My Mandala
原来你还在
Taiwan, 2013, colour, 2.35:1, 102 mins.
Director: Yang Nanqian 杨南倩.
Rating: 5/10.
Light drama about a scammer posing as a Tibetan lama is let down by an unfocused script.
STORY
Taiwan, the present day. After being jailed for phone-scamming people’s bank accounts, petty criminal Guo Yin (Huang He) is released from prison. He has the idea of passing himself off as a Buddhist monk and swindling gullible rich people. After swotting up on the subject and learning the various incantations, he dresses up for the part and by chance is approached in the street by He Xinyu (Lu Yijing), the wife of a wealthy businessman, Hu Tinghan (Wu Dao), who has interests in China. She is still grieving for her son, Xiang, who was knocked down by a car almost a year ago. He Xinyu invites Guo Yin, who passes himsef off as Tibetan lama Patek Sahjay, to stay at their home and guide her and her husband in their meditations so their son’s soul may finally “pass over”. Hu Tinghan is suspicious of Guo Yin and against the idea, especially when He Xinyu has him stay in their son’s room, but He Xinyu insists. Gradually, even Hu Tinghan starts to be won over, and Guo Yin also starts to believe he is genuinely helping the family come to terms with their grief. But one day, while walking with He Xinyu, Guo Yin is spotted by Xiaohai (Pan Qinyu), with whom he ran the phone scams. Xiaohai tells Guo Yin’s elder brother, Tiancai (You Daqing), a petty criminal who raised Guo Yin. He is still angry that Guo Yin once stole some money from him and gave it to a girl, Huahua (Wu Luoyi), whom he fancied.
REVIEW
An interesting idea – a petty criminal plans to scam money from a grieving family by pretending to be a Tibetan lama – doesn’t get the script or framing it deserves in My Mandala 原来你还在, a first feature by writer-director Yang Nanqian 杨南倩. Born in Taiwan, Yang studied film in Paris and she was the lead scripter (of five) on Mainland-shot Return Ticket 到阜阳六百里 (2011), a modest but involving drama set among migrant workers in Shanghai. Despite a good performance by rising young Taiwan actor Huang He 黄河 (Miss Kicki 霓虹心, 2009; the flashback lover in the second episode of Juliets 茱丽叶, 2010) who captures some of the conflict in the protagonist’s mind, the screenplay, by Yang and Liu Yanfu 刘彦甫, is confusingly structured and doesn’t reach down very far in the issues it raises.
The central theme is betrayal of trust, initially by Huang’s scammer on a wealthy, gullible family but later (as more flashbacks kick in) by the scammer on his own elder brother. The plotline of the wealthy family looks like being the main plot – and also contains some potential, hinted at early on, for mild comedy as well. But the unfocused script, which needs at least one more re-write, is unable to establish a consistent tone and becomes increasingly distracted by the sub-plot involving the elder brother. The free use of unannounced flashbacks further disorients the viewer, to a point where it’s sometimes unclear what is the past and what is the present.
When it’s focusing on the main thread, the film is often engaging, thanks not only to Huang’s subtle performance (as he starts to believe in his own impersonation) but also to that of Wang Dao 王道 as the suspicious businessman who initially opposes his wife’s idea of inviting the fake lama under their roof to help assuage their grief over their dead son. As the trusting wife, Cai Mingliang 蔡明亮 regular Lu Yijing 陆奕静 is initially touching but isn’t given a chance by the screenplay to develop her one-note character. In a role that could have easily been played by Dai Liren 戴立忍 [Leon Dai], You Daqing 游大庆 carves a strong screen presence as the elder brother, actually stealing some of the drama from Huang in the second half.
Widescreen photography by Asia-based d.p. Jeffrey Weil, making his feature debut, is solidly professional, as is the gentle, spiritual-elemental score by Albert Yu. Tightening by some 10-15 minutes could help to sharpen the movie’s focus.
CREDITS
Presented by Power Solar Productions (TW), Golden Pumpkin Entertainment (TW).
Script: Yang Nanqian, Liu Yanfu. Photography: Jeffrey Weil. Editing: Yu Guojie. Music: Albert Yu. Art direction: Tang Weixuan. Styling: Lai Yakui. Sound: Yang Zijie, Huang Nianyong.
Cast: Huang He (Guo Yin), Lu Yijing (He Xinyu), Wang Dao (Hu Tinghan, He Xinyu’s husband), You Daqing (Tiancai), Huang Denghui (Dai), Pan Qinyu (Xiaohai, boy), Lan Yiping (Cai), Wu Luoyi (Huahua), Dong Shaolin (young Guo Yin).
Premiere: Women Make Waves Film Festival, Taiwan, 17 Oct 2013.
Release: Taiwan, 10 Jan 2014.
(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 30 Dec 2013.)