June 11, 1999
By Christy Lemire
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Many foreign-language films have had worldwide success in recent years due largely to their focus on children who shine. Among them: Italy's ``Life Is Beautiful,'' Brazil's ``Central Station'' and Iran's ``Children of Heaven.''
Chinese director Wu Tian-ming's ``The King of Masks,'' draws its charm from the same source. It tells the moving story of the relationship between an aging magician and a street-smart child in a poor town in China during the 1930s.
The film is sweet and uplifting, contemplative and philosophical. What could have been a sappy story becomes an endearing tear-jerker, largely through the honest performance of its young co-star.
Wang (Zhu Xu) is a master of the ancient art of mask-changing. He dazzles cheering crowds with his sleight of hand and colorful, exquisitely detailed masks. He wants to pass along his skill before he dies, but only to a boy.
In the Sichuan provinces, women are second-class citizens and young girls are bought and sold on the black market to help families survive. Wang knows purchasing a healthy young boy will be difficult, until he meets Doggie (Zhou Ren-Ying), an energetic and affectionate 7-year-old who cries out ``Grandpa'' and melts his heart.
They bond quickly, living a simple, quiet life on the riverbank on Wang's rattan boat. Doggie has been sold seven times before, and repeated beatings have made him grow up quickly. Wang's wife left him 30 years before, and his son died young. Each finally has found in the other a much-needed friend and companion.
Their euphoria shatters after a few weeks, though, when Wang learns Doggie's secret - he's actually a girl, pretending to be a boy to find a home. Stunned and feeling foolish, he rejects the child on the riverbank. ``So young and yet such a crook,'' Wang laments. With tears streaming down her beautiful face, Doggie begs Wang not to leave her, promises to cook and clean. Her shrill cries are haunting.
Wang takes her back as an apprentice, but forces her to call him ``Boss'' and incorporates her into his act as an acrobat. Later she must save his life, challenging Wang's long-held ideas about women.
Too many child actors these days - especially American ones - have a propensity to be precocious, to deliver each line with a knowing wink. Zhou is refreshingly real, perhaps because of her own experiences growing up poor. Wu said that was one reason why he chose her from more than 100 children who auditioned.
Screenwriter Wei Ming-lung has created in Doggie a lovable and complex character. She has been abused and abandoned all her short life, yet she has unconditional love for the old man who has taken her in and compassion for a young village boy who has been kidnapped. Zhou makes her a joy to watch.
As Wang, Zhu gives an equally compelling performance. His face is as expressive as the masks he wears, and he adeptly shows Wang's many sides - unstoppable showman, doting grandfather, ordinary man coming to terms with his mortality.
The film's texture reflects the characters' moods. It often has an eerie, dreamlike quality, with its quiet moments and fog-covered seascapes. Other times it snaps to life with fireworks, parades, brightly colored costumes and loud music.
``The King of Masks'' is Wu's first film after eight years in exile in the United States, and it was worth the wait. It has received awards from festivals around the world, including San Francisco, Australia, Tokyo, Paris, Moscow, Istanbul and China.
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