Red Corner (1997)

Wolfgang Peterson has shown he can direct a suspenseful and kinetic movie with "Das Boot," a splendid evocation of life inside a crowded steel tube. His work since then has been spotty, more commercial than I'd have hoped. This movie is an improvement. I'd expected a thorough condemnation of everything about the People's Republic of China, especially given Richard Gere's devotion to Tibet. Yet, if this is occasionally clunky and confusing, it's still not bad. I found it engaging.The narrative follows Gere who is framed for the murder of a beautiful model in Beijing and by dint of sheer determination on the part of himself, whom the court in the person of the grim battle ax behind the bench insists on calling "the Accused Moore", and on the part of his court-appointed defense counsel, Bai Ling, who begins as an ordinary uninterested subject with the PRC boot on her neck, and gradually warms up to Gere and procedural due process, the chemistry between them can best be described as "two people." I said it was engaging. One of the reasons it's engaging is the appearance and performance of Bai Ling as Gere's public defender. She is one alluring young lady. Imagine if Audrey Hepburn had been born in China instead of the Netherlands. Yum. She so petite and delicate it seems as if any rough house might break one of her long bones. Since joining the global community, China has come up with a string of colorful movies and equally colorful actresses -- Gong Li to Bai Ling. Gere gives one of his better performances. He manages to convincingly project terror and that's not his strong suit as an actor. I like Richard Gere though. He was my co-star in the unforgettable, umm, wait, it will come to me -- YES, "No Mercy." He had a little trouble with some of his scenes but I helped him out.So basically it's a tale of two stalwarts against the rules of a rigid and ruthless culture in which the best way to avoid execution is to plead guilty to murder. It's not exactly a courtroom drama though, nor a prison tale. Gere manages to escape and jump clumsily from one rooftop to another while being chased by mean-looking Chinese cops. I had a feeling that Peterson had left this scene in, though only weakly justified, for fear the audience might be getting impatient at having to listen to all that Mandarin Chinese, much of it with no subtitles. I certainly got impatient listening to Mandarin when I had to take a class in it.The courtroom scenes are especially bewildering because, first, they didn't make much sense to me, and second, the climactic scene is so agitated and noisy. Something to do with a general and a package of American television programs with which Gere intended to pollute Sinitic culture. And not even a nod in the direction of General Tso's chicken. Yes, disappointing.Still, the scene of parting between Gere and Ling at the airport is handled with affection and given a silky texture, as of a Chinese robe, with the emotional content muted and no kiss in sight. It reminded me of the climax of "Casablanca" -- "Where I go, you can't follow," and so on, except here the gender roles are reversed. Overall, it's not badly done.

This is a really, really outstanding movie, and I am surprised that I had never heard of it. I stumbled across it on cable, and having an interest in modern day China, watched it on my DVR. The movie works on many levels - as an action movie, as an excellent portrayal of the Chinese court system, and as the story of a relationship between two individuals disparate in race and culture. I count Richard Gere as a fine actor, and knowing his work on behalf of the oppressed Tibetans, I am not surprised that he would be eager to be part of a movie that exposes the injustices of the Chinese "justice" system. It also shows well the corruption of the Chinese bureaucracy, and the backroom dealings foreign businessmen must engage in to get a foothold in the country. The portrayals of the sufferings of Gere's character while incarcerated are chilling, and to my knowledge accurate The action sequences are well done. The inevitable parting at the end of the 2 central characters ranks right up there with Casablanca and Witness. My only quibble is with some of the proceedings in the climax of the People's Court trail, proceedings which are hard to imagine actually happening. However, they do serve to move the story along. I would call this flick a sleeper.

This is one of those average films one does not expect to have much substance. Unexpectedly though, director Jon Avnet and a script by Robert King provide the basis for a surprising hit. The essence of this film is called " Red Corner " and tells the story of an American businessman and attorney Jack Moore (Richard Gere) who visits China to broker a satellite communication's deal with up and coming Chinese businessmen. However, Mr. Moore has the unfortunate luck to make enemies out of unscrupulous executives.They set him up with a sexy Chinese girl who returns to his hotel room, where both strip, make love, get drunk and pass out. The following morning, Jack is accosted, arrested and imprisoned for the brutal murder of the girl. Unaware of Chinese criminal procedures, the accused has little to expect, except that execution is swift if he confesses. Pleading Not Guilty is not an option and is fully explained by his court appointed attorney Shen Yuelin (Ling Bai). Together they face an up hill battle to prevent his execution and prove his innocence. Versitle actor (West Wing) Bradley Whitford) plays a U.S. consulate friend. The movie itself is filled with dark drama, exciting realism, scary prison scenes and brutality. Gere is incredible as he portrays a man on the brink of death trying to exonerate himself from a twisted government where friend and foe alike wear the same color hat. Terrific movie. ****

This is a poignant film about today's world and how change can come to a country, any country. In this case we are dealing with China. Corrupted people are framing up an American TV man in order to prevent a contract being signed that does not go in the right direction for their interests. The point is that the corrupted and plotting official is the son of a highly respected man, a son who was educated in the West and brought back his corruption, or at least a good knowledge and know how about it, from his foreign sojourn. He is using the opaque situation in changing China to cover up his dealings and has a little group of plotters and accomplices to manage his operations. But the film tries to show how the Chinese today are realizing from their own experience and history, even from their own culture that includes Mao Zedong and a couple other revolutionaries, that they have to change in their own minds and then change their country. This cannot come from outside, especially not from the US that is no model, neither social nor economic nor even political, but it has to come from inside, from deep down in the souls, the minds and the spirits of the Chinese. What is most difficult for us to understand is that the Chinese live on a completely different set of principles and concepts and that they have to invent a new open society from their very concepts and philosophy. Democracy for example cannot be the same thing in China and the USA or France, for the very simple reason that it is not the same in the USA, Great Britain, France of Italy, not to speak of Japan and Finland. There is not one model. There are many models that are therefore no models at all. The film very carefully and cautiously tries to show us how the mind of a person can open little by little when confronted to real life if that person is simply honest with himself or herself, with his or her own principles, with his or her conception of justice. This leads that person to considering the very concept of human being, of individual, of subject, of what is necessary for that individual to feel free and happy. The very point we are confronted to with China is that it is one fourth of humanity or so and no one has any interest in a brutal and uncontrolled change in a direction that is not carried and supported by the heritage of the country, its history, its culture. The United States have a strange but understandable reaction in front of the rest of the world because they are all the descendants of immigrants who left a culture and a history behind them to build out of conscious and willful choices a new history and a new culture, a heritage that became something that had to be built out of nothing or very little. They cannot understand that other countries will not be able to do any change that would break up the fabric and material of the country itself. If you did that you would provoke a ferocious reaction that could just wash you away in one wink of an eye. Actually the Americans today are not better or worse than other countries and peoples. If we from outside told them you have to rationalize your political system on the let's say German model, they would jump to the sky, and yet how can we accept that the political system is not the same in all the states, that citizens have to publicly declare themselves democrat or republican to be able to take part in the primaries, which goes against the very principle of democracy which is the secrecy of our political choices and our ballots. And If Europeans told the United States that they have to ban the death penalty within one or two or three years to be granted the privilege of being recognized as a democracy and keep the status of permanent veto-endowed member of the Security Council of the United Nations that could be withdrawn from them because of their not having banned the death penalty, they would react violently and viciously. Yet to join the European Community you have to ban the death penalty. This film is a marvelous demonstration of this fascinating question, even if it is slightly sentimental.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines