Well, at a minimum I got to visit Chinatown in NYC. In Rotoscope. I have
spent many an hour walking around Chinatown. At one time I would visit the
Music Palace to see a double feature of Hong Kong films for $5. Later I would
go to check out the recent Hong Kong film releases at Michelle's DVD store
or years before that rent video tapes from the many places that did so. For
some reason they usually had posters of the Fruit is Swelling or The Mystery
of the Big Boobs or some Cat III film out front to lure us in. All gone now.
First the rental stores disappeared when DVDs came in and then eventually
the DVD stores disappeared when the films were available on the Internet.
I have not done a good walk through in years. But about the time of this
film I did it nearly every two weeks. Catch the D Train, get off at Grand
Street and do the video store round up. Buy anything that looked interesting,
then just troop around for an hour or two and find a cheap place for lunch.
So watching this film was a lovely flashback. Every street, corner, signage
and building looked familiar. Where they play handball and the park with
the fountain. Canal Street with the Manhattan Bridge in the background. The
entire film takes place there and the rotoscope gives it a sheen that it
really doesn't have. Chinatown is gritty and dirty and quite wonderful. What
goes on there behind closed doors I don't know and that is probably for the
best.
This is basically Cinderella in Chinatown. A sweet fairytale after you get
past the rough parts. To be Cinderella you have to have the nasty parts too.
They come in the shape of Mrs. Su, played with a venal ferociousness by the
wonderful Tsai Chin. In the 1960s she was a beauty best remembered as Fu
Manchu's daughter in a series of films. As she aged she got roles that fit
- Mrs. Wu in Casino Royale and she was just in Shang Chi. There are not three
cruel sisters in this one but Mrs. Su more then compensates. A young woman
arrives from China - illegal one assumes - to work for Mrs. Su in her upstairs
shop. Ye Xian (An Nguyen) was told she would be working in a beauty salon
and signed a contract to pay off the expenses. Well, there are a few beauties
in the shop but basically it is a rub and tug shop. Keep the customer satisfied.
Xian freaks out when she realizes this and refuses to provide service to
a white creepy guy. She is then forced to do all the work - cleaning, cooking,
shopping - and being abused constantly by Mrs. Su. You are worthless to me
she screams and taunts. Yes, a stereotyped Dragon Lady but she does
it so well. Tsai Chin would get me scrubbing floors. Prince Charming (Ken
Leung) is an accordion playing young man who saves her from a gang and then
loses her and then finds her and then loses her. And then finds her. There
is one small section of the film that goes into the supernatural when she
meets an old crony who tells her fortune and gets her ready for the Ball.
That part really stands out - much of the rest could be a Hallmark film though
I expect they don't have much rubbing and tugging going on. It makes you
realize that this could have been turned into a great horror film. But then
it is narrated by a goldfish. It is sweet and the performances are excellent
by everyone. Chinatown is the real star though.
