A man stretching the truth for his own sake soon begins doing the same for someone else, with increasingly complicated results, in this gentle comedy from China. Zhao (Zhao Benshan) is a guy in his early fifties who's out of work but still wants to marry his girlfriend (Dong Lifan). However, his often cranky sweetheart thinks he runs a hotel, and Zhao is trying to keep the illusion alive with the help of his pal Li (Li Xuejian) by turning an abandoned bus into a "love hotel" for couples who lack
privacy in their homes. But business isn't all that good, since the old-fashioned Zhao asks unmarried couples to keep their doors open to ensure nothing untoward happens. As Zhao tries to convince his girlfriend to walk down the aisle with him -- and struggles to raise the money she demands first -- she introduces him to Wu Jing (Dong Jie), the blind teenage stepdaughter she inherited from her marriage to her now-deceased first husband. The woman insists that Zhao give Wu Jing a job in his hotel; since the bus/hotel has been towed away, this isn't a practical possibility. Zhao and Li put Wu Jing through a fake job interview to keep up appearances, and when she breaks down in tears talking about her deadbeat father, he decides he has to do something for her. Zhao moves Wu Jing into his home, and with the help of his friends, sets up a phony massage therapy center where Wu Jing works with the "clients" -- actually Zhao's friends, most of whom are also unemployed. But the bigger and more complex the illusion becomes, the harder it is to maintain, though Zhao feels compelled to do so for the sake of the girl's feelings. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
This humbling little film, fueled by the light comedic work of Zhao Benshan and the delicate ways of Dong Jie, is just the sort for those moviegoers who complain that 'they don't make movies like they used to anymore.'
Happy Times sounds like any of the dozens of heart-tugging comedies that Miramax seems to release every month, but it has such a peculiar premise and the central performance by Zhao Benshan is so winning that Zhang gets away with it by the skin of
One might relate this story to Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. There is much to dislike in the message, but it's hard not to enjoy the craftsmanship of the tale.
Even legends like Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston occasionally directed trifles... so it's no surprise to see a world-class filmmaker like Zhang Yimou behind the camera for a yarn that's ultimately rather inconsequential.
Happy Times is set in present-day China, in a modern, unnamed city, exploring the many costs of modern times. The two central characters feel left behind in a rapidly changing Beijing, and when they try to catch up, they find love instead of the money they seek.The film never does choose between comedy and tragedy, and
the final plot twist turns it into a failed fairy tale. With too many contrived characters and plot turns, Happy Times eventually seems weightless.
April 27, 2008
El Hombre Invisible
Super Reviewer
Magical. Quirky and very different to Yimou Zhangs other films.
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