Here’s a film that clearly missed its venue. You make a film about making films in Hollywood and film people can’t wait to heap applause and awards. This ain’t Hollywood. And since this particular film wasn’t all that fantastic, however, perhaps we should just be happy Ripples of Life managed to create ripples of strife in the world of film festivals.
The film is essentially about a crew making a highbrow movie in Nowheresville, China. In case the theme doesn’t excite you, and I’m not sure why it would, the film is broken into three smaller films, each angrier than the last. While I couldn’t recommend any one of the three, they had the benefit of not being feature length, which is sometimes the ultimate blessing.
In the first film, “Coffee? Tea? Me?” a waitress/mother (Huang Miyi) works the local waffle house
for people who don’t eat waffles. She puts up with the film crew and thinks nothing of it until a producer thinks she could be a star. This lasts exactly up to the moment the real star shows up.
In the second film, “You Can’t Go Home Again … Well … You Can, but It Sucks” superstar Chen Chen (Yang Zishan) returns to where she lived before stardom happened … and it sucks.
In the final film, “Hey, Put My Name on That, Too” the film’s director (Liu Yang) battles with the screenwriter (actual screenwriter Chunlei Kang) over project vision. It’s equally as fun as watching two people argue online about anything. I suppose if you’re really, really, really into movies, this could be a My Dinner with Andre situation, but I kept hoping they’d give it a rest.
I cannot say honestly that any of the three films moved me anywhere but out the theater when they ended. I am quite sure I lost something in translation because I did not see the bits of satire and humor that other critics have picked up on here. So I’m going to recommend this film for people who can read the parenthetical title above, but for the rest of us, I suggest you give it a miss.
There once was a woman of urn
Promises made her heart churn
Ironic catch
She doesn’t own a match
And yet, she can still feel a burn
Not Rated, 123 Minutes
Director: Shujun Wei
Writer: Chunlei Kang, Shujun Wei
Genre: The absurdity of theater
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Filmmakers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People abused by filmmakers
