The Bird People in China

Original Title:- Chûgoku no chôjin

Country - Japan

Year of Production - 1998

Run Time - 118 minutes (NTSC)

Genre - Action / Adventure

Rating - ??

Director -Takashi Miike

Written by - Masa Nakamura/Makoto Shiina

Starring:-

Masahiro Motoki - Wada
Renji Ishibashi - Ujiie
Mako - Shen
Michiko Kase
Yuichi Minato
Tomohiko Okuda

Synopsis

This quirky buddy picture features a tape-recorder diary-keeping salaryman and a near-psychotic yakuza hitman with a traumatic past travelling through the countryside of China in search of a mysterious mountain village with a fabled vein of jade. The salaryman Wada (Masahiro Motoki) is there for his company, and the yakuza Ujiie is there to collect from that company. Led by a preternaturally calm guide Shen (Mako Iwamatsu), they are gradually weaned from their attachments to modern civilization as they trek deeper and deeper into the verdant, rocky heights of Yunnan, China. They meet with obstacles and strange characters such as a boatman obsessively frightened of death and attached to the turtles that pull his raft. But, nothing prepares them for what greets them when they reach the village. Here a blue-eyed Chinese girl works at teaching children to fly with wings made out of canvas and wood, and sings old Irish folksongs. In this dreamy, heartfelt comedy, themes like magical escapism, duty, tradition, and modernity clash as each man wrestles with conscience and soul over the meaning of their lives.

Review

It took me some time to get round to watching this flick as Takashi to me does violent gangster movies and that’s it and thinking this was a romance put it to one side. As I expected nothing I was entertained for 1 and a half hrs with comedy/drama it has excellent storytelling and is an eye opener to Asian tales and culture.

An individual knows the location of some gems, he intends to collect and give them to the Yakuza to clear his debt. The Yakuza accompanies him to this remote island and things go inevitably wrong, a life changing moment is had by all and the gems become worthless. There are some fantasy parts to the movies but it never comes across as being cheesy, which I think is helped along by a fantastic musical score. This is a strange offering from cult Director Miike Takashi but for me his finest moment!!

This is a very well made movie that has some comical moments and has an uplifting feeling to it and at 90 mins leaves you wanting more. However this movie does seem to be a hard one to track down, but well worth the effort.

5 out of 5

Review Haggles (UK)

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