"Red Sorghum," "Ju Dou," "To Live" and "Raise the Red Lantern" director Zhang Yimou returns to Milwaukee's silver screen with "Happy Times," a sweet, sad, funny picture set in a modern Chinese city.
Taking its name from a makeshift "hotel" -- actually a derelict bus -- opened to accommodate an urban park's rendezvousing lovers, "Happy Times" opens with aging bachelor Zhao (Zhao Benshan) wooing his latest bride-to-be. Zhao, who has bad luck with women, has decided that large women are more to his tastes, not least because they like him better than thin women, who, presumably, have more marriage options.
He feeds the woman of his dreams (Don Lihua) a line about being a successful hotel general manager but that backfires when she wants him to find a job in his hotel for her blind stepdaughter Wu Ying (Dong Jie).
He must try to hide from everyone the truth about the hotel and about his lack of money. When he takes Wu Ying to the "hotel," he finds it being removed by park workers and they return to the stepmother's house, where Wu Ying's belongings have already been tossed out and her room given over to her snotty and spoiled stepbrother (Leng Qibin).
Zhao is forced to bring Wu Ying home to his house, which he pretends is the employees' dorm at the hotel. He discovers Wu Ying is a masseus and he contrives to set up a massage parlor, although only a show one with his friends as faux customers. Why he doesn't try to actually sell her services is a mystery.
{INSERT_RELATED}All of this he does to try and cement his relationship with the stepmother, but it all comes apart, as we suspect it will. But, an important bond begins to form between Zhao and Wu Ying and that is from whence the story's poignant moments derive.
There are also some witty moments, but the story feels more sad and touching than laugh-out-loud funny. Zhao Benshan is charmingly pathetic as the doting boyfriend trying to gain favor and as the poor, aging man trying to reverse his bad fortunes. Despite his frustrations, he can't help but gain affection for the sweet but sceptical Yu Wing.
"Happy Times" opens Fri., Sept. 6 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
