editor-118

China Blue is one of the most interesting, intelligent documentaries I've ever seen. It sets itself apart from other documentaries in how closely attached we become to the workers the filmmakers chose to concentrate on in the film. We get to see away from the factory floor and even to the countryside where they immigrated from. I've spent hours speaking with assistant producer Song Chen, the Taiwanese-American who speaks Chinese and who did so much of the work to gain the impossible access to the factory workers, even filming in their dorm rooms. This film would have only taken 2 to 3 years to film IF one of the two main people in the factory didn't quit and disappear. An incredible tragedy on the surface, in fact, to all of those who fell in love with the new worker, the delay and re-filming was one of the things that allowed the director and Song go far more deeply into the reality of the situation than they normally would have been able to. I don't know how engaging the original girl would have been, but the two girls who ended up taking part in the filming (and who were NOT paid, but told to cooperate by the factory owner, who thought the movie was being made about HIM) were simply wonderful. Part of what makes the film fascinating was how things 'accidentally' worked out in the favor of the documentary. The factory putting off paying them until they called a mini- protest/revolt and won... all caught on film by chance... The unbelievers would have you believe that the workers might not have behaved that way if there wasn't a camera. The workers thought the camera was off. Song was shooting that scene, put the camera down to her side, and purposely failed to turn the camera off. That was one of the greatest moments in the film. That and the forbidden scenes of the birthday party in the country that helped attach the viewers to the wonderful characters and their families. Ironically, what made this film great is exactly what the naysayers hold against it.... in fact, it is SO GOOD, that it seems just too good to be true. It's IMPOSSIBLE to have gotten all the scenes they got.... impossible of course, unless they spent 4 years of their lives filming and editing this film! The very few incredulous viewers' logic supposing a fake documentary is flawed. If the director wanted to stage a fake documentary, he could have done it in a few days or weeks. With virtually 4 FULL YEARS involved in the different stages of the filming and editing of this movie, the director and his assistant producer created what is close to one of the most perfect documentaries, and truest ever made. The one sour note in all of this is that when PBS airs this on April 3, it will be a much shorter documentary. They will edit out 1/3 of the movie; some of the most interesting scenes of Chinese country life that attached viewers so closely to the people in the film. It will be a simpler documentary, just about the factory conditions in China. This film is important and a must see.

Not since 'A Hard Days Night' can I remember a film where I became so attached to the characters in the drama that I almost didn't believe I was seeing a fictional movie, but a documentary with an omniscient camera secretly filming reality. Viewers can't help but fall deeply in love with Lourdes, played by Barbara Lennie. She is impossibly perfect for the role, and in it; both because of her incredible natural beauty, and because of her flawless ability to make us believe that she isn't acting. But something is missing in the film. As the other reviewer commented, there are a few stories going forward in parallel, but you feel there may have been more that weren't included. So it feels somehow, incomplete. The other reviewer knew about the missing parts from the book, and the missing political overtones. I didn't, but subconsciously, I was hungering for them near the end of the film. This is one of those films where, you feel they may have had, or could have had a perfect 3 hour movie, but had to edit it down to two hours and perhaps cut out some of the most interesting parts. Lourdes carries the burden of three romances: the romance between her and her lover in the film, the one developing between her and the audience; and finally the one with Obaba. The nude scenes of the actress early in the film may have been as important in breaking the tension between her and the audience as they were breaking that between her and her lover. It's my personal biased opinion (interpretation), that the director of the film was only able to make us fall that deeply in love with her because we were looking through his eyes; his, and those of Obaba the town's itself! So what's the point? Are we, from this point on, able to be as seduced by Obaba as she was? With her seduction of her lover and us complete... the story can shift its emphasis onto the love affair between her and Obaba, the town, which covets her as much as we did. But how can a town seduce a beautiful, successful film student?

In any case, this film is charming, and a very fascinating portrayal of the heart of Obaba, a character with a complex personality that in the end, is the principal character in the film.

Make no mistake about it, this is a Japanese comedy, with few ties to Hawaii. But that doesn't take away from the fact the film is wonderfully scored, believably acted, and a fun, entertaining movie. Screened for the first time in the U.S. in October 2006 as the finale gala extravaganza at the Hawaii International Film Festival (#1 Asian festival & one of world's 10 best overall now), many hula teachers and Hawaii fans may have feared this movie might take a less- than-serious-enough view of the sacred Hawaiian dance. But, upon viewing this light-hearted comedy, critics had to sit back and appreciate just how loyal the film remained to the Japanese interpretation of hula. Japanese view hula as a dance, and Hawaii as a warm tropical paradise in much the same way American filmmakers viewed Hawaii in the 1950s. Viewers, even kumu hula and critics, shouldn't forget that this is a film about that Japanese interpretation - at that time, and not impose upon it the serious more cultural aspects a current movement in Hawaii is bringing back to the dance. In fact, the director of "Hula Garu" successfully gets away with this by making the film a comedy, and never trying to delve into the historical, religious, or other cultural dimensions of hula. While not true to today's view of hula in Hawaii, this film is not about today, or Hawaii. It's about an obscure little town in northern Japan that created a Hawaiian village concept, complete with its own hula troupe to attract tourists and save the town from extinction. Several heart warming moments in this 'To Sir With Love,' teacher-conquers- impossible-odds themed story bring tears to the spectators' eyes. And the music could hardly have been more perfect to help accentuate those emotional moments. Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro's score is perfect, and likely to win awards, and possibly even help make Jake a household name on the U.S. mainland, as it already has become in many circles in Japan. The film's screenplay successfully draws the audience into the characters in a way that forces even the most critical hula fans to forgive the film's small imperfections. The only strong disappointment I had about the film was how it confused hula and Tahitian dancing. On the other hand, that's a common misconception that all Hawaii visitors make, since hula troups almost always perform both types of dances in public. So, in a sense, the film is true to the way Japanese and tourists perceive hula, if not to hula itself. This film is not a film about Hawaii or hula dancing; but a comedy about how Japanese have adopted this wonderful dance in its own way, while respecting the Hawaiian culture in doing so. Keeping that in mind, viewers will have little to critique and everything to enjoy about this film, the acting, and the wonderful music. Overall, this is a fun, enjoyable family movie which deserves to be seen on the big screen. Don't wait to rent the video. See it in a theater and feel the energy, the music, and the strange story that began Japan's growing love for Hawaii's greatest export.