By Viv Zauhar
The University of Pittsburgh's Film and Media Studies Program partnered with the university's Asian Studies Center to bring the inaugural film festival, SCREENSHOT: Asia, this October. Films hailed from all regions of Asia, including Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness by Iranian director Massoud Bakhshi and As We Like It, a Taiwanese rendition on Shakespeare's work directed by Hung-i Chen and Muni Wei. I had the pleasure of viewing Back to the Wharf and Ryusuke Hamaguchi's new and well-received film Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy.
Back to the Wharf, by Chinese director Li Xiaofeng, is the story of a boy haunted by his own tragic and irreversible mistakes. The plot takes us through his life, showing how errors run rampant in destroying his romantic and familial relationships and future. The film takes place in a fishing town, the wharf having its own role, emblematic of grief and distress. We follow Song Hao through his life in two parts, a teenager before his mistake and an adult grieving a past and nonexistent life. Song Hao (portrayed by Zhou Zhengjie as a teenager and Zhang Yu as an adult) is heartbroken when he learns his school offered his college admission to another student, his best friend.
Yu's performance in this film is stunning and was one of the only consistent elements throughout the film. His performance in Back to the Wharf is arguably better than his performance in An Elephant Sitting Still, directed by Hu Bo, which received world acclaim. The film struggled to maintain one genre, the exposition seemingly creating the elements of a horror film. At one point, there is a drastic shift and audiences are given the illusion of a gone-wrong Disney animation with fireworks and cheesy music. The latter part of the film grasped tone and genre more convincingly but was confusing in comparison with the earlier part of the film. Contributing to the strange genre switches was the soundtrack. The musical artist Wenzi seemed lost in direction, switching between loud and joyful tracks from melodious high-tempo tracks, and featuring way too many brass instruments.
While missing critical elements in sound and tone, cinematographer Piao Songri's playfulness with lines and depth shots adds the element of mystery that the rest of the film's details could not portray. Using blurred doorways, reflective glass, and other objects to interestingly frame and reflect the actors and scenes made the film visually captivating and pleasing. The set design of constant rain and moody blue tones adds the cohesion that the film desperately needs. While Back to the Wharf is not a must-watch, appreciation for cinematography and Zhang Yu should be enough enticement to give this film a watch.
Hamaguchi's Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy exploded across film festivals, winning awards at the 15th Asian Film Festival and 71st Berlin International Film Festival. The film consists of three independent storylines; each story shows modern women grappling with love, from courtships to old friends. Hamaguchi immerses viewers into the lives of these three women, raw and mumblecore-esque. Hamaguchi develops the characters through a leisurely pace in the film, drawing out long walks and car rides. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is a film that is best to go into blind, so let's leave the summary at that.
The fashion in the film added to the overall aesthetic, especially Meiko's layering with her oversized knit sweater and peasant-style dresses. While some Japanese styles are known for their eclectics (think Harajuku girls), costume designer Fuminori Usui took the route of simplistic, structured, and neutral clothing, channeling Uniqlo. Japanese trends right now are showing baggier apparel and wide-leg pants, all items that you can find at Uniqlo and are sure to be featured in more Japanese films and hopefully Hamaguchi's following films as well. The cool tones of the film are complemented by clothing, also contributing to the melancholy of the women's lives. Hamaguchi's camera techniques are akin to those of other Asian filmmakers such as Wong Kar-Wai, but still have a unique independent approach to cinema and camera work.
Hamaguchi expertly showed the duality of each character. The beginning episode, "Magic, (Or Something Less Assuring)," features a single take of Tsugumi in a taxi with her best friend Meiko. Tsugumi is dreamy-eyed talking about a new fling, and the lack of cuts brings viewers into the land that is love, capturing the excitement of a new fling. Later, we see the new fling, Kazuaki, in a heated and unrestrained back and forth with Meiko, no longer the calm and assured man we believe he is based on Tsugumi's description. Hamaguchi’s mastery of character duality is evident, going so far as to have characters roleplaying with one another. In the third segment, Once Again, two characters mistake each other for a lost connection, and in efforts to fulfill past desires they pretend to be each other's lost connection once they realize their mistake. Making global headlines, Hamaguchi and his work are must-sees for cinephiles. However, be prepared to leave this film with an uneasy feeling, and wondering how Hamaguchi is able to capture and explore the dynamics of love and friendship in a woman's life so accurately and numbingly.
And a big thank you to the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center and Film and Media Studies Department for a wonderfully crafted selection of films, and for bringing Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy to Pittsburgh before it even made its way to the screens of New York City.
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