Film

Asian Representation in Films

by Melody Chan

Photo: Pixabay

The summer release, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has brought a Marvel frenzy around the world. With the appearance of Wong from Doctor Strange, the increasing amount of Asian representation in Marvel Studios has reformed perspectives on Hollywood.

Shang-Chi is directed by the AsianAmerican filmmaker, Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed The Glass Castle and Just Mercy. With the film’s East-Asian dominated cast, the film narrates an ancient tale of a Chinese warlord named Xu Wenwu, also known as the Mandarin. He inherits ten magical rings and the protagonist, ShangChi who is Wenwu’s son, fights against this legacy.

The dynamics of a father and son relationship is demonstrated with multiple martial arts scenes, presenting and enriching Asian culture. The hip-hop soundtrack is infused with traditional Chinese folklore, immersing the audience into a crossover realm of the Western and the Asian. A sense of nostalgia and familiarity found its way through my experience of watching the film. This is because of the inclusion of over-dramatic special effects, which reminds me of other Asian films such as Ip Man and Stephen Chow’s series of comedies. Another familiar factor is the narrative, where the beginning of Shang-Chi is fully narrated in Mandarin. This was unexpected because Marvel Studios usually directs towards a Western audience. Shang-Chi has finally represented the Asian community and its culture, “it does well and I hope that it opens the door for the future,” said Dr Nancy Wang Yuen, the sociologist and author of Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism. Before Shang-Chi, other Asian films have tried to re-establish Hollywood stereotypes. Including Crazy Rich Asians, the first Hollywood story featuring an allAsian cast and an Asian-American lead in 25 years. Based on Kevin Kwan’s comedy novel, he says the level of interest in his work was a global phenomenon, it “just speaks to the universality of the story.”

Another film is Parasite, the first foreign film to win the Best Pictures Oscar award. A notable achievement since Asian actors only made up to 1% of the Oscar nominations in 89 years. Choi Woo Shik, the Korean actor who plays Ki-woo in Parasite, hopes more foreign legends will make it to the Oscars and so “we can see more foreign-language films and Asian films.” The upcoming Marvel film Eternals is directed by Chloe Zhao, a Chinese filmmaker with an Oscar on Nomadland. The film includes foreign cast members namely Kumail Nanjiani, a Pakistani-American actor, who is the first South Asian hero in the Marvel Series. As well as Gemma Chan, a British-Asian actress who previously starred as Astrid in Crazy Rich Asians.

The Asian inclusivity in films mirrors the need for acceptance in the world today, especially when reports on anti-Asian hate crimes skyrocketed by 70% in America in 2020. These Asian directors, actresses and actors would be representatives and role models for Asian kids to look up to. Grace Han, journalist and Asian Movie Pulse reviewer, claims Eternals would need to “[define] what exactly is ‘Asian’ and when it comes to representation who exactly [does Hollywood] want to represent.” This is because the right definition can change perspectives, forever.

FILM 25 Norwich Film Festival Is Back Better Than Ever!

The privilege to watch films in person was tragically taken away from film-lovers last year. Norwich Film Festival celebrates having this experience once again, returning this year with its largest showcase yet! From the 12th to the 21st of November, the festival will be screening a wide range of independent films from a regional, national, and international scale. All 133 films are thoughtprovoking, powerful, and captivating. Whether it is films exploring identity and relationships in the LGBTQ+ community, or films concerning the rising topic of the environment, there is bound to be a screening suited to your interest. As Stephen Fry beautifully put it, “watching a film is like a journey to someone’s soul; unique exposure to cultures, personal stories and incredible imagination.” The renowned actor and writer is delighted to be a Patron for the festival this year, alongside Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman. Other big names will be appearing on the big screen this month. These include Himesh Patel (Yesterday), Hugh Skinner (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again & Fleabag), David Bradley (Harry Potter), and many more. If you’re particularly interested in a career in filmmaking, then now is your chance to attend the upcoming panels this month. Listen to real filmmakers themselves, offering tips and tricks to navigate your way in the industry. There will also be a screening showcasing debut shorts by first-time filmmakers to help give you inspiration. Kellen Playford, the founder of Norwich Film Festival, is

by Laura Patterson

excited to be pioneering the event once more, having said, “we’re coming back with a bold programme of a record-number of films. Each year, the festival has grown, including the number of visitors. Offering people great cinematic experiences again is an absolute joy to be able to do!” This is the first year the festival is a hybrid of online and inperson viewing. If you can’t make one of the screenings in person, don’t fret! You can have access to these films and watch them online until the end of November. Concrete and Venue looks forward to covering the rich and emerging talent that is being hosted in our city of Norwich for this month. This festival is truly an opportunity that cannot be missed.

Photo: Norwich Film Festival

The Last Night In Soho : Review

by Lauren Barrett

The Last Night in Soho is Edgar Wright’s newest polarising film.

Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) comes from rural Cornwall with big dreams. Once she gets into London College of Fashion, the excitement of a new life starts, a life not dissimilar to her late mother’s. Her grandmother fears for her, knowing her ‘gift’ sets her apart. After a cold welcome at the university halls, Ellie seeks for a new abode - a bedsit in soho with Mrs. Collins (Diana Rigg). It’s here where her room starts to act as a portal to the 1960’s, finding her body twinned with Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). Sandie dreams of being the next Cilla Black and it appears to be coming true when she meets Jack (Matt Smith), who “manages all the girls”. It quickly however goes downhill when the set up is less wholesome than meets the eye. The camera work, the locations, the music: a genuine sense of the 1960’s atmosphere is created by every element of the film, feeling as if you’ve experienced it yourself. The soundtrack is paired astoundingly to each scene and plays a vital role, almost connecting to the lights and outfits. Having such a visually appealing film with dark topics mirrors the reality of the characters, and it almost seems like a warning for those romanticising the past. The glamour and aesthetics may be fascinating, but the reality and politics of the time, not so much. Some films feel too long when they hit the two-hour running time, but The Last Night In Soho leaves you wanting more. The viewer is drawn into both Eloise’s contemporary storyline and the mystery that unfolds in Eloise’s dreams and Sandie’s reality. The connection between the two is questionable at first, but this quickly becomes clearer. Some of the unanswered questions in the film feel right to have stayed that way. I feel the bulk of criticisms towards this film come from those who went in with too much of an expectation of a certain genre or ideas of plot - but this film transcends a definitive category and plays between different tropes. Perhaps the label of horror may disappoint fans of only that, but anyone who enjoys a thought-out plot with stunning visuals couldn’t frown at this new Wright classic.

26 FILM The Hunger Games - Why The Trilogy Could Have Been So Much Better

by louise collins

Photo: Pixabay

I remember first watching The Hunger Games in 2013, just before Catching Fire came out. I also remember the chills and utter shock I felt at the end of the sequel, when Jennifer Lawrence looks directly into the camera, showing all of Katniss’ anger clear in her face. They’re incredible films, and they make some amazing points. However, as a huge fan of the books, I can’t help but point out where they completely missed the mark. Suzanne Collins wrote the dystopia trilogy as a commentary on capitalism and the media – or at least, those are some very heavy themes within the series. The Capitol is a rich city, with the people eating to excess and spending money on ridiculous things. The surrounding districts are working class - starving and living in poverty, providing resources to The Capitol. Every year, two teenagers from each district must fight to the death in order to ‘remember the past’, which is disturbingly romanticised by the privileged. The films are visually stunning, and they do hit some of the points. Unfortunately, the older I get, the more I realise how limited these films are. In many ways, the media and marketing team did exactly what The Capitol did: they romanticised the entire thing. Instead of focusing on Katniss’ journey, there was so much focus placed on the love triangle. Are you Team Gale, or Team Peeta? That was the conversation everyone was having, but one we were being told to have. An interview moment that still stands out to me was when Willow Shields, who played Prim, was asked that very same question - she answered boldly, at age 11, saying “I’m Team Katniss.” It truly makes you understand how people, like The Capitol, could ignore the horrors of the games. Another thing which limited the impact was the casting. Now, I will say that Jennifer and Josh played their characters incredibly. However, they were six and four years older than their characters. Katniss and Peeta were meant to be fresh faced sixteen-yearolds, looking younger than they were due to malnourishment and poverty. Instead, they were adults, which, in my opinion and many others, took away the impact of the games. They were meant to be disturbing to the audience because of their age, and the only actors who made the appropriate impact because of their youth were Isabelle Fuhrman (Clove), Amandla Stenberg (Rue), and Willow Shields (Prim). There are references to trauma, PTSD, and addiction in the films, but they’re so heavily glossed over that it’s easy to miss. Katniss and Peeta are also meant to be disabled after the first film, which is totally skipped over. As a bit of entertainment and light social commentary, these films are great. But it’s important to recognise that Hollywood did exactly what these films were warning us about.

The Television Takeover of the MCU

By Caitlin Telford

With the release of Disney+, Marvel have been able to expand into new ways of storytelling. Ever since Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment back in August 2009, Marvel has inexplicably become one of the biggest cinema franchises in the world. With the move to Disney+ this allows the franchise to expand the MCU. However, this isn’t the first time Marvel have branched to television. Until 2020, Marvel had Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D as well as

Marvel’s first Disney+ release WandaVision brought together a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda and Vision – two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives – begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems. This show was a big step for Marvel as it was their first step in bringing the MCU to the television screen. I think they were successful with bringing something new and innovative to two characters we all know and love.

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, we were given The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. With the move to television Marvel can help shed light on real life issues that are going on in society, more than they can in movies. This is what sets this series apart from the others in tackling issues from political, racial, and even personal issues to make us think.

Loki is a pivotal series for this new phase of Marvel as fans are given more of an insight to the multiverse. At the core of this show is about identity and the struggle between who you are and who you want to be. Additionally, audiences see a different side to Tom Hiddleston’s character that we haven’t seen before showing a great sense of character development throughout the series.

What If, Marvel’s animated series, allowed them to take the characters we’ve grown to love in different directions while remaining in the MCU for example ‘What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?’. It’s the sense of surprise which drives this series as the scripts are pacy, whizzing through the highlights of the movies we already know with unexpected payoffs. Each episode revolves around one central change, then resulting ripple effects in every instalment feel well-considered.

Disney is using its MCU shows to power its Disney+ streaming service worldwide. While each Marvel movie has the potential to gross billions of dollars in the global box office, a streaming service has the potential to make more money. With the release of Marvel shows being exclusive to Disney+ and then movies being released to the service a month or two after the initial film release, the company is hoping to convert its millions of fans into Disney+ subscribers.

The next phase of Marvel is looking bright with the next show Hawkeye being released later this month. I believe that Marvel will create a balance in the fact that they can connect the shows enough so that watchers will feel like they have an inside edge, but not so much that non-watchers become confused. For example, Wanda could make a joke in the new Doctor Strange film that would be funny, but extra funny if you had seen the show.

Photo: Unsplash

28 Review: You - Season 3

By Sienna Norris

October 15th marked the day Netflix released the much awaited third season of You, once again following Joe Goldberg, the loveable psychopath played by Penn Badgley, as he becomes transfixed by yet another love interest.

The narrative is told from both Joe and Love Goldberg (Victoria Pedretti), as they navigate suburban life with their new baby, Henry, in the fictional town of Madre Linda, the home of seemingly perfect families. As Madre Linda’s newest residents devour the American Dream-like town, their tendencies are made all the more eerie by the new distinctive location the show is set in.

However, out of all of You’s seasons, this one has been my least favourite; of course, I thoroughly enjoyed binge-watching it, but it didn’t have the same feel of seasons 1 and 2. The ending of this season felt quite rushed and unnecessary to much of the fanbase, but some say the fast-paced ending obliges with the thriller genre.

Nonetheless, this season’s cast has been the most diverse thus far, yet there was only one likeable character that didn’t seem to irritate me at any point: Marienne, Joe’s newest obsession. Not only is Tati Gabrielle’s performance as Marienne one of the best in this series, but the character also is an interesting contrast to Joe’s previous romantic interests, Beck and Love. Whether intentional or not, the You creators seemed to let the power lay in the characters played by people of colour’s hands, not just Marienne, but the local ‘yummy mummy’, Sherry Conrad, too.

Personally, for me, this show is becoming more repetitive and is losing that spark that fascinated viewers upon the premiere of season 1 in 2018, but that’s the whole appeal of the show, right? Season 4 has already been announced, but many fans are asking: do we really need another season?

Review: The Trick

By Benjamin Smith

The Trick tells the story of how the work of Philip Jones and CRU on the effect of climate change on global temperatures was stolen in a cyber terrorist attack in 2009, three weeks before the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen. While the script is weak at times, with some bland dialogue and direction, the performances and story lift the film up to be an entertaining and informative testament to the work of climate scientists and the need for action over climate change. Seeing the UEA campus as a film set, with stars Jason Watkins, Victorian Hamilton, George MacKay and Jerome Flynn, among others, walking along its infamous brutalist walkways and with panoramic views of the ziggurats and science buildings feels slightly surreal. Seeing somewhere you walk every week in a completely different context on screen gives a sense of pride of the university and the work it has put out.

The TV movie’s focus on the emotional expense the real people involved in ‘climategate’ and the importance of their work is especially important now, with the recent COP26 conference and the continued urgency for regulations and restrictions to be put in place to lessen the effects of climate change before the planet goes to a state of irreversible change. A larger budget and generally stronger production would have enabled this film to be more developed and to be distributed more widely, but the local access audiences have, with the film premiering on BBC One and being still available to watch on BBC iPlayer, gets the messages of the film across even more, making the topics a more everyday topic of discussion, rather than a dramatised piece of cinema magic for enjoyment rather than serious contemplation. While the film itself isn’t a standout, the content and history of UEA and the work done here is definitely something students should acknowledge on a wider scale, I for one didn’t know anything about the events of the film before viewing, making it a definite recommendation for that point alone. Its messages are extremely well delivered, if heavy-handed at times. But with the seriousness of the real topics it deals with, climate change, cybercrime and fake news, it is understandable. A film made for spreading of knowledge than artistic intent, The Trick achieves its goal in spreading the message of why we need to save the planet and trust the scientists.

TV

Photo: Unsplash

TV

29 RuPaul’s Drag Race and Representations of queerness

By Danny Hayes

It is the TV show deemed a “cultural phenomenon”- one that has launched t h e careers of hundreds of drag queens and introduced millions to the art of drag. It has heralded a new facet of queer culture, given us some of the most gagging moments in reality television and produced more gifs than could be imagined. However, RuPaul’s Drag Race’s biggest success is how it has brought queer culture to a wider audience than ever before.

For myself this success can be measured in the level of representation the show has produced in its recent season when it moved channels to VH1. Having originally started on Logo, a channel specifically targeted at LGBTQIA+ audiences, this change brought the show to significantly larger audience outside their original target demographic. This in turn led to the show bring able to discuss topics that affected the original audience to more people than ever. An example of this was in Peppermint coming out as transgender and opening conversations about representation and how drag acted as a safe space for them.

Likewise, this season saw frank conversations about straight passing in Russia, how the Pulse shooting in Orlando affected the community and how to be a better ally. The show allowed the uneducated and curious viewer a glimpse into a different environment to the one they knew, showing them an insight into the wonderful world of modern queerness. By grounding these serious topics next to comedic moments and real-world people, RuPaul’s Drag Race makes them feel more approachable in a way other shows didn’t quite achieve.

This success has been furthered by the show’s representation of other queer identities than just cisgender gay men. Following Peppermint on season nine the show has continued to feature non-binary and transgender contestants to great success, with season two alum Kylie Sonqiue Love winning the most recent RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars season. The recent RuPaul’s Drag Race: Down Under also had open discussions about pronouns, with contestant Etcetera Etcetera educating the audience about the meaning of being non-binary and how to have a conversation about this. This also led to one of the best reads in the show’s history during the traditional “The Library is Open” challenge, with fellow contestant Art Simone stating, “Etcetera uses they/them pronouns. For example, they haven’t been in the top, so we won’t be seeing them in the final”. As a long-term fan of the show, this was nothing new to me since I have been immersed in the community since I was 14, but for the viewer outside this world, this conversation may have been the first time they encountered a conversation about they/them pronouns. By bringing this facet of queer culture into the mainstream the show has opened up conversations those within the community have been having for years, making them less taboo and more understood to those outside it.

In brief, the franchise’s increased success and visibility has led to wider understanding of queer culture and the issues we face on a daily basis. While the franchise has come under fire for introducing these contestants when they became mainstream, I would argue that late representation is better than none at all. Recent seasons have presented queer identities in a way that make them feel normal and gives the viewer a way of seeing them in a new light. While the show may have its host of issues that need to be looked into, I feel that the greater representation of LGBTQIA+ identities is an asset that will continue to attract more viewers.

Photo: Unsplash