Jingle Ma
The story: For the sake of her ill father, Hua Mulan (Vicki Zhao Wei) dresses up as a man and takes his place on the battlefield to defend China against the marauding Rouran tribe in the year 450. She quickly rises up the ranks and falls in love with a fellow commander, Wentai (Chen Kun).
The story of Hua Mulan’s cross-dressing feat of filial piety is a familiar and well-loved one.
Since the appearance of the Ballad Of Mulan in the sixth century text Musical Records Of Old And New, the tale has been adapted for the screen and stage numerous times. It was even turned into a 1998 Disney animated film that incongruously featured comedian Eddie Murphy as the voice of a dragon, Mushu.
Alarm bells sound here when you recall that cinematographer-turned-director Jingle Ma’s previous update of another classic tale was the widely panned Butterfly Lovers (2008).
The sense of foreboding grows stronger when the film opens with a jarring shot of Russian pop singer Vitas singing in falsetto against the backdrop of a rugged landscape. This prominence is puzzling since he only has a small role as a prisoner of the Rouran people. Maybe there were Russian investors involved in the film.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated example of Ma’s haphazard approach to film-making.
The subject matter offers an opportunity to examine issues such as the role of women in China’s history and the notion of bravery and heroism. Instead, we get bland platitudes about war and a distinct lack of interest in why Mulan does what she does.
Maybe it is not fair to expect this from a commercially-minded film but Ma does not deliver the goods in that respect, either.
The almost two-hour-long film suffers from poor pacing and an over-abundance of lazy whiteouts in the transitions between scenes.
Having been treated to spectacular battle scenes in Peter Chan’s The Warlords (2007) and John Woo’s Red Cliff (2008), the action sequences here have little new to offer and a sense of deja vu pervades the proceedings.
Instead of seeming gritty, the drab and dreary colour palette of dusty yellows and sombre greys merely looks tired.
Zhao Wei brings some welcome spunk to the title role, but is hampered by a script that would rather have her mired in a romantic relationship in order to pad out the story.
There is a banal point about there being no room for personal feelings on the battlefield, but Mulan is made to learn that lesson in an unconvincing plot development.
Jaycee Chan stands out in the supporting role of Fei Xiaohu, Mulan’s childhood friend – but not in a good way. His all-too-modern drawl sticks out in a sea of crisp Chinese enunciation, almost as bad as Chang Chen’s discordant diction in that polyglot of accents that was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
The usually reliable Hu Jun is wasted here as the Rouran prince. He swans around as if he were in a parody of the film. Come to think of it, that is a much more inviting prospect.
The story of Hua Mulan’s cross-dressing feat of filial piety is a familiar and well-loved one.
Since the appearance of the Ballad Of Mulan in the sixth century text Musical Records Of Old And New, the tale has been adapted for the screen and stage numerous times. It was even turned into a 1998 Disney animated film that incongruously featured comedian Eddie Murphy as the voice of a dragon, Mushu.
Alarm bells sound here when you recall that cinematographer-turned-
The sense of foreboding grows stronger when the film opens with a jarring shot of Russian pop singer Vitas singing in falsetto against the backdrop of a rugged landscape. This prominence is puzzling since he only has a small role as a prisoner of the Rouran people. Maybe there were Russian investors involved in the film.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated example of Ma’s haphazard approach to film-making.
The subject matter offers an opportunity to examine issues such as the role of women in China’s history and the notion of bravery and heroism. Instead, we get bland platitudes about war and a distinct lack of interest in why Mulan does what she does.
Maybe it is not fair to expect this from a commercially-minded film but Ma does not deliver the goods in that respect, either.
The almost two-hour-long film suffers from poor pacing and an over-abundance of lazy whiteouts in the transitions between scenes.
Having been treated to spectacular battle scenes in Peter Chan’s The Warlords (2007) and John Woo’s Red Cliff (2008), the action sequences here have little new to offer and a sense of deja vu pervades the proceedings.
Instead of seeming gritty, the drab and dreary colour palette of dusty yellows and sombre greys merely looks tired.
Zhao Wei brings some welcome spunk to the title role, but is hampered by a script that would rather have her mired in a romantic relationship in order to pad out the story.
There is a banal point about there being no room for personal feelings on the battlefield, but Mulan is made to learn that lesson in an unconvincing plot development.
Jaycee Chan stands out in the supporting role of Fei Xiaohu, Mulan’s childhood friend – but not in a good way. His all-too-modern drawl sticks out in a sea of crisp Chinese enunciation, almost as bad as Chang Chen’s discordant diction in that polyglot of accents that was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
The usually reliable Hu Jun is wasted here as the Rouran prince. He swans around as if he were in a parody of the film. Come to think of it, that is a much more inviting prospect.
(ST)