Asian Cinevisions 2006
January 9–December 9, 2006
Asian Cinevisions is a new monthly series presented with Asian CineVision (ACV), a nonprofit organization that for nearly thirty years has been dedicated to promoting and exhibiting films from established and emerging artists from Asia as well as work by Asian American filmmakers. Many films in the series have had their North American premiere in ACV’s popular annual New York Asian American International Film Festival; despite critical acclaim, however, few have made it to commercial theaters in the United States. This, then, is a second chance to discover exciting filmmaking with a global reach. The exhibition reflects the growing importance of Asian and Asian-American films in world cinema, and showcases their great diversity and cultural richness. The first MoMA screenings of most of the films will be introduced by a guest speaker.
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, and William Phuan, Program Associate, Asian CineVision.
Xiang Huo (Incense). 2003. China. Written and directed by Ning Hao. With Li Qiang. An unassuming monk in a tiny rural village is devastated to discover that his modest temple’s only Buddha statue is broken. When the world seems to conspire against restoring his treasure, desperation causes him to try anything to get some cash, even if it means abandoning the principles he holds dearest. With an authentic feeling for the tragicomic everyday struggles of people living on the margins of China’s fast-paced economic and social transformation, Incense’s darkly comic morality tale surprises at every turn. In Mandarin, English subtitles. 98 min.
Monday, January 9, 6:00. T2; Wednesday, January 11, 8:30. T1
Meili de xiyiji (The Beautiful Washing Machine). 2004. Malaysia. Written and directed by James Lee. With Loh Bok Lai, Patrick Teoh, Amy Len. Teoh’s girlfriend has left him and taken the washing machine. When he purchases a troublesome used model, its eerie powers summon a young girl. Teoh turns her into a live-in maid, who then runs off to tend to a widower whose washing machine is also prone to malfunction. In this surreal consumer society, you are what you buy, and in this supremely eccentric film, Lee’s laconic, cigarette-puffing characters move through vast sterile environments aglow in fluorescent light. In Mandarin and Cantonese, English subtitles. 118 min.
Monday, January 23, 6:00; Wednesday, January 25, 8:00. T2
Rewind. 2003. South Korea. Directed by Kim Hak-Soon. Screenplay by Hak-Soon, Young-Tae Lim. In this exquisitely photographed film, life changes incrementally and almost reluctantly. But change it does, when a young, lonely ex-lawyer who runs a video rental shop in a small town accidentally receives a home video of an alluring schoolteacher, and an anonymous fan starts writing him poetic letters. Unlike much of South Korea’s commercially successful big-budget cinema, Rewind is a truly independent production, with Hak-Soon cowriting, directing, producing, and even self-distributing his character-driven, beautifully realized film. 100 min.
Monday, February 20, 6:00. T2; Wednesday, February 22, 8:15. T2; Thursday, February 23, 6:00. T1
Missing. 2004. USA. Written and directed by Kit Hui. With Terence Yin. What happens when a romantic relationship loses its spark is reflected through serene landscapes and a resonant electronic soundtrack by the Icelandic trio Múm. 14 min.
Gung ju fuk sau gei (Beyond Our Ken). 2004. Hong Kong. Written and directed by Pang Ho-Cheung. With Gillian Chung, Tao Hung, Daniel Wu. In this madcap romp through stylish Hong Kong, a restless camera explores modern relationships, jealousy, and deceit with unstoppable, youthful energy. Chung, half of the popular singing duo Twins, is quirky and convincing as a jilted lover in this smartly scripted tale of love and revenge. In Cantonese, English subtitles. 98 min.
Friday, March 17, 8:00; Saturday, March 18 at 4:00. T2
Rindu Kami Pada-Mu (Of Love and Eggs). 2004. Indonesia. Directed by Garin Nugroho. With Sakurta H. Ginting, Putri Mulia, Raisa Pramesi. Largely set in the bursting, chaotic atmosphere of the Jakarta market, the film’s energy and overlapping action and dialogue engagingly reflect the communal lifestyle of many Indonesian groups. During Lebaran, the most important holiday for Indonesian Muslims, a narrative unfolds, involving three young children, eggs, a prayer rug, a mosque’s cupola, and the universal longing for love and belonging. In Bahasa Indonesian, English subtitles. 90 min.
Monday, April 17, 8:00; Wednesday, April 19, 6:00; Saturday, April 22, 4:00. T2
Wu Song Da Wo (Lost in Wu Song). 2005. Hong Kong. Written and directed by Lu Yitong. With Yu Ai Lei, Ma Jing Jing. A funny, irreverent spoof poking fun at the masculine ego while deconstructing the image of Wu Song, the eleventh-century dynastic hero and idol to all Chinese boys. The filmmaking business is also parodied: a would-be director indulges his drinking habits in a Faye Wongworshipping eatery called Chungking Express. In Mandarin, English subtitles. 90 min.
Monday, May 15, 8:00; Thursday, May 18, 6:00; Friday, May 19, 8:30. T2
Who’s Camus Anyway? 2005. Japan. Written and directed by Mitsuo Yanagimachi. With Shuji Kashiwabara, Hideo Nakaizumi, Ai Maeda. From the long, bravura opening tracking shot to the surprising denouement, the film deftly mixes the real and imaginary with dark wit and self-reflexivity. A group of university students race against time to prepare for their film, The Bored Murderer, but their personal problems threaten to torpedo the project. In Japanese, English subtitles. 115 min.
Sunday, September 24, 3:30. T2; Friday, September 29, 8:30. T1
Spotlight on Singapore
Locust. 2003. Directed by Victric Thng. A poetic film about memory and longing. In Cantonese, English subtitles. 3 min.
Lost Sole. 2005. Directed by Sanif Olek. An old man searches for his missing sandals and finds more. In Malay, English
subtitles. 18 min.
Singapore Gaga. 2005. Directed by Tan Pin Pin. From the self-proclaimed “national treasure” street performer to the avant-garde musician who’s famed for playing toy pianos, offbeat characters pepper this quirky documentary. Filled with the multicultural sounds of Singapore, the film is a paean to the aural delights that make up the country’s psyche. In Malay and Mandarin, English subtitles. 55 min. Program 78 min.
Thursday, October 12, 6:00; Friday, October 13, 8:00. T2
Gie. 2005. Indonesia. Directed by Riri Riza. With Nicholas Saputra, Sita Nursanti. The complex political situation in Indonesia in the 1950s and ’60s is seen through the eyes of a committed intellectual who refuses to take sides and whose analytical powers illuminate the student movement. His self-sacrificing idealism for the political cause is balanced by his love of nature. First-person narration—based on the diaries of the Chinese-Indonesian writer Soe Hok Gie (1942–1969)—opens up the political, chronological account and generates substantial emotional involvement. In Bahasa Indonesian, English subtitles. 150 min.
Wednesday, November 15, 7:00; Thursday, November 16, 8:00. T2
Lelaki Komunis Terakhir (The Last Communist). 2006. Malaysia. Directed by Amir Muhammad. A constantly surprising road movie that investigates the life of a never-seen protagonist (the eponymous “last communist”) who has been exiled to Thailand. This semi-musical documentary, banned in Malaysia, cobbles together mock-propaganda musical pieces and stories shared with insight and abandon by ordinary folks. In Mandarin, Cantonese, Malay, Tamil; English subtitles. 90 min.
Friday, December 8, 8:30; Saturday, December 9, 4:15. T2
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