And another archive review from a neglected director - Ma Liwen has managed mainland success with the literary adaptation [i]Lost and Found[/i] (2008) and Ge You romantic comedy [i]Desires of the Heart[/i] (2009), but so far the only one of her films to pick up much attention outside the domestic market was her second, 2005's [i]You and Me[/i]. This fantastic little drama won festival acclaim and a best actress nod from both the Golden Rooster awards and the Tokyo International Film Festival that year. What makes it worth the praise? Review after the break.
Odd couple films generally come with a great deal of baggage, the who, what, where and whys. Commercial cinema all but demands it; audiences need some reason two mismatched protagonists have been thrown together, whether a buddy picture, romantic comedy, saccharine life lesson or buried secret.
Ma Liwen's sophomore feature [i]You and Me[/i] is the odd couple picture stripped to the absolute bare essentials. A rural student, Xiao Ma arrives in Beijing looking for a place to stay, and finds an elderly lady (referred to only as 'Grandma') with a decrepit outbuilding to let. It's crumbling, dilapidated and Grandma insists on a fairly hefty monthly rent, yet it's isolated, peaceful and close to her school. Unable to bargain the old lady down, Xiao Ma decides to move in with her regardless, and over the ensuing weeks and months their initial bickering turns into first grudging respect, then a growing interest in each others' lives.
[i]You and Me[/i] has absolutely no pretensions to being anything beyond the story of a hard-won friendship across the generation gap. Drawn from the director's memories of living in more or less the same situation while studying at the Beijing Drama Academy in the 1990s, it's a fairly obvious emotional gesture, an acknowledgement - in hindsight - that young people frequently don't realise what they've got until it's gone.
Yet the warmth and humanity in this simple act of contrition helps make [i]You and Me[/i] a remarkable little film. Clocking in at under ninety minutes the camera rarely leaves Grandma's house until the conclusion. There's little reference to the outside world. Supporting characters (Xiao Ma's brother, her boyfriend, Grandma's grandson) are briskly introduced then largely sidelined, but it's made clear the emphasis is on what happens in Grandma's courtyard and how it affects the central relationship between her and Xiao Ma (rather than solely the elderly lady's perspective on a rowdy outsider).
There's surprisingly little downside to this minimalist approach. The film can't help but feel disjointed on occasion - the narrative is less a story, more a collection of brief vignettes over the course of a year - and most viewers will guess where it's headed long before it finishes. Some will not buy into the leads' respective character arcs; there is no overt melodramatic payoff or explanation why either is the way they are, though this feels more like strength than weakness.
Nonetheless, though [i]You and Me[/i] leans heavily on its two lead actresses, both turn in absolutely stunning performances. Grandma was 81-year-old Jin Yaquin's first principal role in a feature film, though she came from a background in the theatre spanning six decades. Gong Zhe had never acted before being cast as Xiao Ma, and insisted she would be returning to study photography afterwards. It can only be hoped she made a [b]good[/b] photographer; it's almost painful imagining what she might have gone on to had she pursued acting as a career. The slow, patient growth of Xiao Ma's friendship with the elderly lady would be worth the price of the DVD alone, but the climax is a stunning piece of acting from both women, the effect of which lingers for days. Predictable, maybe, but it plays out almost wordlessly, largely devoid of music and only the most cynical viewer will find it much less than quietly devastating.
Despite obviously gunning for a big finish (of sorts), Ma Liwen's script is patient and reflective, even quietly funny, where it could very easily have dipped into simple platitudes. The two leads are undoubtedly extremely talented, but the writing stands alone, a heartfelt little memoir of disarming simplicity.
Her direction is also excellent. Cinematographers Wu Di and Wu Wai rarely stumble - the long shots that bookend each portion of the film ('Winter', 'Spring', 'Summer' etc.) are beautifully presented but some of the exterior camerawork around the house is overly reliant on workmanlike pans and zooms. Interiors are tremendous, though, seamlessly jumping between each lead's point of view, every argument a frenetic back-and-forth so compelling the use of the same locations over and over never becomes a distraction. Dou Wei's gorgeous score also deserves a mention. So restrained it's barely there, his quiet, melancholy plucking (not unlike Tan Dun's work on [i]Hero[/i] or [i]Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon[/i]) is more emotive in context than any number of soaring strings would have been.
It is not perfect; short and achingly sweet, [i]You and Me[/i] is still a little shaky, even rough and ready, to be an out-and-out masterpiece. A touch more exposition, more of a sense of the world outside the courtyard, might well have helped. This is nitpicking more than anything else, though - Ma Liwen's second film is still one of the standout mainland productions of this decade and comes hugely recommended.