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Frozen (1997)
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An independent film from China? Cannot be, you say. Ah yes, but it can. It is also surprisingly better than I thought it would be. This film chronicles the very short performance art career of an art student named Qi Lei. He is your basic brooding, unhappy art student; no real surprise there. In addition to his regular medium, which happens to be rubbings, he embarks on a season-oriented series of burials. He does an Earth Burial, Water Burial, and a Fire Burial...but it is the Ice Burial, which is to take place on the advent of Summer, that is the b*tch kitty. It is his intention to let his body heat melt a block of ice, thereby dying of hypothermia in the process.
This film was directed by Wu Ming, which translates roughly to "No Name." Needless to say, it was banned in China, where they are not exactly the most open to their citizens expressing themselves in any meaningful way. Like the scene where a few of Qi Lei's fellow students eat a bar of soap each, in a performance piece that is suppose to signify revulsion...assumedly towards their society. The film was shot with only one camera, so every shot is either tracking or a master. This method, along with the extreme brevity of dialogue and almost total lack of incidental music, really gives it a sparse, haunting feel. Affecting without being affected. One might argue that the acting is lacking, but I would dispute that. One needs to realize that the Asian culture is one of repression, and that is precisely the reason for Qi Lei's drastic decision. Throughout the film he rarely shows any real emotion, though you can see it percolating underneath the surface. There is a scene in which a female student leaps to her death from a rooftop. Whilst a group of onlookers rush around trying to help her, Qi Lei sits on the floor of his room, which is directly across the street from the activity, and thrusts his fists to his head. You can almost see him trying to choke any feeling back.
Along with the aforementioned sparseness, even the characters are not given names. Other than Qi Lei, his girlfriend Shao Yun and guru Lao Lin, all the characters are named for their roles. Such as: Sister, Brother in Law, Bald One, and Long Hair. Taken for the sum of its parts, it is a very effective film. It claims to be a true story, but that is questinable. Another thing about the film is that it humanizes the Chinese individual; it goes to show that people are people, however trite that that may sound. Even if their government is a few clicks more oppressive than our own, the average constituent is just trying to get by, the same as us. In some of the overviews of Peking that are given, it really could be any big city.
All right...there you go. If you are interested in a well-made film that might also enlighten you somewhat, make you think and feel in a way that you might not have thought or felt before, than this is a good bet for you. If you have a track record of being a little dense and cannot handle a low action, thoughtful film, then I am sure that your local video store has enough copies of xXx to go around.
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