By Brian Hu and Ada Tseng
Chandni Chowk to China is not the only Asian co-production about crossing borders. The phenomenon has a long history and APA revisits some of the more notable -- and bizarre -- examples.
One of the great pleasures of Nikhil Advani's cross-cultural hit Chandni Chowk to China is the thrill of seeing Indian stars do kung-fu, and likewise Chinese dancers take on Bollywood moves. It reminds us of what can be gained through intra-Asian collaboration beyond the potential financial rewards. Companies like the Hong Kong-based Applause Pictures have made pan-Asian co-production their corporate mission, while films like Chen Kaige's The Promise have taken the conceit of a pan-Asian culture to truly imaginative, though at times problematic and clunky, heights.
As with Chandi Chowk to China, many of these films are about characters who are mobile, and we at APA find these cross-border narratives one of the more exciting results of the trend in intra-Asian co-production. Here is a list of ten noteworthy examples from throughout Asian film history, minus co-productions between various Chinese industries (for instance Taiwan-China, Hong Kong-China, or Singapore-Hong Kong) because they've historically been highly intertwined anyway.
(in chronological order)
Flame in Ashes (Wang Tian-lin, 1958)
A crime thriller about the Green-Nail Gang that had long suppressed the Chinese in Thailand, Flame in Ashes (Di xia huo hua) is a Hong Kong-Thailand co-production that was filmed with the assistance of the Thai police force. After a Chinese businessman is murdered, the police attempt to penetrate the gang's lair when facts don't seem to add up. At the 1958's Thai Film Festival, the film won three awards: Best Actor for Surasit Sattayawong, Best Screenplay, and Best Set Design.
A Night in Hong Kong (Yasuki Chiba, 1961)
This wildly popular Toho-MP&GI co-production made a star of Hong Kong actress You Min in Japan, and sparked a number of similar stories of Hong Kongers in Tokyo and Japanese in Hong Kong -- all starring You Min.
Evil Snake Girl (aka Devil Woman, aka Manda the Snake Girl) (Yu Chik-lim and Felix Villar, 1974)
Filipino girl Manda is doubly doomed: not only does she come from a poor village, but she has the unfortunate affliction of having deadly snakes growing out of her head. Enter Chinese martial artist Shu Wen, entrusted to defeat her. The 1970s Hong Kong creature feature meets the Filipino thriller to create a cult film for the ages.
The Eye (Pang Brothers, 2002)
As ethnic Chinese who kicked off their careers in Bangkok, the Pang Brothers were naturals to direct this modern classic about a Hong Kong girl who gets an eye transplant -- from a dead Thai girl now a ghost on the loose. The Pangs' The Eye 10 expands the Hong Kong-Thailand connection further.
Public Toilet (Fruit Chan, 2002)
A co-production between Hong Kong and Korea, Public Toilet was met with mixed reviews from fans who had been long-time followers of Fruit Chan's career in the Hong Kong independent film scene. The film is literally about toilets: from the open room seating in Beijing, to the outhouses in Korea, to the public toilets and rivers of India, to the public washrooms of New York City. Many audience members may have found the film distasteful, but it's hard to deny we all have a universal need to relieve ourselves.
Last Life in the Universe (Pen-ek Ratanaruang, 2003)
Starring Tadanobu Asano as a Japanese man living in Thailand, Last Life in the Universe is a Thai/Japanese co-production that boasts three languages: Thai, Japanese, and English. Sinitta Boonyasak plays a local Thai girl who bonds with Asano's oddball, possibly involved in the Yakuza, character Kenji after a shared tragedy. Last Life in the Universe was selected to be Thailand's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2003.
About Love (Ten Shimoyama, Yee Chin-yen, Zhang Yibai, 2005)
Nothing unites nations better than love stories and About Love is perhaps the ultimate intra-Asian romance, composed of three short stories: one about a Taiwanese in Tokyo, one about a Japanese in Taipei, and one about a Japanese in Shanghai.
Empress Chung (Nelson Shin, 2005)
A historic North-South Korean co-production, Empress Chung uses animation to image what live action has been seemingly unable to do: unite North and South through a common folk tale. Produced by animators on both sides of the 38th parallel, Empress Chung played to acclaim at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
Muoi (Kim Tae-kyeong, 2007)
Produced by Billy Pictures, Popcorn Films, CJ Entertainment, and Phuoc Sang Film Studio, Muoi was the first co-production between South Korea and Vietnam. The film is about a Korean writer who goes to Vietnam to find inspiration for her second novel. There, she learns about the legend of Muoi, a tragic young woman whose spirit is said to haunt the town of Dalat. The film stars Vietnamese actors Ahn Thu and Hong Anh, alongside Korean actors Jo An and Cha Ye-ryeon.
Ramchand Pakistani (Mehreen Jabbar, 2008)
The latest co-production between Pakistan and India is Ramchand Pakistani, a drama sparked by a young eight year-old boy's accidental crossing of the Indo-Pakistan border. Indian actress Nandita Das plays the boy's mother, who is from the Kohli Dalit caste of the minority Hindu community in Pakistan. When her husband goes to look for their son, he's captured, mistaken for a spy, and the film follows her panic to get her family back. After a successful run in film festivals, the film was released in both India and Pakistan in late 2008.
Published: Friday, January 23, 2009
