TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

tangoviudo Zhang Yimou is easily the most interesting director in mainland China (he has some competition from Taiwan). "Happy Times" is once again a film that tacitly criticizes China's unprecedented stride into free market economics by depicting the lives of people who are left behind, or who can't find their way. The blind girl Wu is surely a metaphor for China itself, as the end credits make almost explicitly clear - she is followed by the camera as she walks precariously through the crowded city, with construction sites looming ominously in the background. The true stupidity of Roger Ebert is apparent from his dismissal of the film as a crude joke - a blind girl deceived into believing she is a masseuse in the Happy Times Hotel by the well-meaning "manager" Zhao and his reluctant cronies. But Wu is aware of the deception from the beginning, and even knows the bits of paper they give her aren't real money. Yet she goes along with the masquerade because she realizes to what lengths Zhao has gone to for her. That Ebert missed this nuance is typical of him. The true humor of the film lies in Wu's not being taken in by the deception, yet going along with it anyway - the deceivers satisfied she doesn't know, the deceived satisfied that she does. The final minutes of the film, with the tape-recorded voice of Wu expressing her love and thanks to Zhao (who is unable to listen) are bittersweet and captivatingly lovely.

Rock Savage Xingfu Shiguang (2000) or "Happy Times Hotel" is a gem of a film. It has some laugh-out load moments yet is perfectly balanced with tragedy. It reminded me somewhat of Mike Leigh's "All Or Nothing".The acting, as with all films directed by Zhang Yimou, is of the highest caliber. Not one performance can be faulted. The editing and camera work again cannot be faulted. The art direction was perfect. The more I see this director's work the more I feel he is the most talented film director alive today because he continues to produce motion pictures of such a high standard and with such consistency that comparisons are bound to be made with other great artists such as Stanley Kubrick.

dmuel ********** SPOILER WARNING ********* At first we see Old Zhao as an incompetent loser, in debt to his friends and unable to pick a suitable wife, while simultaneously bumbling his attempts to improve his financial standing. Ultimately, he is transformed by finding true affection and compassion for another. While there are comic elements in this film, and several very good laughs, the title, "Happy Times", belies its underlying tragic quality. A number of critics, both amateur (in this section) and professional, have described this movie as cloyingly tragic. With a set-up that includes a wicked stepmother abusing her blind daughter, this complaint has some legitimacy. But the truly poignant feature of this film is its focus on Zhao and Wu Ying who both end-up discovering genuine feelings for the other, even as each comes to a realization of the depth of their affection in an all too brief and isolated moment of insight. The ending is truly heart-rending. A very fine film.

Michael Chmilar The simple story of Happy Times overlays an interesting commentary on China's government, society, and future.The first act of film creates the characters, their relationships, and the overall situation, to set up the political allegory that plays out in the final two acts. The story unfolds that retired/laid-off Old Zhao must take care of the young blind girl, Wu Ying. Through a series of lies, Zhao has put himself in a situation where, although he is retired and poor, Wu Ying believes he owns a successful hotel. He offers to give her a job in the hotel's massage room. (This is not a front for prostitution. In China, "blind man massage" is available in most cities.)He uses the factory where he worked - which is shut down but not yet abandoned - and the help of his former workmates, to create a fake massage room and fake customers. Zhao also provides the money to pay Ying for massages, until the crew hits upon the idea of using fake money.In the old China, the state guaranteed jobs for everyone. The patriarchal and authoritarian government wanted to show off their glorious communist system, and how well it worked (compared to the decadent capitalists, with their unemployment problems). The government could always print more money, to pay these workers.The allegory is clear: Zhao represents the "state" - and its well-intentioned "make work" projects. The pride of Zhao (and his chances with his fiancee) is at stake, and he struggles to maintain the charade. As well, he finds that he cares for and is concerned about his charge, Ying.In the end, two things happen independently: Zhao finds that he cannot sustain the masquerade - he is running out of money and resources (and gets into a situation where it is impossible for him to continue, and, indeed, might put Ying in desperate jeopardy); and Ying, who cottoned on to the charade long ago, decides to take responsibility for herself, and seek her own fortune.In the same way, China's government realized it could not continue along its Maoist path, and its citizens (or at least some of them) were eager to be responsible for themselves, rather than relying on their government. A new path for China's people has opened, with greater responsibility and greater opportunity.The film's ending brings mixed emotions: we are concerned for Ying, who must begin coping with the world with no help (at her own choice, although circumstances would force this choice, anyhow); at the same time, we are optimistic for her future possibilities; and we are sad that the relationship of Zhao and Ying has ended.It is a tribute to director Zhang Yimou, Zhao Benshao (Zhao), and Dong Jie (Wu Ying) that the story and characters are touching, regardless of the underlying allegory. The movie plays well as the delicate and simple story of two people brought together by funny circumstances and human nature.