Return to Dust: Against Censorship

by Cláudio Alves

Barbie this, Oppenheimer that, the Barbenheimer double feature wasn't the only title worth watching to arrive in theaters last week. Indeed, one of 2022's most controversial titles finally enjoyed its American release well over a year after it competed at the Berlinale and incurred the wrath of the Chinese government. Ruijun Li's Return to Dust deserves the attention of every cinephile, both because one shouldn't bow to the pressures of censorship but also because it's a remarkable bit of social realist filmmaking. Its ability to touch on hard truths made it an unlikely box office success before all that attention ruffled some feathers…

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Cannes at Home: Day 3 – A Cinema of Violence

by Cláudio Alves

The third day of the festival, second day of competition screeners, brought with it our first big Cannes stinker of the year, as well as a potential prize magnet. Starting with the catastrophe, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire's Black Flies, which stars Sean Penn, incurred the wrath of many a critic. In more positive news, Chinese documentarian Wang Bing presented the first part of a tetralogy project (Youth or Spring are the alternate English language titles), a three-hour-plus epic of observational cinema concerning the lives of young laborers in China's garment industry. Could this be a significant contender for end-of-the-festival honors?

For the Cannes at Home project, let's consider how these two auteurs have dedicated much of their careers to depicting violence – Sauvaire the brutality of war and combat, Wang the horrors of exploitation. With that in mind, our films for today (both available to stream) are Johnny Mad Dog and Bitter Money…

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Best International Film Reviews: China, India, and Japan

by Cláudio Alves

For many, this year's Best International Film race will forever be remembered with an added asterisk, a reminder that the outcome would have been different had India submitted RRR instead of Last Film Show. This is not a commentary on artistic quality, merely award prognostication. The action blockbuster keeps racking up honors, while the country's official submission remains under-discussed. If neither succeeds, it will continue a sad Oscar trend. As one of the world's leading film industries, it's notable how little India has factored in these awards' history, indicating AMPAS' biases as well as India's own sometimes surprising submission choices.

While considering India's fate, let's also peruse the titles selected by Asia's other major film-producing nations… 

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Hou Hsiao-Hsien @75: New Millennium (2001-2022)

The conclusion of a four part series by Cláudio Alves

In the cinema of Hou Hsiao-Hsien, the 21st century started with a neon dream. The camera follows Shu Qi's Vicky as she runs through a Taipei tunnel, lights flickering above. Everything happens in slow-motion, flickers turn into waves and the actress's movement makes a strange unnatural dance. She looks back at us, hair flying in a cloud of black tendrils, her eyes asking us to follow her down the tunnel, like Alice down the rabbit hole. It's a hypnotic sight, made more seductive by the music of Lim Giong, house beats and techno dronings that transform the screen into a pulsing heart.

2001's Millennium Mambo fulfills the formalistic promise of Daughter of the Nile, transcending Goodbye South, Goodbye's tethering to material truth. Like its protagonist, the film looks back at its director's history while moving forward to an unknown future. It's the start of a new chapter for Hou Hsiao-Hsien…

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Hou Hsiao-Hsien @ 75: International Acclaim (1987-1998)

by Cláudio Alves

In contrast with their critical acclaim abroad, the Taiwanese reception of Hou Hsiai-Hsien's films was less enthusiastic. Dwindling box-office returns and accusations that his films were too uncommerciable led the director to attempt bridging the popular and the artful. 1987's Daughter of the Nile returns to the realm of modern Taiwan's youth, abandoning the midcentury narratives that had characterized the autobiographical films. It's also notable for its more significant urban setting and single-minded focus on a female protagonist. 

After this project, he wouldn't pay much attention to commercial appeal while his ambitions grew. At the end of the 80s, we encounter a peak of international recognition, the ascension of Hou Hsiao-Hsien to the pantheon of modern-day masters of cinema. All it took was a landmark film that, in 1989, earned the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and kickstarted a trilogy of historical reflections…

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