Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker (Pao Da Shuang Deng, 1994)
Ping He
China, Hong Kong
Set in the early 20th century, the story is about a young woman, Cai Chunzhi (Jing Ning), who inherits a firecracker factory when her father dies. Lacking a male heir and because he does not want the family business to go to an outsider, he has forbidden her to marry. She wears men's clothes and everything goes as planned until one day they hire an itinerant artist, Niu Bao (Wu Gang) to decorate the doors and vases. When they fall in love, she awakens to her womanhood, her priorities change, and the household is thrown in turmoil.
If it sounds like an interesting story, it is not. The plot is generally incoherent and incredible. Take the unlikely love story, for example. I cannot talk for all men, but I draw the line when the woman tries to blow my balls off with firecrackers. I can't imagine how serious an offense throwing a firecracker in someone's courtyard is, but it most certainly does not deserve THAT. So what if she had second thoughts? Were her thugs not so sadistic, thereby delaying the punishment to enjoy the Bao's suffering, she would have been too late "saving him."
Or take the stupid marriage contest. It is utterly incomprehensible that the heir of the wealthiest family in the province should marry the most agile firecracker acrobat. So what if it's dangerous. I don't think I'd marrying anyone who has had firecrackers explode on his head. It's actually a good thing that Bao manages to blow his balls off himself during the contest. I thought the punishment would never end. By the way, who won? She did not seem to have married the other guy either.
There are some bright spots in this film. Bao is a very likeable, if unlikely, character. He's the restless type and his reactions to rules and regulations are constantly amusing. The film is also well photographed (for the most part) although the bad acting constantly gets in the way of the beautiful scenery and mise-en-scene. One normally expects that if a foreign film makes it to the US, it's a masterpiece. I don't know how RFGF made it, but it's lacking severely, mostly in the story and acting departments. It's worth seing for the shot of Cai Chunzhi standing on the bank of the Yellow River, if for nothing else.
March 20, 2001. BLS