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Hoping to answer the question posed by the famous Shirelles song — which, as is de rigueur in any recent Asian film, is performed here in a full-length Karaoke version — writer-director Arvin Chen’s Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? follows two Taiwanese couples trying to stick together amid emotional and sexual upheavals that threaten the sanctity of their safe (and hetero) relationships. Wry and whimsical, but perhaps too broad for artsy Western tastes, this ensemble romantic dramedy should see decent business in the East (Warner Bros. is releasing in Taiwan), with ancillary possibilities in other markets, including those catering to the LGBT set. From its playful premiere sequence, which concludes with a character opening an umbrella and floating up to the sky, Tomorrow distinguishes itself from the kind of dark, Taipeiset stories that have filled fests 16 and art-houses over the last few decades. Indeed, the American born-and-educated Chen’s debut feature, Au Revoir Tapei, was already a genre-jumping crossover, and his latest seems to tread in similar waters, sharing influences with both local classics (Edward Yang — another purveyor of 60’s pop — comes to mind) and works from Hollywood’s Golden Age, especially the Technicolor romances of Vincent Minelli and George Cukor. But this lighthearted tale of repressed sexuality and marital woes seems to have a different kind of agenda, even if it often American-born Chen fills the screen with colorful images and characters. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Arvin Chen’s sophomore feature is an ensemble romcom set in contemporary Taipei By Jordan Mintzer Narco Cultura Director Shaul Schwarz’s documentary examines growing popularity of Mexico’s ‘narco ballads’ in the U.S. By Justin Lowe The lyrics to narco ballads often focus on violent imagery. fits the mode of your typical mainstream romcom, with the usual run of quid pro quos, mistaken identities and botched wedding plans. The story focuses on two thirty-something pairs: On the one side there’s the affable optician, Weichung (Richie Jen), who’s been married for nine years to corporate clerk, Feng (Mavis Fan, excellent). And on the other there’s Weichung’s sister, Mandy (Kimi Hsia), a sexy maneater who’s decided to finally settle down and tie the knot with the friendly sad sack, San-San (Stone). For those who think that Mexico’s brutal drug wars have yet to cross the border, Narco Cultura presents an ongoing cultural invasion, as the Mexican musical phenomenon of narcocorridos (drug ballads) seeps into the U.S. Passably absorbing to start, Shaul Schwarz’s examination of the issues surrounding Mexican and immigrant musicians who glorify drug lords and their exploits gradually bogs down in repetition and narrative inertia. Israeli photographer and filmmaker Schwarz contrasts the drug trafficking conflicts in Mexico with the musicians who exploit the violence to create popular music in the traditional corrido narrative song style, which features a polka- or waltz-like rhythm on guitar, often accompanied by accordion. The film contextualizes this highly popular musical genre by profiling crime scene investigator Richi Soto, who works for the law enforcement authority of Juarez, the border city that reportedly has the world’s highest murder rate, principally due to drug violence. On a daily basis, Soto examines crime scenes, collecting evidence on killings that rarely is pursued by judicial authorities after processing at the Juarez crime lab. Several of Soto’s colleagues have been assassinated over the past few years, and he has to be day5_rev_spread3A.indd 1 2/10/13 5:20 PM
Of course, things are not so simple, starting with the fact that Weichung clearly has a past that’s far less straight than the bifocals he meticulously prepares in his shop. He crosses paths at his sister’s rehearsal dinner with a flamboyant a wedding photographer (Lawrence Ko, hilarious) who, despite the fact that he’s also married, is leading a double-life as a gay party boy, and advises Weichung to do the same. When a handsome young flight attendant (Wong Ka Lok) ventures into the man’s store, it’s love at first sight, and although the stoic husband and dad tries to fight off his homoerotic urges, he can only hold out for so long. Meanwhile, Mandy starts having second thoughts about her upcoming marriage, and they come to a head in a funny flashback that shows her freaking out during an all-too routine shopping trip to Carrefour. She decides to ditch San- San and lock herself indoors, binging on instant ramen and cheesy soap operas until she can figure out whether she’s really in love at all. Directing with an easygoing, occasionally swoony style, Chen cuts back and forth between the various characters as they deal with their quashed desires and emotional predicaments, with the main plot-point pivoting on whether Weichung’s wife Feng, who is hoping to have a second child, will learn about her husband’s hidden sexual identity. The Mandy-San-San debacle is, on the other hand, a bit too cursory, and seems to be there mainly for comic relief and as a narrative framing device. Indeed, more than anyone else, Feng seems to be the center of attention here, and the film inevitably wonders what she’ll do about the truth once she uncovers it. In other words, how can a society steeped in marital traditions deal with shifting cultural attitudes toward homosexuality? If Chen’s ultimate answer may seem like a copout to some, it’s perhaps less important than the fact that he’s raising the question at all, especially in this kind of carefree, commercially-minded movie. Filled with colorful street scenes and candy-tinged interiors (courtesy of D.P. Hsia Shao- Yu, Return Ticket), Tomorrow reveals a Taipei that has rarely looked so jolly on screen, and the film coasts along to its final conflict at a fairly brisk pace, even if there are a few longueurs along the way. Panorama Special Production companies 1 Production Film Cast Richie Jen, Mavis Fan, Stone, Kimi Hsia, Lawrence Ko Director, screenwriter Arvin Chen Producer Yating Chang Sales Agent Media Asia Film Distribution extremely cautious about his movements and protecting his family to avoid the same fate. The doc also focuses on Los Angeles narco corrido singer-songwriter Edgar Quintero, who makes a living writing the violent lyrics that celebrate the criminality of Mexican drug gangs and selling the songs to a variety of musicians as well as performing them with his band Buknas de Culiacan. The film consists almost entirely of footage that Schwarz shoots himself on a Canon 5D with a photojournalist’s eye for the big picture surrounding the drug wars, as well as the telling details elicited from more intimate scenes with Soto, Quintero and their families. Capably assembled by editors Bryan Chang and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, the film runs at least 10 minutes too long and could be trimmed even further to improve pacing by eliminating duplicative scenes. Panorama Originally reviewed at the Sundance Film Festival Production company Parts & Labor Director Shaul Schwarz Sales K5 International 17 Brothers David and Eitan Cunio are a striking screen duo. Youth Reviews An amateur kidnapping plotted by two teenage brothers goes wrong in Tom Shoval’s quirky first feature By Deborah Young Youth is a fetching addition to the israeli panorama, an offbeat but not completely downbeat dramedy and coming-of-age tale that incidentally portrays the suburban class struggle and decline of the country’s middle class. Young film writer and shorts director Tom Shoval knows that character rules in a low-budgeter and draws noteworthy perfs out of his non-pro leads, two brothers whose goofy plan to save their family from ruin by kidnapping a rich schoolgirl inevitably runs afoul. Though not as unique a standout as Rama Burstein’s Fill the Void, it similarly locates drama in everyday life. So close is the fraternal bond that not only do teenage Shaul (Eitan Cunio) and his brother Yaki (David Cunio) look a lot like each other; they seem to know what the other is thinking. Their sweet, sociable father is unemployed and the family is going through hard economic times, which threaten to cost them their apartment in a satellite town outside Tel Aviv. But when Yaki enlists in the army, he comes home with a rifle that changes everything. Feeling empowered, the boys plot a rudimentary kidnapping. First Shaul stalks the willowy Dafna (Gita Amely) on her way home from school, then he and Yaki abduct her in an alley and, being without a car, absurdly take her home on a bus. She doesn’t start screaming and kicking until they dump her in an empty shelter in the basement of their apartment building. The problem is that it’s the Sabbath, and her Orthodox family, used to her absences, won’t pick up the phone with their ransom demands. This could have been played as pure comedy, but writerdirector Shoval chooses an interesting middle path that allows the tension to rise. Everything depends on the unpredictable reactions of the two brothers, whose staring blue eyes have an emptiness that threatens to turn to violence. And the ever-present rifle seems ready to go off any minute. Dominating every scene, the Cunio brothers are unsettling figures with cinematic faces who could have posed for Diane Arbus. Shoval allows them a seemingly unmediated relationship with the camera that is quite eerie. Top Israeli actor Moshe Ivgy brings a wistful quality to their depressed father, touching in his helplessness to stop the family’s decline from middle class respectability. Cinematographer Yaron Scharf divides the space between the family’s suffocating but warm apartment and the cold concrete emptiness of the shelter where the girl is being held – both claustrophobic alternatives in the boys’ option-less world. Panorama Special Cast Eitan Cunio, David Cunio, Moshe Ivgy, Gita Amely Director Tom Shoval Screenwriter Tom Shoval Producers Gal Greenspan, Roi Kurland, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery Co-producers Sol Bondy, Jamila Wenske Sales Agent The Match Factory day5_rev_spread3A.indd 2 2/10/13 5:20 PM
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