Begin rant: Anyone out there currently occupying a position of power in a multi-lingual film, I beg you not to force your actors to learn lines phonetically or redub their performances after the fact. Yes, I know what the argument for this is: if the character should be expected to speak a particular language then you should have the actor speaking - or at least appearing to speak - that language on screen. But you know what? The authenticity argument doesn't work. Dubbing stands out like a sore thumb and phonetic speech is often even worse. When you go down either of these roads all that you really accomplish is to jar the audience out of the world you're creating by pointing out that the characters actually aren't what they're supposed to be - goodbye authenticity - while also destroying the performance of the actors themselves. Better by far to rely on the magic of the cinema and count on the audience to put the language issues aside - like on Star Trek! - which will generally be far less distracting than listening to them speaking poorly for the duration with the added benefit that the performances will have a fighting chance of being strong.
What brought this on? Anthony Wong and Joe Odagiri don't speak Portugese. Not a lick of it, I imagine. But they're expected to in Yu Lik-Wai's Plastic City and by forcing a blend of phonetics and dubbing on the two main actors - as well as a number of secondary players - Yu accomplishes nothing but under cutting his film's many strengths.
Directed by Zia Jhang-ke's regular cinematographer - so you know it's flat out gorgeous - Plastic City tells the story of Yuda, a Chinese immigrant in Sao Paolo who runs a lucrative business in black market knock-off goods, and his adopted Japanese son Kirin, who he saved from being eaten by a tiger in the jungle when Kirin was just a small boy. The casting of Anthony Wong and Joe Odagiri - two of Asia's very best actors - in the lead roles was a major coup for Plastic City, which is what makes the language issue so incredibly frustrating as it proves absolutely crippling for both of them. But enough of that ...
Though they are involved in the criminal underworld Yuda and Kirin are well loved and respected in their community, having worked hard to build their empire from scratch and seemingly very devoted to improving not only their own fortunes but also those of the community by developing properties and providing employment. They're the least frightening gangsters ever, basically, and operate with the full knowledge and tacit approval of local government and police. At least they have approval until US copyright sabre rattling puts the fear of god into the federal government and a crack down is imposed. Shipments are seized, Yuda is jailed, rivals start to circle and wait for their chance to cut in. Suddenly life isn't so rosy and Kirin is forced to take action ...
Set in one of the most multi-cultural regions of the world Plastic City is a fascinating look not only at life in Sao Paolo but at the changing face of crime. Can you imagine a film being made about copyright infringement ten years ago? Of course not, at least not other than the bad Van Damme fake-jeans flick. But this is reality now, there's money in it and where there's money you can bet there are people getting organized to take advantage.
Yu plays his film as a curious blend of extreme art house sensibilities and more straight ahead gangster fare. It moves at a very deliberate pace, forcing the audience to adjust to Yu's rhythms rather than holding to their own, and while there are some moments of extreme gangster nastiness - Kirin feeding a corrupt official's dog to a crocodile comes immediately to mind - they are generally presented in a completely matter-of-fact manner that makes it clear Yu is not particularly concerned with the behavior, only with the people and the connections between them. It's a fascinating approach and one that would probably have worked if not for the bad dubs jarring you out of the picture every five minutes or so.
Plastic City is one of those films saddled with expectations of brilliance thanks to the pedigree of both director and actors and the intriguingly multi-cultural aspect of it. It is not, but it's still easy to see how it could have been. Yu has a fantastic eye and an interesting sense of character and story and is definitely one to keep a close eye on going forward.
** And, yes, I realize I just reference both Star Trek and Knock Off in a review of one the artiest art-house films of the year. This makes me very happy.