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By Jakob Montrasio
A new film on the life of John Rabe (November 23, 1882 – January 5, 1950), the German businessman whose Nanking Safety Zone sheltered some 200,000 Chinese from slaughter during the Nanking Massacre, is coming out very soon.
Photo by Majestic / Jörg Gruber
German academy award winning director Florian Gallenberger helmed the principal photography of John Rabe from October 2007 until February 2008 in and around Shanghai. John Rabe features stars such as Ulrich Tukur, Daniel Brühl, Steve Buscemi as well as rising Chinese star Zhang Jingchu (张静初). The movie is set to be released later this year.
Majestic Film Verleih, the company who will bring the movie to German cinemas released 8 official press pictures who show the stars in action. Also, German broadcasting agency 'Deutsche Welle' released a clip on YouTube with a report about the shooting in Shanghai. But first the pictures...
Dr. Robert Wilson (Steve Buscemi), the Nanjing hospital chief, fights tirelessly for the survival of the people:
Photo by Majestic / Tomoko Kikuchi
Dr. Georg Rosen (Daniel Brühl), employee of the German embassy, tries to handle the threat in regard of the Chinese civilians in diplomatic ways:
Photo by Majestic / Ruggero Rossi
Valérie Dupres (Anne Consigny), leader of the International Girls College, can’t enjoy the festivities - she’s worried about her students:
Photo by Majestic / Tomoko Kikuchi
Nazi Werner Fließ (Mathias Herrmann) is supposed to take John Rabe’s (Ulrich Tukur) place as the leader of the Siemens branch in Nanking:
Photo by Majestic / Ruggero Rossi
The members of the international committee for creating a safety zone (Ulrich Tukur, Anne Consigny, Steve Buscemi, Christian Rodska, Daniel Brühl, Shaun Lawton) don’t know how to handle the rush of 250.000 people at once:
Photo by Majestic / Ruggero Rossi
Dora Rabe (Dagmar Manzel) tries to convince her husband John (Ulrich Tukur) to leave Nanking:
Photo by Majestic / Jörg Gruber
Schoolgirl Langshu (Zhang Jingchu, 张静初), a student of Valérie Dupres, takes pictures of the Japanese war crimes in Nanjing:
Photo by Majestic / Tomoko Kikuchi
And now the video report by Deutsche Welle: The John Rabe part is in the first half:
The scene with the dancing people in the report was shot in the Shanghai Science Hall. This contributor worked on the movie as an on-set VFX assistant, appearing as extras in the movie along with his wife. Watch out for the full-length official trailer soon!
Cross posted on Jakob Montrasio's Net.
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 If you've been browsing the DVD shops lately, you might have already come across Nanking, a documentary—of sorts—about the Nanjing massacre of 1937. The film consists of three elements: first-person accounts from survivors and eye witnesses, including Chinese civilians and soldiers as well as Japanese soldiers. These are all real people, telling their stories on film. Then there actors portraying some of the people, mostly Europeans and Americans, that played a role in setting up a safe-zone for civilians and thereby saving thousands of lives. Among these was the famous John Rabe, a German and Nazi known as "The Good Nazi" or even China's Oskar Schindler (read the write up from Howard French of the New York Times on the restoration of Rabe's house and Sino-Japanese relations here and a general write up about him from The Independent here). There was also an American doctor named Bob Wilson, who was played by Woody Harrelson, as well as other roles played by Mariel Hemingway and Stephen Dorff.
It seems that most of the critics on Rotten Tomatoes thought the film was decent, at least in the sense that it's hard to really *** up something about atrocities, especially if you believe, as we do, that the general facticity of events is not to be doubted. There are a lot of people out there who are happy to debate those things, but let them get sucked into the cesspool of denials and counter-denials, we just wanted to see what the movie had to say. For those of you that read Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking, there's nothing you didn't already know. Our first exposure to this episode in history was through that book, and we think that no matter how many different takes and testimonies we see, nothing will hit us as hard as that book did, and hit us hard as it did. We had to put it down various times out of shock, awe, and the sheer inability to digest the horror of what was happening exactly 70 years ago. In fact, this film was dedicated to Iris Chang.
If we had to say anything about the film, it would be that it was okay. The foreigners are good, the Japanese are evil, and the Chinese were mostly helpless and innocent. Once that's been established, the rest of the film follows. Don't get us wrong, we're not trying to dispute the validity of that, but maybe we're just used to or more keen on watching films where there is a bit more moral complexity. It sounds daft to say that about a historical event of this magnitude, but we're not talking about history per se, but rather how we perceive and consume this history through a particular medium and through a particular instance of that medium, i.e., this film. All in all, the film was okay, worth a watch, especially as a primer for the uninitiated.
There are a few more Nanjing massacre films in the works, read about them here.
On an almost unrelated note, read some of the inane statements about China made by Mrs. Rupert Murdoch at the New York premiere of Nanking.
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 Those of you that were fans of the gritty documentary realism of Li Yang's first feature, Blind Shaft, will probably take an intuitive liking to Blind Mountain for that very reason. Li Yang's use of regular folks--non-actors--always feels like a breath of fresh air, especially after watching movie/pop-star bloated films we've recently watched, such as Lust, Caution and King of California. The story: it's the early 1990s somewhere in bumblefuck northwestern China, and a Bai Xuemei, a recent university graduate thinks she's got a job doing some temporary agricultural work, but little does she know that's about to get abducted and sold as a bride to mustachioed little stump of a peasant.
The story then follows Bai's various attempts at escape. This narrative storytelling at its most economical; nothing feels extraneous—there are no voice-overs and no backstories and no flashbacks. And maybe we've become overly cynical movie-watchers, but it feels good to be spared all the flabby character development scenes you usually get in big movies, with all the meaningful glances and poignant dialogue you've come to expect. However, some (well, Derek Elley in Variety) have argued that Blind Mountain has gone too far in the other direction: Take a quietly scenic Chinese background, a large helping of backward peasant stereotypes and stir in (very slowly) the socially pertinent theme of sold-off brides and you have "Blind Mountain," a shake 'n'bake meal that's instant fest fodder. Low on drama and originality, and high on deja vu, sophomore outing by writer-director Li Yang ("Blind Shaft," 2003) could still find a limited arthouse audience, especially in occidental markets that respond to social portraits of mainland Chinese backwardness. Later on, Elley says: Absence of music, aside from local ditties, accentuates the hard-scrabble rural atmosphere but also underlines the fact that there's little emotional underpinning to the rote story. At the time that it was screened (as part of Un Certain Regard at Cannes), there was the possibility that it might not win approval from state censors. However, judging from the little "this film has been approved" bit in the beginning of the film, well, it was approved. Although Elley's criticism might sound a bit harsh, there's more than a bit of truth to it. Other practitioners of the hard-scrabble, underbelly of society pseudo-documentary style, such as Dardenne Brothers of Belgium, tend to do a better job of avoiding the rote and the moralizing, though we suppose here you get into the realm of personal tastes, so we'll stop our comments at that. As for Blind Mountain, our final verdict—a fairly standard dramatization, nothing mind-blowing, worth a casual, low-to-mid level expectations watch.
Photo from tvnet.com.cn
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 Wondering what the Chinese media are saying about Lust, Caution? We found the following story from the Information Times (信息时报) entitled Survey: Fans rushing to imitate positions in Lust Caution 调查:影迷争相模仿《色,戒》经典床戏 dated 7 Nov on Xinhua — yes, the website everyone goes to for high-quality Chinese journalism. Shanghaiist was so inspired by the spirit of investigative journalism exhibited by this reporter that we decided we had to translate the whole story to share with you. As an aside, it's been said that Chinese journalists just can't seem to get over the full frontal nudity and the brutal sex scenes, and director Ang Lee was supposed to have ticked off a Chinese journalist who insisted on asking questions related to the sex scenes, "Can't you ask a better question?"
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Information Times, 7 Nov - The hottest movie to hit 2007 is Lust, Caution. Since 20 September, when it hit the big screens in Hong Kong, three of its most memorable sex scenes were not only said to have caused even Andy Lau to exclaim, "Wow, that is amazing, simply amazing," it has also caused many young couples to want to imitate some of the scenes they say in the show. Experts say that with sexual positions, it's not a case of "the more, the merrier". Highly difficult sexual positions can cause unnecessary harm to both the male and female body and hence, people should not be imitating what they see on the big screen.
FANS EAGER TO ACT OUT THE DIFFICULT POSITIONS THEY SAW ON LUST, CAUTION
This reporter interviewed 20 youths who saw Lust, Caution in Hong Kong (Note: The film is unedited in HK). 90% of respondents, or 18 of them to be exact, said that if they had the opportunity, they, too, would like to try out some of the more challenging sexual positions they saw in the movie. Said Mr Ruan, who caught the film in Hong Kong with some of his friends, "There was great energy unleashed in the film, it leaves us rubbing our palms asking for more." A female respondent by the name of Miss Chen also said, "It's really beautiful, I totally can accept it."
Yesterday, this reporter went into a BBS and saw on a thread related to Lust, Caution that netizens are all completely preoccupied with the bedroom scenes, and quite a few people said they would go to Hong Kong to watch the movie if they could spare the time to go. A netizen nicknamed "Free Individual" said, "Very artistic. If my calves don't cramp halfway through the act, I would love to give it a try too." Others complained the styling in the film was too bland and they were not interested.
Psychologists say that the infrequent use of highly challenging moves can increase the pleasure of the sexual act, but with the passage of time, these moves may not provide the same level of excitement anymore. Hence, these highly challenging positions should be considered as "snacks" (and not your "main course").
EXPERTS CAUTION THAT HIGHLY-CHALLENGING SEXUAL POSITIONS CAN HARM YOUR BODY
Dr Yu Zaoze, a gynaecologist with the Guangzhou Modern Hospital warns that difficult sexual positions can harm the human body and hence should not be imitated. "All the positions that you saw in Lust, Caution are not normal body positions. Only females that have reached a certain degree of flexibility through the practise of yoga or gymnastics can accomplish them. The average person imitating those positions may inflict unnecessary harm on him/herself." She also said that intense action may lead to the injury of the vaginal walls, causing it to tear and bleed. In the heat of the action, some ladies may not be able to sense the pain and only realise they are really injured afterwards.
In addition, Dr Wang Kefei of the Department of Andrology of the Guangzhou Modern Hospital also recommends that the men take heed not to push themselves to do the impossible. He said that this may cause injury of the male reproductive organ and in extreme cases may even cause it to fracture. Under the pressure from the abnormal position of the female body, the Corpus Cavernosa, which is the sponge-like vascular tissue that makes up the penis may tear and break.
Dr Li Bo, who heads the Outpatient Services of the Guangzhou Andrology Hospital says that everyone is born physiologically different and each of us has different sensitive spots. Hence, not everything should be imitated. Instead, we should all explore our own paths. Likewise, in the area of sexual positions, everyone has their own favourite positions which they are most comfortable with.
信息时报11月7日报道 2007年，电影圈最热门的话题来自《色·戒》。该片自9月20日声势浩大地在香港登陆，其中3段高难度床戏堪称经典，不仅让刘德华惊叹“厉害，太厉害了”，也让不少年轻男女“摩拳擦掌”欲模仿。专家提醒，性爱姿势并非越多越好，高难度性爱动作会对男女双方的身体都造成不必要的损伤，因此不宜模仿。
记者调查 不少影迷有意模仿《色·戒》高难度床戏
记者采访了20位在香港看了《色·戒》的年轻男女，受访的20人中，90%也就是 18人表示有机会的话会尝试影片中的高难度性爱姿势。上周刚与几个朋友到香港看了该片的阮先生认为这些性爱姿势“冲击力很强，让人忍不住摩拳擦掌”，女性观众陈小姐就表示“很唯美，完全能够接受”。
昨天，记者点击进入网上一个讨论“色戒”的帖子看到，网友对该片床戏的关注度很高，不少人表示一定会抽时间去香港观看。网友“自由落体”表示“很有艺术感，如果腿不抽筋的话一定要试试”，但也有人觉得其造型很盲目，自己不感兴趣。
心理专家表示，偶用高难度动作可增加兴奋度，但随着时间的推移，这些动作就会变得不再富有刺激性。因此，高难度动作只是生活的“小调味品”。
专家提醒 高难度性爱动作有损双方身体健康
广州现代医院妇科主任喻早则提醒，高难度性爱姿势有损双方身体健康，不宜模仿。 “像《色·戒》中的性爱动作多属于非正常体位，有瑜珈、体操经验的身体比较柔软的女性才能完成，普通人盲目模仿会对身体造成不必要的损伤。”她表示，激烈的动作很容易造成阴道擦伤、撕裂伤而大出血，有的女性在高度兴奋状态下甚至觉察不到疼痛，过后才能明显感觉很“受伤”。
此外，现代医院男科王克非也建议男性不要盲目追求高难度的动作。他表示，盲目追求高难度的动作，可以对男性生殖器造成损伤，甚至可能折断，因为生殖器在充血状态下受到来自女方身体非正常体位的挤压下，海绵体外面的白膜或会不堪重负而发生破裂。
广州男科医院专家会诊中心主任李渤表示，由于每个人的生理特征不同，敏感区域也不尽相同，因此很多东西是无法模仿的，只能靠自己的感觉去探索。同样的道理，在性爱姿势方面，每个人都有自己认为最好、最舒适的姿势。而对于这种姿势，别人是无法得知的，更是无法罗列出来的，因此，合则取，不合则舍。
Photo from Xinhua: The new position that Chinese lovers across the land are said to be imitating.
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 Shanghaiist is still working here in the capital and an article entitled The Birth of Chollywood caught our attention earlier today while flipping through the October issue of Time Out Beijing. And it informs us that a new Bollywood film will soon be shot in China and it will be entitled — yes, you guessed it — "Made in China".
We thought the article was kind of interesting so it's a pity we weren't able to link to it here because Time Out Beijing is not available online (boo to that). But it does pique our interest in the film because apparently it's the very first film to "combine Bollywood dancing with kung fu, and Hindi actors with Mainland Chinese ones". This will also be Warner Brothers' very first foray into Indian film after being in the country for 75 years. They will be financing the 12 million USD film in its entirety.
Made in China is due to be released at the end of 2008. For more information, check out the Warner Brothers press release:
Photo of producer Rohan Sippy, son of Bollywood directing legend Ramesh Sippy from Telegraph India.
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 At the risk of pissing off our rich and powerful film producer friends and thereby never getting invited to a press junket again, we want to begin this movie review with a simple declarative sentence, the likes of which has not and may never be seen again in film criticism: the movie Blood Brothers (天堂口) sucked ass.
If you were to ask why first-time helmer Alexi Tan's film sucked, when it had John Woo executive producing and had notable actors such as Sun Honglei, Daniel Wu, Shu Qi, and Chang Chen in the lead roles, we'd have to elaborate and say that the script was not just mired in cliche, it was in fact a pure concatenation of cliches, we mean one-after-afuckingnother for the entire length of the film. Three country boys decide to try their luck in jazz age Shanghai, where they meet surly gangsters, cool-hand assassins and sultry jazz vixens, and get mixed up in this business until the in-born moral compass that all country folk have spins till don't they know what's right and what's wrong.
The production design was nice, if a bit too slick. Everyone looked good in their suits, the trolleys looked real, and Shu Qi proved that she could still cause a hard-on or two, but beyond that, it was complete vacuousness. The nightclub called "Paradise" where all the *** goes down was likely the source of more shitty metaphors than all the teenage poetry produced in Canada in the last twenty years.
Like a Chinese blogger said, film directors that come from music video backgrounds often are so lost in form that they completely neglect content, and that even the best actors can't really do much with a shite script. Sun Honglei has his moments as the Shanghai godfather gangsta, but does so only mastering actorly tics such as laughing crazy when you're about to get killed, lighting cigars and cigarettes with style and blowing smoke around your face, etc. One of the peasant girls (a dead ringer for Zhou Xun), is shy, wide-eyed, and has pigtails. She also cooks and cleans, and waits for her man as long as it takes. Go figure.
When one of the major characters dies at the end of the movie, you see HER lover cradle her in his arms while she spits the obligatory blood right at the camera, and he soothingly tells her that it'll be all right, and that they are going to be happy soon, blah blah blah.
If you have indeed gotten this far in reading this review, thank you, because we really needed to *** and didn't have much chance to do so between watching the movie last night and writing this review this evening. We'll be in a better mood soon.
Oh yeah, this blogger thought it sucked too. One of the commenters said he had the urge to leave the cinema in the middle of the movie, but was with other people and didn't want to be an ***.
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  Not long ago, we asked when our local DVD shop would have decent bootlegs of The Simpsons Movie. The answer: Now. And it was probably here a while ago (we were out of town). We haven't not watched the whole thing yet, but the quality of this camcorder version seems to be passable. Who is to thank blame for this intellectual property violation? Someone in Germany, it would seem. Screen shots to the right.
Any other versions out there?
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 Jackie Chan, China's most famous actor/singer/producer/cartoon character/matchmaker (whew!) finds himself one sino-franchise poorer this week, as government officials have blocked mainland distribution of his newest flick, Rush Hour 3. E! News reports:
The official word on why the Brett Ratner-directed sequel won't be making it to the big screen is that the country has already imported too many American films this year for it to be a profitable acquisition, but some officials are attributing the ban to government censors, who supposedly understood what was coming out of Chris Tucker's mouth and didn't like it one bit.
Meaning, the film's racial humor, as well as its depiction of a Chinese organized crime family called the Triad, were judged to be anti-Chinese...
Government policy allows no more than 20 foreign films to hit the big screen each year, so the possibility of a rejection based on import economics holds water, especially in the wake of blockbuster importsTranformers and Spiderman 3. But given previous approvals for Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2 -- as well as the franchise's popularity here, which we don't claim to understand or condone -- the decision came as a surprise.
The movie opens on August 16 in Hong Kong, which remains outside mainland Film Bureau jurisdiction. As for us, we just hope Chan's next project, a vocal role in the animated Dreamworks movie Kung Fu Panda, makes it past the censors. Slapstick Chris Tucker we can do without. But CGI marsupials with nun chucks, voiced by the likes of Chan, Jack Black, Lucy Liu, and Angelina Jolie? Must-see.
Related links
E! News: No Rush for Chan in China
Variety Asia: China Film says no release for "Rush Hour 3"
Counting Down: Kung Fu Panda
Poster via IMDB
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Color us excited. The "Lust, Caution" trailer is out!
"Lust, Caution" is the latest from Ang Lee, the Chinese director best known for turning cowboys gay (Brokeback Mountain) and Ziyi Zhang into an international superstar (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). Based on a novella of the same name by grand dame of Shanghai fiction, Eileen Chang, "Lust, Caution" depicts love and betrayal in Japan-occupied and espionage-riddled 1940's Shanghai. Lee's crew filmed on location in the Nanhui District, eventually building an 800-meter replica of 40's-era Nanjing Rd inside Shanghai Film Studio's lot.
Tony Leung (In the Mood for Love, 2046) will take the lead as Mr. Yee, a powerful turncoat working for the Japanese, who finds himself increasingly entangled with a young student activist played by Beijing newcomer Tang Wei. Twin Peaks star Joan Chen (claim to fame: was "discovered" by Chairman Mao's wife at a riflery club in Beijing, which just might be the most surreal career-launch ever) and A.B.C. singer/songwriter Alexander Lee-Hom Wong also star. Add an original score by Alexandre Desplat (The Queen, The Painted Veil) and we're pretty much in line for tickets, already.
"Lust, Caution" will screen at the Venice Film Festival at the end of August, followed by a September 28 American release. Chinese distribution is in the air; censors may take issue with sexual and/or political content.
Related links
YouTube: Press Conference for Lust, Caution (Chinese only)
Jakob Montrasio: Old Shanghai in Ang Lee's New Movie
Monkey Peaches: Lust, Caution (for those 'lusting' for pictures and behind-the-scenes details)
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What
Crossing the Line - a documentary by VeryMuchSo Productions with Koryo Tours
Synopsis
Witness the stories of four US army defectors who abandoned their homeland to seek out a new life in communist North Korea in this fascinating documentary from filmmaker Daniel Gordon. It was August of 1962 that Private First Class James Joseph Dresnok crossed the heavily fortified border from South Korea into the North. Now, more than forty-years later, the last living US Army defector known to reside in North Korea speaks with Gordon in Pyongyang about his life, experiences, and what it means to be a member of the US military who has defected to a communist nation. [From NY Times]
Memorable quotes
On August 15th, at noon in broad daylight when everybody was eating lunch, I hit the road. Yes I was afraid. Am I gonna live or die? And when I stepped into the minefield and I seen it with my own eyes, I started sweating. I crossed over, looking for my new life. [Joe Dresnok]
My father is American and I've got American blood. But as I born here I consider myself as Korean... I start to learn English to become a diplomat. I’d like to make the world which has no war at all. And no terror at all [Joe Dresnok's eldest son, James]
When
August 5 (Sunday)
Matinee at 6pm, and then again at 8.30pm
Where
Sasha’s, Third Floor, 11 Dongping Rd by Hengshan Rd (东平路11号，近衡山路)
Cost
Absolutely free of charge! And a happy hour from 5-6pm!
Note from organisers They saw it at Sundance, they saw it at the Berlin Film Festival and they’ve seen it on the BBC while CCTV has yet to return our calls – and because we love you we’re letting you see it – for free – twice - How good is that! And we’re throwing in a Q&A with the larger than life producer and legendary tour guide Nick Bonner too. The film is 93 minutes long – Bonner could go on for hours though! And oh yes, bring along your own ice cream!
RSVP
Send an email marked ‘Shanghai screenings’ to info@koryogroup.com stating which screening you want to attend! It's as simple as that!
Related links
KSL.com: Soldier Who Defected to North Korea Featured in Film
CBS / 60 Minutes: Joe Dresnok: An American In North Korea
We leave you with this first part of the fascinating 60 Minutes interview with Dan Gordon and Nick Bonner on the making of the documentary.
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 Chivalry is dead.
Or so we’ve been told by various women over the years. Men no longer open doors, give up their seats on the bus, hold the umbrella (for rain or shine), or tie handkerchiefs to their lances before a big joust. (Apparently, these women have never been to Europe.)
Now, all this may be true, but times change and modern society has found new ways to give women preferential treatment. Free entry into nightclubs, for example, or complimentary drinks on Ladies’ Night. Or rather, Ladies’ Week, as it should be called in Shanghai, where women can drink to their hearts’ content from Monday to Saturday without spending a jiao.
Some may find this a little excessive, but that’s probably just bitter, jealous men talking. In fact, the whole ‘free-for-the-ladies’ trend has just been taken one step further: Xintiandi’s UME Cineplex is giving away free movie tickets for tonight’s premier of Transformers to any woman accompanying a man with a regular ticket.
Is this just smart marketing for a movie that probably doesn’t have tremendous initial appeal among Shanghai’s female population? Or is it a sign that tickets, popcorn and soft drinks will soon be on the house for China’s gentler sex?
If it’s the latter, expect cinemas to get a lot more crowded. Just remember: cellphones are to be switched off, and no shouting at the screen, please.
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 As regular readers of Variety magazine, Shanghaiist was not surprised to read that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which opens today in Chinese theatres, has been slightly cut-down by government censors.
While this is usual for international movies playing in China, Shanghaiist wasn’t too happy to find that half of superstar Chow Yun-fat’s scenes, in which he plays a Singaporean pirate,were cut out. According to official sources on China Film, the scenes that were cut involved “too much violence and horror,” such as a scene of Chow reciting a poem from eighth-century writer Li Bai called "The Moon Shining Over the Mountain on the Border." Another scene that was removed focused on Chinese architecture.
These scene cuts bring up the question of whether the Chow's depiction of the Chinese came into play in the censoring decision.
We at least hope the cuts aren’t terribly edited. Past blockbuster movies we’ve seen in Shanghai cinemas, such as King Kong and Harry Potter 4, were also censored, and featured abrupt mid-scene cuts and numerous jumps right to the middle of action.
More info, and some spoilers, at East Day.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End opens today, Tuesday, June 12, in cinemas all over Shanghai. For a list of movie theaters in Shanghai, go here or here.
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We are all sorry for Wei ***'s misery , but we still loathe her notorious Shanghai Baby —exactly what in this book attracts people? A slutty Shanghainese girl has an affair with disloyal married German man? C'mon, like these kind of stories aren't rampant Read More...
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