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The Postmodern Life of My Aunt

Starring: Siqin Gaowa, Chow Yun-fat, Vicki Zhao Wei, Guan Wenshuo

Director: Ann Hui On-wah

Category: I (Putonghua)

An intriguing title and adroit title performance are the chief attributes of this look at midlife crisis in a society undergoing rapid revision. Siqin Gaowa dominates the screen as Ye Rutang, a seemingly strait-laced middle-aged Shanghainese woman shaken out of a dull but placid existence by events from her past and present. The collection of vignettes scripted by Li Qiang and directed by Ann Hui On-wah, veering in tone from comic exaggeration to mawkish sentimentality, only occasionally succeeds in providing a window into what makes the protagonist tick. We learn a lot about Ye without really getting to know her.

The lack of cohesiveness is due in part to a meandering point of view. Although the title implies that the narrative is related from the perspective of one individual, the character (Ye's 12-year-old nephew Kuankuan, played by Guan Wenshuo) appears only at the beginning and end. Like most of the people Ye encounters, he's mined for situational effect, rather like a TV series. The more memorable supporting characters include a bereft grifter (Shi Ke) taken in by Ye; a physically and mentally scarred young woman (Wang Ziwen) befriended by Kuankuan; and, most showily, nosey neighbour Mrs Shui (Lisa Lu Yan), an old school Shanghai diva who's the bane of Ye's existence. The strands may not result in a rich tapestry, but the eccentricities of the dramatis personae and the skill of the mostly mainland cast provide the film with texture and human interest.

A disappointment is Chow Yun-fat's miscasting as wastrel Pan Zhichang, the film's most prominent male role and the only man, aside from Ye's estranged husband, to see the inside of her boudoir. The director provides the star with a cinematically eye-catching introduction, via a shot of his backside as he sings Chinese opera al fresco in the park. When Chow's face is revealed it's a joyful jolt - it's been too long since he has assayed a contemporary Asian part. But his demeanour and stilted Putonghua don't fit that of a middle-aged scion of a formerly wealthy Shanghai clan.

The most successful combination of scripting and acting belongs to Ye's antagonistic daughter, Dafan (Vicki Zhao Wei). Although she initially comes across as little more than a caricature of an ultra-modern member of China's Generation X, the director allows the humanity and truthfulness beneath the glitzy surface to eventually emerge. In the end, one leaves the theatre with a more profound understanding of Dafan than of the mother whose postmodern life was so ostentatiously on display for almost two hours.

The Postmodern Life of My Aunt opens today

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