Trip to the Movies

When?
Sat 13 December

Where?
Curzon Cinema, Soho, London

Over the weekend of Dec 12-14 2003, The Firecracker Showcase presented an exciting selection of some of the best new cinema by Chinese filmmakers. With movies from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and even the USA, Firecracker showed a range of critically-acclaimed, stylish and intelligent titles that together provided a fresh perspective on what a "Chinese" movie is like.

Six of the movie presentations were UK premieres, and all of them previews of movies yet to be released in the UK, including festival successes from Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, and Venice.

The BCS chose to see the movie "Better Luck Tomorrow".

On December 13th 2003 the BCS organised a trip to the movies. The film we saw was 'Better Luck Tomorrow' which was showing as part of the Firecracker Showcase, a festival of contemporary Asian cinema.

Having met for a quick dinner in Chinatown, our group of 13 filmgoers went to the newly-refurbished Curzon Cinema in Soho, London, taking advantage of the free cocktails on offer and enjoying the lively atmosphere before taking our seats.

"Never underestimate an over-achiever." That's the tagline for 'Better Luck Tomorrow' written and directed by Justin Lin.

His film tells the story of a group of young Asian Americans who become frustrated with their 'perfect' lives and always following the rules. Seeking to 'break the cycle', they use their status as model students to mask a lifestyle of criminality which begins with petty scams but soon escalates to theft, drug-dealing and violence. The more they break the rules the more addicted they become to the money and status that their actions bring but at the same time they begin to lose grip on their lives and the consequences of their actions start to catch up with them.

The film is loosely based on a true story. This low-budget, independent movie generated huge interest and controversy when it was screened in competition at the Sundance film festival and was eventually bought by MTV Films who successfully released it in North America.
(The film's official website is here http://www.betterlucktomorrow.com/ )

Exploding the conventional depictions of Asian characters in American film (Triads, martial artists, takeaway delivery guys etc.), the characters in 'Better Luck Tomorrow' are complex, interesting and believable. Although the film does present Asian characters in an innovative and daring way, that's not all that 'Better Luck Tomorrow' is about. It works simply as a film, with clever plotting, an inventive visual style and good performances from it's cast of unknowns.

After the movie there was an unexpected bonus. One of the stars, Jason Tobin (who signed a poster for the BCS (left), came to the front for a Q&A and told us about his experiences working on the film and the success that they have had since. The film has apparently attracted some criticism for depicting Asians in a negative light, but I don't think Chinese film-makers should be barred from telling stories like this, just because the characters are shown doing 'bad things'. I think it's actually a positive thing to see more rounded, 'warts and all' depictions of Chinese or Asian people.

All in all, it was a very interesting evening and well worth attending. Here's hoping this is just the first of many Firecracker Showcases.

Were you there? What did you think of the film? Please post your feedback on the BCS Forum!

More information can be found at the Firecracker site.

You can find more film reviews on our Arts and Culture page.