| Keep Cool |
Film poster for the Japanese release of Keep Cool |
| Directed by |
Zhang Yimou |
| Produced by |
Wang Qipeng
Wang Wei
Zhang Weiping |
| Written by |
Shu Ping |
| Starring |
Li Baotian
Jiang Wen
Ge You
Qu Ying |
| Music by |
Zang Tianshuo |
| Cinematography |
Lü Yue |
| Editing by |
Du Yuan |
| Distributed by |
Golem Distribución (Spain) |
| Release date(s) |
Venice:
September 2, 1997 |
| Running time |
93 min. |
| Language |
Mandarin |
Keep Cool (simplified Chinese: 有话好好说; traditional Chinese: 有話好好說; pinyin: Yǒu Hùa Hǎo Hǎo Shūo; literally "If you have something to say, say it nicely") is a 1997 Chinese black comedy directed by Zhang Yimou and adapted from the novel Evening Papers News by Shu Ping. The film about a bookseller in love in 1990s Beijing, marked a move away from earlier period pictures of Zhang's earlier work to a more realistic Cinéma vérité-like period in his career that also saw him make Happy Times (2000) and Not One Less (1999). Keep Cool also marked only the second time Zhang placed his film in the modern era and the first time Zhang did not work with actress Gong Li.
The film was produced by the Guangxi Film Studio.
Synopsis
The film is set in contemporaneous Beijing and begins with a bookseller, Zhao Xiaoshuai (Jiang Wen), following his ex-lover An Hong (Qu Ying) home. He wants to know where she is living. He tracks her on a bus and then later on bicycle, until she reaches her apartment. There, he gets a junk peddler (Zhang Yimou) and another peddler to help him cry out her name and declare his love at the high-rise apartments.
The next day, An Hong becomes impressed enough by Xiaoshuai's efforts that she asks him up the apartment for a quickie, but their tryst is interrupted by another man (Zhao Benshan) reciting poetry through a loudhailer from the foot of the apartment. Apparently, the person is hired by the peddler he hired the day before. Xiaoshuai tries unsuccessfully to get the man to stop. Before long, An Hong leaves her flat. Xiaoshuai is baffled by her blowing hot and cold at him.
While waiting by a bicycle stand Xiaoshuai gets beaten up by thugs and a nightclub owner Liu Delong, who is An Hong's new boyfriend. Xiaoshuai ends up in the hospital with a middle-aged stranger Zhang (Li Baotian), who claims that Xiaoshuai has wrecked his new laptop accidentally while he is being beaten up. Xiaoshuai refuses to compensate him, insisting that Zhang finds Liu Delong to get his payment.
Zhang keeps coming to see Xiaoshuai and the two decide to visit Liu Delong's nightclub to get payment. However, when they reach there, Xiaoshuai immediately launches an assault on Liu, which gets him detained for seven days at the police station. Xiaoshuai is released after a reprimand for his reckless act. While in middle of a tryst with An Hong at his house, Xiaoshui is interrupted by Zhang who tells him that Liu has agreed to foot their compensation bills.
Zhang and Xiaoshuai wait for Liu at a restaurant with a karaoke for Liu to make his indemnity. Zhang is happy the two can finally talk, but later Xiaoshuai reveals he has come with an intent – to chop off the right hand of Liu. Xiaoshuai compensates Zhang with a new laptop and tells him to leave at once and not get implicated, but Zhang, realizing the import of this matter, decides to look for a mobile phone outside to warn the unsuspecting Liu. He grabs a mobile set from a passer-by and calls Liu, but fails to contact him. Xiaoshuai comes out of the restaurant to stop Zhang. He convinces the passers-by that Zhang is a lunatic and escorts him back to the restaurant.
Zhang realizes he must act desperately to get the attention of the restaurant customers. He overturns a table, but in the mayhem, Xiaoshuai manages to get everyone to think he is crazy. Zhang gets tied up and gagged upstairs, where an irate chef attacks him for molesting (unwittingly) a fellow waitress. Downstairs, Xiaoshuai waits for Liu, who turns up. Liu pays the money and is amicable, but before Xiaoshuai can attack him, a wall-mounted loudspeaker falls on Liu and injures him badly. The restaurant owner and customers bring him to the nearest hospital, and Xiaoshuai's plans turn to nought.
When Xiaoshuai goes upstairs, Zhang has already wreaked havoc by going after the chef with a chopper. Xiaoshuai tries to calm Zhang, who has gone berserk, but fails to do so. Zhang wrecks the new laptop Xiaoshuai has bought him earlier on. Like Xiaoshuai, Zhang is detained at the station for seven days. He is given a light reprimand by the stationmaster, who asks him to "speak nicely when they have something to work out". In an ending requested by the authorities (see below), Xiaoshuai gets someone to pick Zhang up. He apologizes to Zhang in a letter for whatever troubles he has caused him, promises to change, and pays him back with another new laptop.
Style
Keep Cool is largely different in style from the rest of Zhang's oeuvre. It is Zhang's first urban comedy, and uses a hip, rock soundtrack, a roving handheld camera with multiple jump cuts to give a feel of contemporary Beijing.
Censorship
Keep Cool, originally scheduled for a world premiere at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, was pulled by Chinese censors at the last minute, ostensibly part of a general retrenchment of Chinese control over its film industry following the release of Zhang Yuan's homosexual-themed East Palace, West Palace.[1]
Chinese censors additionally asked for Zhang to implement substantive changes to the film's story, most notably adding a happy ending.[1]
Cast
- Jiang Wen as The Bookseller; Jiang Wen, one of China's most famous actors and directors, takes a leading role in Keep Cool (his second time working with Zhang Yimou). Zhang referred to the actor as "the best actor in China today, and intelligent. I saw the movie he made [In the Heat of the Sun] and took a video back to my hometown for my parents. We all laughed."[1]
- Li Baotian as Lao Zhang; Li Baotian, one of Zhang's regular actors (Ju Dou, Shanghai Triad, again provides a pivotal performance for Keep Cool.
- Ge You as The Policeman; Ge You, a comedic actor, has a cameo in the film.
- Qu Ying as An Hong; Zhang Yimou selected the model Qu Ying for the only female role in the film.
References
- ^ a b c Dupont, Joan (1997-08-20). "Zhang Yimou, Keeping Cool in the Face of Censorship". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/1997/08/20/zhang.t.php?page=1. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
External links
