CHINA DAILY FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2012 lifearts 19

EDITOR’S PICKS

Classic story of romance returns Rhinoceros in Love, the only China contemporary drama that has run A love 1,000 times, returns to town. Zoo keeper Ma Lu falls crazily in love with his neighbor Ming Ming, but the latter loves someone else. Ma does all he can for her but Ming sacrifi ces everything for the other guy. Sounds like a cliched love triangle story? Find out why it has been called a “love bible” since its debut in June 1999 letter to and what has attracted some 368,000 people in 36 cities including in Austra- lia to line up for tickets. For those who are in love or were once in love, this is a play not to be missed. It is also considered the best work by director Meng Jinghui and his playwright wife Liao Yimei. Th e couple did it when they were not so Shanghai famous. Now Meng is known as Chi- na’s best avant-garde theater director and has thousands of fans. His every new play is sold out. Still, Rhinoceros in Love is his best work. 7:30 pm, until Aug 12. Poly Th eater, 14 Dongzhimen Nandajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6506-5343. — CHEN JIE

Chinese-American fi lmmaker Janet Yang has worked on a few cross-cultural movies over the past few decades. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Cutting-edge artists present unique show One of Hollywood’s most famous Chinese faces works behind the screen, and she has stirred a If you are tired of the commercially driven paintings, prints and sculptures Raymond Zhou at the galleries and auctions, check out cocktail of expatriate-in-Shanghai material into a comedy of cultural errors, writes . the sub-phenomena exhibition at Cafa Art Museum. Th e exhibition encompasses about f Midnight in Paris is Woody done well in any case. We’ll never 200 artworks from 93 cutting-edge Allen’s love letter to the know,” Yang reminisces. “I person- Chinese artists from Hong Kong, Tai- French capital, Shanghai Call- ally really like the songs, both the wan, the Chinese mainland and other ing can be seen as Janet Yang’s melodies and lyrics.” parts of the world. An 80-member jury, comprising love letter to the “Oriental Shanghai Calling is definitely museum directors, art critics, curators, PearlI on the Huangpu River”. We kept going back and harder to pull off . It is a comedy that veteran artists and art professors from Th e romantic comedy, opening on straddles two cultures. After Yang the world over, selected the artists Aug 10, nationwide, presents Shang- forth to imagine how it signed on as producer, she sat down from among some 300 candidates. hai as a series of postcard-pretty would play to both Chi- with Daniel Hsia, the writer-director, Th e artworks include oil paintings, ‘ experimental ink pieces, watercolors, scenes full of landmark buildings. ‘ to fi ne-tune the script. nese and Western audi- pencil drawings, videos, lithographs, Take away the non-stop laughfest, it ences, and we wondered “We kept going back and forth to multimedia, sculptures and installa- can still function as a pleasant travel imagine how it would play to both tions. piece. all along if the fi lm would Chinese and Western audiences, Unlike previous exhibitions about The first film Janet Yang was be better received in one and we wondered all along if the works by young artists, mostly stu- dents from art academies, this exhibi- involved in was also set in Shanghai. country or another.” fi lm would be better received in one tion comprises young artists from Empire of the Sun is about a bunch country or another,” she says in an diff erent education backgrounds, who JANET YANG Daniel Henney and Eliza Coupe play the lead roles in Shanghai Calling. portray their lives and their inner feel- of British citizens living in the Chi- PRODUCER OF SHANGHAI CALLING interview with China Daily. nese city and imprisoned by Japa- Yang’s acute bicultural sensibil- ings in a fast-changing society. nese invaders during WWII. Th at ity helped ensure that China in the Expected to be held once every two years, the exhibition particularly was a Shanghai torn and scarred by movie be not seen from an outsider’s A COMEDY ABOUT EXPATS examines the impact of sub-cultures the fi res of war. Th e massive crowd not purely Chinese. As such, it did not point of view. Cheap shots such as on the younger generation of Chinese scene as refugees fl ed Japanese sol- get much initial attention in China “as Sam encountering a squat toilet in artists. diers is a picture of horror and suf- it did not seem to shed any new light his posh apartment were removed If there is such a genre as expa- Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Viewers may fi nd that many of the fering. for Chinese”, but its Stateside success because “we would lose signifi cant triate movies, Shanghai Calling of Life, which fl aunt like a badge works on show are inspired by new fi ts the bill perfectly. It is about a of honor their inaccuracies in trends on the Internet such as micro Yang was working at Universal eventually spilled over to China. credibility with the Chinese audi- blog, parody clips on video sharing Studios selling American mov- Another cross-cultural fi lm Yang ence”. Chinese-American attorney fi nd- their portrayal of China so that ing himself “airlifted” to Shanghai. anyone with a modicum of China sites, hot topics discussed in social net- ies to China when Spielberg’s team produced was Dark Matter, starring If pre-screenings like the one at the working and gaming websites. Contrary to popular belief, Sam exposure would laugh it off as approached her. She considers that Meryl Streep and Liu Ye, which tells Shanghai International Film Festi- 9 am-5 pm, until Sept 6. Cafa Art Chao is not eager to embrace his ridiculous. experience of working with the mas- the sad story of a Chinese student val are any indication, Yang and her Museum, 8 Huajiadi Nanjie, Chaoyang Chinese roots. Daniel Hsia, who wrote and district, Beijing. 010-6477-1637. ter an “incredible privilege”. whose failure to adapt to American team have much to laugh about. Humor erupts with cultural directed Shanghai Calling, — ZHU LINYONG Yang’s involvement with Chi- college life resulted in a rampage of “We’ve found audiences on both clashes. But much of it is not spent months in Shanghai to do na went back further. Before she violence and death. sides of the Pacific laugh uproari- derived from Chao’s contact with research and talk to people. The entered Hollywood, she had worked When the accomplished Chi- ously, albeit sometimes at diff erent local Shanghainese, but rather cumulative expertise can be felt a year at Beijing’s Foreign Language nese-American producer was hired parts.” The fundamental reason is, from his exposure to the local through details and nuances that Press, and then ran a company in to spin off Disney’s highly coveted “the characters are uniformly likable” expat community, whose mem- are possible usually from long San Francisco to distribute Chinese High School Musical franchise into and the story “is extremely refreshing bers display a knowledge of — and stays in China. There are exag- fi lms. a Chinese remake, it sounded like a and unique”. an affi nity for — Chinese language gerations of course, as this is a From 1989 to 1996, Yang formed great idea. While waiting for Shanghai Call- and culture that repeatedly makes comedy, but overall he has nailed a company with Oliver Stone and However, this made-in-China- ing to premiere around the world, his — and the audience’s — jaw it. What’s more wonderful is the produced Th e People vs. Larry Flynt and-for-China version bombed Yang reveals her ultimate dream drop. love story that gradually unravels and executive-produced The Joy spectacularly. Some who saw it even for her fi lmmaking career: a movie That twist helps dispel the as Chao learns to not only face the Luck Club, adapted from Amy Tan’s thought it was an unauthorized that is “incredibly smart, entertain- clouds that surround many mov- new environment, but himself. bestselling novel and starring an knockoff . ing, and that can change people’s ies with cross-cultural setups. China’s expat community may all-Asian cast. Th e latter experience Signs of a dud appeared even view of China and Asians in gen- Period drama such as The Painted not care about the latest Chinese taught her that “you can provide an before the film opened, as Huayi eral through deeply resonant por- Veil also focuses on expats in blockbuster, which is usually a authentic glimpse into a different Brothers “handed the fi lm back to trayals”, a movie that would “wow” China, but the innate inequal- costume drama or fantasy, but culture, and if the characters and Disney to market”. Th e musical has people. ity between local Chinese and Shanghai Calling is like a mirror Veteran actor in situations are fundamentally relat- the glossy look of a svelte mannequin “It doesn’t matter what the genre Western residents seeps through that refl ects their little joys and play about death able, you can also achieve universal but lacks the chemistry so crucial is,” she adds. despite high-minded eff orts to frustrations in this land of con- Culled from three Chekhov pieces, appeal”. for this genre to click with its target hide the stance of condescension. stant change. the play Requiem delves into the topic However, The Joy Luck Club is audience. Contact the writer at Then, there are those like Lara RAYMOND ZHOU of death with stories of a couple of quintessentially Chinese-American, “Perhaps the fi lm would not have [email protected]. old peasants, a young mother and a wagoner. While dealing with the philo- sophical topic, the play creates a poetic | Q & A JANET YANG frame of mind by frequently using symbolic and expressive images, such as trees in the desert, falling snow- Creating crossover appeal and adopting the yin-yang approach fl akes and death dressed in a black robe while carrying a lantern. In the solemn mood, the play has also blend- Why did you pick a romantic comedy tors as well as our Chinese partners, Having grown up as an Asian China, however, a little more attention more embedded in the system rather ed in an admirable brand of humor. with a cross-cultural angle? China Film Group. minority in the States, and then to genre fi lmmaking and disciplined than in the individual. Th e play was written and directed Given how popular romantic com- I believe they saw something in the experiencing some discrimination story structure would go a long way by Hanoch Levin aft er the master director was affl icted with cancer and edies are in both China and the US, script that made them feel this was a in China in the 80s as someone who to helping the fi lm industry. What is the one trait that you feel knew that his life was coming to an and how Chinese audiences embrace project that had potential for a broad was mistaken as a local, I have always you have successfully connected end. Th us, the play is seen as the direc- American-style movies, it seemed audience. Especially since we have not been hypersensitive to stereotyping What is the part of traditional Chi- the two parts of you, culturally tor’s personal introspection into life. really worth challenging ourselves to seen any international movies authen- and prejudice. nese culture that you like the most? speaking? Renowned actor Yosef Karmon in make a movie with “crossover” appeal. tically set in contemporary China, I feel I have distinct elements of Tao- Ironically the philosophical tenet his 80s will again lead the show since his participation in the play’s debut in while at the same time there is now Do you think there is a formula that ism and Buddhism, and maybe even that has most helped me integrate 1999. Th e actor’s rich life experiences Both you and Daniel Hsia are immense and intense curiosity about Chinese fi lmmakers can use to push some Confucianism in me. I think the my dual background is the Chinese are expected to add to the depth of Chinese-American. Do the inves- China from all corners of the world. Chinese fi lms into the global mar- resilience of Chinese people is largely concept of yin-yang, the notion that show. tors fear that your background ket? the result of the wisdom of these tradi- opposites in fact are inexorably linked 7:30 pm, Aug 13-15. National Center may restrict the movie to a certain When China appears in Hollywood It starts with the script. Here in Hol- tions, whether conscious or not. and can co-exist peacefully as part of a for the Performing Arts, 2 Xichang’an Jie, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655- minority? movies, authenticity is always a lywood, some people — and I have I like that Chinese seem to be very greater whole. 0000. We’ve had fantastic support from problem. How did you strive to be been one of them — lament how for- secure in their identity as Chinese. Th e both our individual American inves- both authentic and sincere? mulaic many movies have become. In complexities of Chinese society seem — RAYMOND ZHOU — HAN BINGBIN