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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 10/01/93 -- Vol. 12, No. 14
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are in Holmdel 4N-509
Wednesdays at noon.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
10/06 SARAH CANARY by Karen Joy Fowler (Nebula Nominee)
10/27 THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert A. Heinlein (Classic SF)
11/17 BRIAR ROSE by Jane Yolen (Nebula Nominee)
12/08 STAND ON ZANZIBAR by John Brunner (Classic SF)
01/05 A MILLION OPEN DOORS by John Barnes (Nebula Nominee)
01/26 Bookswap
02/16 Demo of Electronic Hugo and Nebula Anthology (MT)
Outside events:
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the second
Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call 201-933-2724 for
details. The New Jersey Science Fiction Society meets on the third
Saturday of every month in Belleville; call 201-432-5965 for details.
HO Chair: John Jetzt MT 2G-432 908-957-5087 holly!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1C-523 908-834-1267 holly!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 homxc!11366ns
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 908-576-3346 quartet!lfl
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 mtgpfs1!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. Our discussion book this coming Wednesday is the Nebula nominee
_S_a_r_a_h _C_a_n_a_r_y by Karen Joy Fowler. The Pacific Northwest in the
1870s is the setting for this slipstream novel with two strong
genre elements. One of them is the the nature of the title
character who shows up one day in a Chinese camp and who remains
fairly enigmatic through the novel. The other piece of fantasy is
Ms. Fowler's rather eccentric--though pristinely politically
correct--interpretation of the history of this period. We see a
slice of history like it is not taught in the traditional history
books. White menfolk sit around spitting and complain about uppity
women while far-seeing women worry about sexual equality in
THE MT VOID Page 2
marriage. Then there is a priceless proto-scientist whose view of
the world is entirely framed by his bigotry. The story is well-
written and entertaining which perhaps makes it all the more
insidious. A rather odd choice for a Nebula nominee.
===================================================================
2. There is a scene in the film _W_h_i_t_e _M_e_n _C_a_n'_t _J_u_m_p that had me a
little puzzled. The main character's significant other tells him
that she is thirsty. He gets up and gets her a glass of water.
She turns on him as being insensitive. Why does he feel he has to
solve her problems? What he should have done was tell her, "I too
have been thirsty." Where is that coming from? Well, I just found
out there is a terrific book called _Y_o_u _J_u_s_t _D_o_n'_t _U_n_d_e_r_s_t_a_n_d by
Deborah Tannen. It makes clear the gender differences in
communication. Its thesis is that men and women communicate
differently and have different expectations from conversation.
Silly me, I thought that no two people communicate alike. When
Tannen says men communicate this one way and women communicate this
other way, it strikes me as a very broad generalization. Gee, now
that I think about it, isn't it sometimes considered bad form to
say that all women have this characteristic and all men have that
characteristic? I guess there must be good stereotyping and bad
stereotyping.
Anyway, Tannen says that when a woman says she has a problem, she
is looking for empathy. It is empathy that is nourishing to her.
Men go in and take a superior position. They try to go in and
solve the problem. Being a problem solver puts the man in a
position of being "one-up." That is being unfair to the woman. Now
Evelyn heard this and dubbed it "hooey!" We use the word "hooey"
in conversation a lot because we are too refined to refer
constantly to bovine leavings. Evelyn dubbed this "hooey" but as a
woman she may have been hearing it differently than I was.
Besides, I am not sure I am allowed to call this idea hooey. It
would not be politically correct and I would be in serious danger
of destroying my well-known image of being a sensitive, New-Age
kind of guy.
So I intend to bow to the pressure. Henceforth at work I will be
much more sensitive. When a man complains to me about a problem, I
will do my level best to solve the problem. When a woman reports a
problem, I won't try to solve it (which would make her feel I had
one-upped her). Instead I will sympathize and emotionally nurture
her and above all I will make no attempt to solve the problem. And
the world will be a better place.
===================================================================
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3. THE BROKEN LAND by Ian McDonald (Bantam Spectra, ISBN 0-553-
37054-5, 1992, $10) (a book review by Evelyn C. Leeper): _T_h_e _B_r_o_k_e_n
_L_a_n_d is a well-written book, but the parallels between the land of
the book and modern Ireland are _s_o obvious that I found myself
groaning more often than being enlightened. The
Confessors/Proclaimers parallel to the Catholics/Protestants was
bad enough, but when the Confessors gain independence for the land
except for the "nine northern prefectures," I came very close to
hurling the book at the wall. Frequently I felt that the parallels
were closer to puns in some literary sense than to a way to look at
an old situation from fresh eyes. This might work in a humorous
novel, but _T_h_e _B_r_o_k_e_n _L_a_n_d is not humorous. It is an accurate
story of what happens in a land torn apart by religious (or racial,
or ethnic) strife. This subject is certainly topical (alas), but
the precise parallels of the problem to Ireland make the book lose
the universal quality that it could have had. It is not surprising
that McDonald writes about Ireland, and writes well, as his earlier
_K_i_n_g _o_f _M_o_r_n_i_n_g, _Q_u_e_e_n _o_f _D_a_y proves, but he can also write very
well in a multi-ethnic, non-specific milieu (see his _S_p_e_a_k_i_n_g _i_n
_T_o_n_g_u_e_s collection and his _D_e_s_o_l_a_t_i_o_n _R_o_a_d), and this makes this
book particularly disappointing. For someone who knew nothing of
Ireland, this would be an excellent book, but as it stands, its
total obviousness and specificity makes this the first Ian McDonald
book of the four I've read that I can't recommend.
===================================================================
4. HARM'S WAY by Colin Greenland (AvoNova, ISBN 0-380-76883-6,
1993, $4.99) (a book review by Evelyn C. Leeper): As _W_i_n_t_e_r'_s
_D_a_u_g_h_t_e_r by Charles Whitmore was science fiction written in the
style of a Norse saga, so is _H_a_r_m'_s _W_a_y written in the style of a
Victorian novel (though I would call it science fantasy rather than
science fiction). We have the poor, semi-orphaned girl who leaves
home, has adventures, meets all sorts of people, and eventually
discovers her true identity. _H_a_r_m'_s _W_a_y is set on what is
apparently an alterate Victorian-era Earth, an alternate in which
at some point between Defoe and Victoria, space flight was
developed (using what appear to be typical large sailing ships of
that era in our time in their appointments), and all sorts of alien
races inhabiting the solar system were discovered. (I place the
"change-point" after Defoe, because in a world of space flight, the
sense of isolated parts of the earth that Defoe depended on in
_R_o_b_i_n_s_o_n _C_r_u_s_o_e would no longer have been there.) How any of this
happened is never discussed, and with the exception of space flight
and weaponry the society is technologically at the Victorian level.
The result is extremely disorienting--we never know what to expect
from the society because it is _s_o inconsistent. _H_a_r_m'_s _W_a_y is an
interesting stylistic experiment, but not one I can actually
recommend.
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===================================================================
5. EINSTEIN'S DREAMS by Alan Lightman (Pantheon, ISBN 0-679-41646-
3, 1993, $17) (a book review by Evelyn C. Leeper): Remember this
novella at Hugo time.
Yes, it is a novella (at about 36,000 words), but there are more
ideas here than in most novels three times as long. That what
_E_i_n_s_t_e_i_n'_s _D_r_e_a_m_s is, in fact, about: ideas. Presented as a series
of dreams dreamt by Einstein as he is formulating his theory of
relativity, each chapter is a short synopsis of one view of time or
one way time might be different. In one, cause may follow effect
as easily as precede it; in another, time flows at different rates
in different villages; in yet another, people live forever. With
only about six hundred words each, Lightman conveys the feeling of
what it would be like to live in such a universe. Although he is a
scientist by profession, he does not focus so much on the physical
effects of the various possibilities as on their effect on the
emotional and psychological state of the people who inhabit those
strange (and some not so strange) universes. Some are totally
impossible, but others may in some sense be our own world.
For those interested in science and for those interested in
philosophy, this book has a lot to chew on. I _h_i_g_h_l_y recommend it.
===================================================================
6. ALTERNATE WARRIORS edited by Mike Resnick (Tor, ISBN 0-812-
52346-6, 1993, $4.99) (a book review by Evelyn C. Leeper):
Well, it's another Mike Resnick alternate history extravaganza.
While I enjoyed the first two (_A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _P_r_e_s_i_d_e_n_t_s and _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e
_K_e_n_n_e_d_y_s), I found this one a disappointment. Maybe it's the
focus. There seems to be a subgenre of science fiction these days
that concentrates on the military, the bellicose, and the violent.
Some of it is well-written, I know (Lois McMaster Bujold does a
good job), but on the whole the category leaves me cold. (The
claim has been made that this category is aimed at adolescent boys
of all ages, so I'm sure some will say that's why I find it usually
dull and often offensive in its glorification of battle, but there
you have it.) Only the alternate history aspect of this anthology
made it intriguing to me, and I found that part was often a let-
down. Why? Well, let's see.
First, though, let me talk about the _b_e_s_t stories. "The Arrival of
Truth" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch is told in the first person by a
slave in an alternate antebellum South in which one could take
literally the saying, "And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth
shall make you free." It's a human story, full of love and pain,
and as the final story, a fitting cap to the theme. Beth Meacham's
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"One by One" is a tale of an alternate America where Tecumseh
helped the British win the Battle of Detroit and the result was
that the Shawnee held out successfully against the white incursion.
Now a divided United States finds itself in a race war. Meacham
does an excellent job of showing the conflicts between the Shawnee
and the white people in a country where neither side could claim
its complete superiority by conquest. And Barry N. Malzberg's
"Fugato" is a very unusual--and compellinglook into an alternate
Leonard Bernstein finding in France during World War II. The most
complex piece in the book, it demands more attention than the
stories around it, and may catch you off-guard if you don't expect
it--sort of like jumping six-inch hurdles and suddenly coming up on
a two-footer.
Some of the stories don't seem to be real alternate histories in a
strict sense. Resnick's own "Mwalimu in the Squared Circle" is an
interesting character study, but there is no hint of anything
changing in the world because of Nyerere's decision. Kathe Koja's
"Ballad of the Spanish Civil Guard" doesn't even seem to be
alternate history (at least based on everything I've read about
Garcia Lorca). "The Battle of All Mothers" by Jack Nimersheim is
an unlikely future for Mother Teresa but not an alternate history,
and his "Mind over Matter" is similarly an unlikely future for
Stephen Hawking. "The Cold Warrior" by Jack C. Haldeman II is a
secret history of Marilyn Monroe rather than an alternate history.
Other stories are clearly intended to be just plain silly: George
Alec Effinger's "Albert Schweitzer and the Treasures of Atlantis,"
Lea Hernandez's "Al Einstein--Nazi Smasher!," Josepha Sherman's
"Monsieur Verne and the Martian Invasion, and David Gerrold's "The
Firebringers." They were, in their own way, entertaining enough,
but there's been too many of this sort of silly alternate history
story lately, and these lack that spark that would make them stand
out.
Some figures are more popular than others. Martin Luther King,
Jr., for example, shows up in both "Taking Action" by Lawrence
Schimel (which has an interesting interpretation of affirmative
action) and "Death of a Dream" by Jack C. Haldeman II (a more
serious look at "what if?"). Popes also show up twice, in "The
Vatican Outfit" by Laura Resnick (which maybe should have been in
the silly category above) and "The Mark of the Angel" by Tappan
King (this one is actually more a secret history than an alternate
history as well). Other religious figures abound: Francis of
Assisi in "...But the Sword!" by Anthony R. Lewis (interesting
idea but told too much as a history lesson full of dates and
battles than as a story with a character), Moses in Bill Fawcett's
"Zealot," Thomas Becket (rendered variously as "Thomas Beket" and
"Thomas Beckett" in the book, neither correct) in Michelle Sagara's
"For Love of God," and (naturally) Jesus in Brad Linaweaver's
"Unmerited Favor." It may be because the stories had to be about
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"warriors," but all these seem to concentrate more on the fighting
than on the religious or philosophical ideas inherent in the
concepts. I enjoy religious alternate histories the best of all,
because there is where one sees the most philosophy, but these lack
that.
The remaining stories are less easily categorized. "Jane's
Fighting Ships" by Esther M. Friesner has a cute idea (Jane Austen
and Davey Crockett against Napoleon), but left me saying, "So
what?" Or rather, thinking what an unlikely and unconvincing
premise this was. In Michael P. Kube-McDowell's "Because Thou
Lovest the Burning-Ground," Mohandas Gandhi takes another path
(though not the rocket-launcher and Rambo look on the rather
annoying cover--nor is the name "Mahatma" on the back-cover blurb
accurate), and does have some interesting and accurate Indian
history in it. (But then, Kube-McDowell usually does his research
well.) I don't know my Egyptian history well enough to appreciate
"Tut's Wife" by Maureen F. McHugh, and "Queen of Asia" by Judith
Tarr similarly escapes me, though to a lesser degree. After "The
Winterberry" in _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _K_e_n_n_e_d_y_s, I found Nicholas A. DiChario's
"Extreme Feminism" disappointing and predictable. In "Jihad" by
Mercedes Lackey, T. E. Lawrence becomes a different kind of
warrior, but the story didn't make me care about any of it.
Similarly, "A Sense of Loyalty, a Sense of Betrayal" by Brian
Thomsen does nothing for me. If you are more interested in Sidney
Reilley ("Ace of Spies"), you will probably enjoy it more. "Sam
Clemens and the Notable Mare" by Mel. White borders on the silly.
Barbara Delaplace"s "Standing Firm" has Neville Chamberlain and
Winston Churchill debating the Sudetenland; it's an alternate
history, so we know what happens--but then the story ends. I want
to see the effects of the change, not just the change itself.
(This flaw occurs in other stories as well, but is the most obvious
here.)
So there are three excellent stories (the Malzberg, the Rusch, and
the Meacham) and several that are enjoyable enough for the moment.
But _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _W_a_r_r_i_o_r_s is definitely not up to _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _P_r_e_s_i_d_e_n_t_s
or _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _K_e_n_n_e_d_y_s. (On the other hand, those two anthologies
had three Hugo nominees between them, so this third volume had
quite a reputation to try to live up to.) We'll have to see if
Resnick's next alternate history anthology (either _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e
_O_u_t_l_a_w_s or _B_y _A_n_y _O_t_h_e_r _F_a_m_e) is an improvement.
===================================================================
7. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule review: Martin Scorsese's adaptation of the
Edith Wharton novel is like a beautiful, detailed
painting of an entire period, yet it remains static
THE MT VOID Page 7
and uninvolving. The characters seem to be all
bland and mostly convention-bound. By the time we
can work up any pathos for the principals, it is too
late. Rating: low +1 (-4 to +4).
Somehow one of the last things we would have expected from Martin
Scorsese is is a foray into the Merchant-Ivory territory of
adapting the early-20th Century social novel. That is exactly the
field he is entering with _T_h_e _A_g_e _o_f _I_n_n_o_c_e_n_c_e, but his results are
of mixed quality. He has created a beautiful recreation of 1870s
New York City high society and the bloodlessness that it required
from its denizens, but in doing that so well, he has created
characters that it is hard to care very much for and their story is
considerably less engaging as a result.
The story is of a love triangle that flies in the face of he
conventions of society. Daniel Day-Lewis plays Newland Archer, a
handsome and intelligent young lawyer engaged to May Welland, a
lovely childlike woman played by Winona Ryder. Newland meets and
is struck by May's cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska (played by
Michelle Pfeiffer). The Countess is rebounding from the scandal of
having left her husband, a Polish Count, but upper-class society
will not let her forget her past. Newland slowly realizes that he
really loves the countess and that she loves him, but he cannot
decide if he is willing to fly in the face of convention. And for
roughly two hours of screentime this latter-day Hamlet remains
indecisive. Certainly things happen in that time, but this heart
of the story does not advance until it is over.
What we get in that static two hours is a beautiful depiction of
society in that time and place. Lavish detail shows us what
parties were like, what food was eaten at lavish social dinners,
what table arrangement there was, what the streets looked like
(though many of the exteriors had unconvincing matte paintings that
called attention to themselves). Watching this film reminded me a
lot of my visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. A
segment of society is perfectly preserved in this film.
The visuals, however, are almost unused in telling the story. This
story is almost literally a novel on film. The story is told in
words in dialog and narration. The narration is by Joanne
Woodward, and is said to be a late enhancement to clarify the
plotline after editing the film down to 136 minutes. In any case
this is a film that genuinely requires concentration on the dialog
and a good memory for character names. There are a lot of
characters in the book and Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese did not
pare them down by many in the screenplay. The film boasts an
impressive cast including Richard E. Grant, Alec McCowan, Geraldine
Chaplin (could this be a sly nod to plot similarities in
_D_r. _Z_h_i_v_a_g_o?), Mary Beth Hurt, Sian Phillips, Michael Gough, Alexis
Smith, Jonathan Pryce, and Robert Sean Leonard.
THE MT VOID Page 8
Notable also is another great opening credit sequence by the master
photographer of such sequences, Saul Bass (and Elaine Bass). Saul
Bass is the Michelangelo of film credit sequences.
There is a lot that works in _T_h_e _A_g_e _o_f _I_n_n_o_c_e_n_c_e and a few very
basic and important aspects that fail. This is an accurate
adaptation of a classic novel not well suited to film adaptation.
My rating would be a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
===================================================================
8. AND THE BAND PLAYED ON (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule review: HBO gives us the most important
film of the year and also one of the most
compelling. This is a detective story, a story of
politics and sex, and has a terrific script and some
very moving performances. It is unlikely you will
find a more intelligent film this year. Rating: +3
(-4 to +4)
When Stanley Kramer made _J_u_d_g_m_e_n_t _a_t _N_u_r_e_m_b_e_r_g, he reportedly had
only a modest budget. And yet the film had a cast that can best be
described as "star-studded." Actors who usually got high billing
were willing to take tiny roles and were willing to be paid very
modest salaries because the film had a political message. It told
the story of the trial of the Nazis who had committed crimes
against humanity in the Holocaust and telling that story was so
important that actors put aside self-interest to be part of the
project. In _A_n_d _t_h_e _B_a_n_d _P_l_a_y_e_d _O_n you see a lot of well-known
actors in very tiny roles. And films made for HBO generally do not
have huge budgets. This film has itself become something of an
event and actors want to be part of the statement it makes
regardless of what they can be paid and what billing they can be
given.
_A_n_d _t_h_e _B_a_n_d _P_l_a_y_e_d _O_n would be an enthralling film even if it were
pure fiction, which unfortunately it is not. It is the story of
AIDS from 1976 before the first real breakout and continuing the
story for about the next decade. It is the story of a disaster; it
is the story of politics; it is a detective story; it is a story
about prejudice; it is about courage and heroism and vanity; it's a
horror story. The cliche is that it would make a great Hollywood
film, but in reality Hollywood is making no more films like
_J_u_d_g_m_e_n_t _a_t _N_u_r_e_m_b_e_r_g and it takes someone like HBO with its
captive audience to make a film like this. (Incidentally, HBO made
last year's _D_e_a_d _A_h_e_a_d, which has some resemblance to this film.
_D_e_a_d _A_h_e_a_d was not nearly as solid a film as _A_n_d _t_h_e _B_a_n_d _P_l_a_y_e_d _O_n
and I considered it one of the ten best films I saw last year.
This would have to be one classic year for movies for _A_n_d _t_h_e _B_a_n_d
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_P_l_a_y_e_d _O_n not to make this year's top ten list.)
The film basically follows one doctor, Don Francis (played by
Matthew Modine) from the very puzzling outbreak--people dying from
diseases that usually strike only cats or sheep. Francis as part
of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), joins a small team with
incredibly insufficient funding slowly assembling the facts about
this new disease. And facts they get, but they are facts that a
lot of people do not want to hear. And in some cases facts are not
available and suppositions must do. So a political element is
added. And this is a hard-hitting film that uses the names of
famous people, often not in a very positive light.
Of bad touches, there are very few. Glenne Headly does a
reasonable job as Dr. Mary Guinan on the CDC team. She is a
talented actress but I strongly suspect the real Mary Guinan would
not have her Hollywood beauty. They did not feel the need to put
in stunningly handsome men in major roles--unless it is Alan Alda
as the self-aggrandizing Dr. Robert Gallo--but there is still the
perception here that the audience needs to have a pretty face.
That is the only serious aspect in which the filmmakers have
underrated the audience. With that exception I commend Roger
Spottiswoode for the direction and Arnold Schulman for an
intelligent screenplay based on the book by Randy Shilts.
A reviewer always has a dilemma when a bad film is made in a good
cause. Do you rate the film or the cause? Thank goodness HBO has
made such a good film in this particular cause. I give it a +3 on
the -4 to +4 scale.
===================================================================
9. THE JOY LUCK CLUB (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule review: _T_h_e _J_o_y _L_u_c_k _C_l_u_b is the stories of
four families that have migrated from mainland China
in the last generation. It is the story of four
mother-daughter relationships in the United States
and the story of the four mothers' lives in
repressive and sexist Chinese society. The stories
are often heart-wrenching and often inspirational.
If this is a woman's film, it at least is miles
ahead of something like _B_e_a_c_h_e_s. Rating: low +3 (-4
to +4).
It is a party. Friends have gotten together in a celebration.
Several families are represented. The families are Chinese-
American, though through inter-marriage not all the people present
are Chinese. At the center of the party, four women play Mah Jong.
They are the Joy Luck Club, originally four women from different
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parts of China who found each other in the new country of the U. S.
and have played together and talked for years. One of the original
members died months ago and her daughter has replaced her. Each of
the four families has a daughter who was born in this country; each
has or had a mother who was born and raised in China. _T_h_e _J_o_y _L_u_c_k
_C_l_u_b is really an anthology film with four pairs of stories, each
pair with the story of the mother's life in China and the story of
the mother-daughter relationship in the new country. There is a
beautiful symmetry in the eight stories. In each pair a single
theme will run through the mother's story and the mother-daughter
story. Each mother's story will show the hardship placed on women
in a country bound by the ancient traditions that still live in
China. They are traditions that are particularly hard on women,
giving them little choice as to their fate. In the mother-daughter
stories, each daughter faces, and of course overcomes, problems
caused by freedom from the pre-set roles of the old country. So
each pair of stories is also about the changes that go on in a
family adapting to a very new way of life. It is a matrix of eight
poignant stories woven into a single story. Bracketing the entire
film is the story of June (played by Ming-Na Wen) who discovers
early in the film that her mother did something bad in China, an
act so terrible June does not understand it and one that calls on
June to return to China on a mission that she is worrying about.
Hanging over most of the film is the question of how June's mother
Suyuan (Kieu Chinh) could have done what she did. Yet by the time
the full story is revealed we have seen how different mainland
Chinese culture is from our own and we will come to understand
Suyuan's actions.
_T_h_e _J_o_y _L_u_c_k _C_l_u_b is what used to be called "a woman's film." And
a "crying film" at that. I will say in its defense that I liked it
considerably more than my wife did. I think that the family
conflicts I saw in the film are similar to conflicts I have seen in
real families, but that Evelyn might have seen less of. Usually we
do not see how really different life is in China even today. I
will defend the "crying film" aspect much in the same way I
defended the same aspect of _T_h_e _C_o_l_o_r _P_u_r_p_l_e. We are looking at
very real stories of human misery and the cruelty in parts of this
film. If a film that shows you that does not manipulate you and
perhaps bring a tear to your eye, the film is broken. Or maybe you
are broken. In any case we are talking about a culture that has
extreme sexism by Western standards; it has forced marriages; it
has terrible poverty. At least the stories are all fairly new and
unfamiliar here, which already gives it a point above the recent
_T_h_e _W_e_d_d_i_n_g _B_a_n_q_u_e_t. One of the eight stories was in some ways
reminiscent of _R_a_i_s_e _t_h_e _R_e_d _L_a_n_t_e_r_n, but even there it had
unexpected touches.
Visually the film brought back memories of China, and particularly
the karst-dotted landscape near the Li River Valley and Guilin.
The camera work by Amir Mokri is very beautiful when it needs to be
THE MT VOID Page 11
and downbeat when that is what is called for. The film was
directed by Wayne Wang from a screenplay by Any Tan (based on her
novel) and Ronald Bass. The three shared production credits with
Patrick Markey. _T_h_e _J_o_y _L_u_c_k _C_l_u_b is one of several very good
films that are coming out this autumn. I would rate it a low +3 on
the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
leeper@mtgzfs3.att.com
Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth
can ever turn it into a fact.
-- Honore de Balzac
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