Year of the Fish

A A A Comments (4) By Vadim Rizov Wednesday, Aug 27 2008

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Year of the Fish
Directed by David Kaplan
Gigantic Releasing
Opens August 29, Angelika

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Year of the Fish is the kind of really bad movie it takes a lot of misplaced conviction to make. A modern-day fairy tale unwisely told from the perspective of an omniscient, magical fish, David Kaplan's first feature follows Ye Xian (An Nguyen), fresh off the boat and conscripted into an illicit Chinatown massage parlor to earn for her ill father back on the mainland. Xian's life is swiftly ruined by harridan mistress Mrs. Su (Tsai Chin), who lectures her on getting rid of all that "Chinese dignity" and replacing it with some "American greed." Refusing to give handjobs, Xian suffers through outrageous shrieking on Su's part, sexual harassment from her brother, and general shit from all the other girls. Fortunately, mythical witch/fortune teller/sweatshop owner Auntie Yaga (Randall Duk Kim) comes to the Cinderella rescue. The dialogue is routinely shrill (when Xian says her mother taught her how to cook, one of the girls spits back: "She should've taught you how to suck cock instead"), and the storytelling heavy-handedly mythic (underscored by uneven, mostly pointless rotoscoping). But what's really troubling is how everyone who's not traditional Chinese here is evil—from the Latino gangbangers who almost rape Xian on the street to the never-seen evil American girlfriend of Xian's love interest whose only passion is Marc Jacobs.

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Jack Aymon 02/28/2011 11:14:00 PM

There's nothing so awfully bad about this film, and it is in fact charming in many ways. It's as if the reviewer couldn't handle the interface of the childlike with the harsher sides of life. I found it refreshing. The way Michel Gondry's films are refreshing. The give-away in the review's opening is the adverb 'unwisely' -- look, it isn't enough simply to ASSERT that having the fish narrate is unwise, you have to make your case. And the fish (and its bones) do constitute a key narrative and symbolic element ...
Albert 10/09/2008 1:30:00 AM

New York Times August 29, 2008 A Chinatown Fairy Tale By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS An adult fable told with childlike simplicity, �Year of the Fish� updates an ancient Chinese version of the �Cinderella� story with imagination, charm and just the right amount of sweetness. Our put-upon heroine is Ye Xian (An Nguyen), a mousy na�whose new job at a sleazy massage parlor promises happy endings � for the clients, at least. When she balks at fulfilling her job description, Ye Xian is demoted to cleaning toilets and cooking meals for the parlor�s wicked madam, (Tsai Chin), and grasping employees. Little does she know that an enchanted fish, a witchy soothsayer and a handsome musician are about to save her from her servitude. Filmed in New York�s Chinatown using a digital variation on the animation technique known as rotoscoping, �Year of the Fish� straddles the wavering line between reality and its simulation with pleasing calm. Instead of the pulsing images of the Richard Linklater films �A Scanner Darkly� and �Waking Life,� you have a more subdued, mellow style that�s easier on the eyes and the equilibrium. And the movie�s smudged skylines and pearly-pastel streets do much to soften the story�s sweatshop-and-slavery grittiness. Written and directed by David Kaplan, �Year of the Fish� packs more sadness than the familiar fairy tale but offers its own fantastical delights. Ye Xian�s party dress, made of teardrops, suits her � and her story � perfectly.
BTaylor 09/02/2008 6:37:00 AM

Not only do I disagree with this review, but I think it's the sort of poorly written, wrong-headed "criticism" that serves no purpose. (And I expect more from the Village Voice.) By no means was this a 'great' film, but it was a compelling, moving retelling of the Cinderella story. Only someone with a heart of stone (or a chip on his shoulder) would fail to respond to the warmth and hope at the heart of this story. The score (not to be confused with the reviewer's unclear use of the word "underscored") is wonderful (and very understated), and the performances are terrific.
slim pickens 08/29/2008 9:56:00 PM

Everyone loves to be a critic huh? This is a sweet movie with some great acting and great music....you're reading too much into it man....weak review.