Step into the lives of horny farmers, brutal madams and the unlucky in love and in fortune and you've got Single Man and The Fortune Teller. These two films offer an intimate and original take on Chinese society.
In Hoe Ji's debute film Single Man four farmers living in rural Hebei, northern China (the hometown of Ji) come to terms with being single. A series of flashbacks explain how each man, often tragically, was brought to bachelordom. We follow them as they fumble through their daily lives, aided by a handful of equally flawed neighbours who are too willing to share their opinion and their wisdom. A song plays throughout the film explaining the virtues of single man life, and apologizing because "This song is a little obscene." This film is a little obscene (I noted at least 10 creative metaphors for oral sex), which makes it outrageously entertaining and beneath all the crude theatrics, there are gems of wisdom.
95 mins = 1.5 hours
NO SCREENINGS REMAIN.
Also full of pearls of unexpected wisdom is The Fortune Teller, made by controversial documentary filmmaker Xu Tong. The Cinema Verte documentary follows the life of a destitute fortune teller and some of his customers and friends including an angry self empowered madam, sex-trade workers, coal minors and homeless fortune tellers, all living in impoverished urban China.
Li Baicheng operates an illegal fortune telling service to support his wife Pearl Shi, "Little Pearl," who has both physical and mental disabilities. Baicheng himself is so crippled from rheumatism he requires archaic wooden crutches to walk. Tong creates moments of verisimilitude between the couple and Baicheng himself is a fascinating person with a unique view of the world. The ensemble of characters, while interesting, is awkwardly stitched into the narrative detracting from the story. It was about an hour too long and the last 30 minutes are completely redundant, which is likely why a dozen people left the theatre towards the end.
157 mins = 2.5 hours
NO SCREENINGS REMAIN.
