Fresh Reviews: "A Woman, A Gun And A Noodle Shop"

Rated R for violence and some sexual references (though no actual sex scenes).

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A while back, I was walking past the Landmark Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis and spotted a poster for a new film by Zhang Yimou, one of the greatest names in Chinese Cinema... the man who's given us "Red Sorghum", "Raise The Red lantern", "Ju Dou" and many others... called "A Woman, A Gun And A Noodle Shop"... and then I saw that the film was adapted from the Coen Brothers movie "Blood Simple". As soon as I was able to pick my jaw back up from the sidewalk where it had dropped, I thought "I have GOT to see this one". Now that I have, I'm might glad that I ignored the negative reviews it's been getting in the local press and did just that.

The Coen Brothers' story of infidelity and betrayal has been taken from a contemporary Texas honkytonk and reset in a Chinese noodle shop of over a hundred years ago, but  the essentials are still here. The woman in question (Yan Ni) has been having an affair with one of the shop's employees. She's also bought a gun, prepared to do away with her unwanted and unwelcome husband. But the husband has just found out about his wife's plans, and has hired an unscrupulous policeman to kill both the wife and her lover. But the cop is even more unscrupulous than the husband realizes, and everybody involved has some very big and unpleasant surprises in store.

Aside from those essentials, we have a similar setting, a story that follows the same broad, general outline, and the occasional scene that's been transferred directly from the original film. But Zhang Yimou was never going to make a western film all over again... he's still a quintessentially Chinese filmmaker, and while greed & avarice, as well as lust and just plain selfishness are indeed universals, they don't always manifest themselves the same in every nation. That, more than anything, is what makes foreign films in general and this one in particular so fascinating to watch... to see the similarities and learn how alike we all are, but also to see where things differ and ask why and how they do, and what those differences mean. That's something that the local critics don't seem to comprehend, as they blast the movie for not having the same feel and style of the original. I thought it had far MORE of the same feel & style than I would have thought it would... but because it's not exactly the same, they have to pan it. Who can understand a strange breed like movie critics anyhow, right?

One thing that might have upset some of the critics is the humor... yes, "Blood Simple" had humor too, but it was as dark as humor ever gets and while most of the humor in this movie is the same, it does start out much more broadly comedic, particular when it depicts a noodle-making session featuring as much incredible balletic moves and kung-fu-like skill as any martial arts movie. But it's hardly uncommon for Chinese films to feature sudden shifts in tone like that in mid-story, as anyone who's seen more than a few would know. There is a point to that, and it does have an effect you wouldn't get otherwise... if you're paying attention. The darkness, when it comes... and it does come... is all the more shocking.

After starting out telling the personal stories of individuals in more dramatic style (often featuring the elements of lust, greed and avarice) Zhang has been spending much of the past decade or so in the world of martial arts movies with films like "Hero" and the (to me) disappointing "House Of Flying Daggers". But with "A Woman, A Gun & A Noodle Shop" he's back working to all his greatest strengths. What dangerous lengths people will go to in order to get what they THINK they want, what they do when they discover it might not be what they really want, and how often what appears to be love is something very much other... these are subjects Zhang knows well, and that filmgoers around the world know well too. But there are always new ways to tell these kinds of tales, and even in a remake, Zhang has no trouble finding them. He's aided by an excellent series of performances from his cast , in particular Yan Ni, who would have been outstanding even if all she'd done were the scenes portraying her as evil, but who really shines in a brief moment of confession when she barely manages to tell through her tears about how desperate and abandoned she feels with her distant husband and why she's involved with another man. Truly outstanding work. And Zhang has always been a master of cinematography and the use of color to tell a story, which proves true again here. All of this, together with a moody, noir-ish musical score by Zhao Lin, add up to a dark, suspenseful 95 minutes that should appeal both to fans of "Blood Simple" and those who have never seen it, though of course those who have will probably get more out of it.

I don't know if the situation is any different now, but when the film opened at Minneapolis' Landmark Lagoon Theatre this past Friday, it was drawing very few customers... likely due to the negative local press. An excellent film by one of the world's great filmmakers (and based on a movie by filmmakers from right here in the Twin Cities area) certainly deserves a much bigger audience than that. If enough people start coming and showing their support, maybe this movie will be around for a while longer and get the kind of exposure it ought to have. At least I certainly hope so. Ifnore the critics! What do they know? (Wait a minute, did I just say that?...)