However, given Louverture’s reputation as one of history’s great revolutionaries, many viewers will be surprised that there are no battle scenes in Niang’s production, just the anticipation and consequences of armed conflict.

Jimmy Jean-Louis as Toussant Louverture.

Something of a throwback to the epic historical minis of the 1980’s, Louverture is sweeping, melodramatic, and ennobling in a very satisfying way. As one might expect, Jimmy Jean-Louis’s dynamic lead performance is the key. He is suitably intense, without allowing Louverture to degenerate into a fire-breathing revolutionary stereotype. Likewise, Philippe Caroit genuinely humanizes the French old guard as the decidedly un-Legree-ish Bayon.

A French television veteran, Niang’s tele-movie Prohibited Love (which screened at the 2010 ADIFF) also dealt with racial themes pointedly, but without wallowing in didacticism. Louverture is even better. In fact, it should appeal to audiences across the ideological spectrum, aside from any odd remaining Bonapartists out there. Appealingly old fashioned, Toussaint Louverture is a well produced period drama, recommended for history buffs and Francophone audiences when it screens next Saturday and Sunday (12/1 and 12/2) as the centerpiece of this year’s ADIFF.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on November 23rd, 2012 at 12:12pm.