Red Light Revolution
Hardly a revolution, but stars Zhao Jun and (particularly) Vivid Wang shine in this likable comedy about a Chinese sex shop…
Shinzi (Zhao Jun) is a loser of monumental proportions. He’s lost his job as a taxi driver, lost his wife to a wannabe actor, and now his house as she’s thrown him out. His only option is to move back in with his parents – who have the unfortunate habit of disappearing to the bedroom at any point of day – in the hope of making some, any, money in order to allow him to build his life up again.
With part time jobs such as a ‘bad’ example for a diet drug getting him nowhere, an old school friend, Jiang (Jiang Xiduo) offers him a chance with local Japanese gangster Iggy (Masanobu Otsuka, City Of Life And Death, Lovers On The Road) to set up a sex shop in his conservative neighbourhood.
He engages the help of fellow diet salesperson Lili (played by Vivid Wang – really! Was that deliberate casting from the filmmakers?) to help him. The only thing is Iggy isn’t joking when he says he’ll break Shinzi’s legs if he doesn’t deliver thousands of rmb in cash every week, and now the neighbourhood watch have found out he’s been operating without a permit…
My heart sank a little when I read in the press release that the film’s director was Australian born Greek and son of a former diplomat and politician from Papua New Guinea. No offense, but we’ve been here before: the Sinophile or Asiaphile making a film in the country that interests them most. There can be awkward performances, missed or even over emphasised cultural references that really don’t gel. (And oddly it rarely seems to work that badly the other way around?)
But that isn’t the case for writer/director Sam Voutas’ film…
As noted in various reviews, Sam hooks his film on very much of a Full Monty backdrop, the approach is very Western, one might even say rather more British than American. Yet the narrative feels just as natural in it’s Beijing setting – it’s surprising just how reassuring a cup of tea can be in hard times all around the world!
Chinese comedies can always be a difficult humour for Western audiences. Voutas’ script pulls back on such broad and heavy-handed approaches, finding for the main part a quiet character-led comedy. (One thing this doesn’t play to though, in these post American Pie and The Hangover times, is areal gross-out comedy.)
Luckily Voutas’ leads are solid in their debut performances. Zhao Jun, very much a Chinese Mark Addy, is engaging and believable with fantastic comic timing. Vivid Wang (despite the unfortunate name) is the real find, full of attitude and sassiness; let’s hope we see her much more in the future. Voutas’ previous work on documentaries about China, screened throughout Asia Pacific, has given him an eye for the improvised. All of his cast predominantly feel naturalistic in front of the camera, and never better than when letting their hair down in unscripted, off the cuff playacting.
During the film Voutas cites some interesting facts: that there was only one sex shop in Beijing in 1996, and now there are over 2000; that 70% of the worlds sex toys come from China. His real target, though, appears to be the aspirational nature within our modern culture to want to own ‘things’. It struck ME how rarely Chinese filmmakers seem to want to put modern day poor or even working class on screen, particularly within reasonably commercial films.
Voutas’ script falls in the last act. The permit is signposted so obviously that it actually comes as a disappointment when it becomes a crux for the narrative. More bizarre is the inclusion of potion recipe Shinzi’s mother just happens to have which makes Viagra look like a sedative – it feels like something straight out of sex comedies of the 60s and 70s, and hardly consistent with the grounded feel of the rest of the film.
But if Red Light Revolution’s ending is a bit limp (pun intended) and in need of some of mum’s special recipe, it’s still pretty enjoyable…
Red Light Revolution is released today by Terracotta Distribution – with plenty of extras!
Review originally published 23 January 2012.
DVD details
Distributor: Terracotta (UK)
Edition: DVD (2012)
Once again Terracotta have produced an exemplary DVD edition. The original film has great picture and sound, but the DVD is jam-packed full of exclusive extras!
These include: Directors intro; Deleted scenes; Audience Q&A's at Terracotta Festival; Directors Masterclass at Terracotta Festival; Audience Q&A's at Wuhan Film Club; Making of; an interview with lead Vivid Wang; a featurette, Art Auction, and much more besides.
All of which makes for an unmissable release!
