"Looking for a man", *** dir Tang Danian
11oct-19oct2023 http://www.festivalducinemachinoisdeparis.com/
writer: Shuen-git Chow
The film opens with a v willing cheerful but not too peppy but rather very kind and considerate office lady in modern day Beijing. Its a story of complicated unspoken intriques, why must she go look for a husband? Because she got pregnant by ex husband who decidedly to disown being the father of the baby. Lady lives with an old kindly peppy grandfather. So she goes off to interview who the possible candidates in todays world of "husband" material.
I like the movie because I get to see contemporary Beijing, in the highrise residential estates with long open balconies - in the same set up as early 60 low rental housing in HK. However to own an apt in these high rise is not really low end, its the hard work of office people, just like our office lady.
She had won a big prize of a fancy car, a BMW? red, for the use of it for one year. She is an honest kindly person with upright sense of what is right and what is not right, however, this does not guarantee her getting the same treatment in return by the system or the people around her.
This movie straddles between the old, the new, the contemporary, the realities of middle class folks.
The movie itself is kind of trite in the use of jokes, the acting, very has been. However, the story is new, the details are full of life, somebody wants to tell a story.
The movie gets younger and younger as the sceneries change from hutongs, to high rise, to very pretty touristic settings hotels in Yunnan, where the hotel hosts has a sense of kindness and old days sensitivities unlike the reality of everyday real life at the office.
The "kidnapped" husband to be - who was a candidate for mariage by convenient fluke - gets better and better, instead of driving his 3 wheel moto taxi bike, he has a small white taxi car, and they joke around he is also interested in the baby, and accepts with natural good humour, gd human kindness, no prejudice if he were really the father or not unlike the real father, they will make it because they are both truly kind at heart.
I now skip over a lot of details, which is the joy of watching this movie. You must watch it to catch everything. There are open mike singing, vomitting at the club, etc etc. No, its not your best movie of the year, because on many levels its not polished enough, but very nice to watch all the same.
Also, there are many hidden non spoken realities that only someone who knows Beijing and contemporary history would have understood, why this why that, and the bitter sad unfair situations placed on the young baby bearing people.
If the woman did not keep this baby, she would not have had another chance, the social and legal rules made it that, it would have been over for her, shes not so much looking for a husband, she earns well enough on her own, she is looking for a way to have the baby and stay within the proper rules.
The actress is not your super cutie as usual, but someone believable, warm like a real human being, that in itself is a big risk and a sign of the quality of this movie.
