DA WAN (Big Shot's Funeral, 2001) **1/2 Donald Sutherland is probably the perfect actor to use in a cultural cross-polonization plot, I mean, he's always had something of an other-worldly feel anyway. He's also consistently demonstrated the sort of transcendent/inquisitive symbiosis that directors most commonly associate with themselves, so credibility is anything of an issue per sé. Also, it's a Chinese spoof, sprinkled with irony, and Donald has always been an outstanding irony sprinkler. Also...well, as if any of that wasn't enough, the Chinese apparently think that American advertising is very funny. No, not necessarily that they think that the ads are produced in a clever manner, more that they're more amused than horrified that any individual would so completely be devoid of aesthetic sensibilities as to ever demean themselves to the point of indulgence. They're right, of course, and it's a very open question as to whether advertising people even represent anything near the bottom of the barrel. Rosamund Kwan delivers her lines in such a hopelessly unfamiliar and distant manner that there's a temptation to confuse her with a Brechtian revolutionairess, but it's even more abundantly clear that that's not what Xiogang Feng is shooting for. Doesn't matter, it all adds to the film for me. They're probably also right that The Last Emperor cries out for a populist re-make, probably with Danny DeVito in the title role.
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