Starring: Ge You, Bai Baihe, Li Xiaolu, Zheng Kai, Fan Wei, Song Dandan, Miao Pu Director: Feng XiaogangDebra Li

    debra_lidan@163.com

    ECONOMIC theories can teach us many things utilizing the gap between anticipation and real performance. That may explain why Huayi Brothers stock (SZ300027) dived 10 percent Wednesday after the Tuesday night premiere of its long-anticipated “Personal Tailor.”

    Given the aura surrounding veteran director Feng Xiaogang and actor Ge You, and also considering the time of its release in the lead-up to the Christmas and New Year holiday season, the market had wrongly anticipated the film’s domestic box office to be more than 1 billion yuan (US$165 million).

    Telling a similar story to Feng’s first box office hit “The Dream Factory” released right before the New Year of 1998, and an even earlier Chinese film “The Troubleshooters,” which was based on then-popular author Wang Shuo’s novel “Masters of Mischief,” the new release isn’t likely to repeat the success of its predecessors.

    That’s partly because Feng’s premise is wrong. In the words of Yang Zhong (Ge You), who tells a tacky film director (Li Chengru) who dreams of turning out high-end art, Feng jokes that film is a “low-end” form of art, roughly the equivalent of stand-up comedy performed on streets. Based on that logic, commercial success only embraces those who lower their artistic standards to cater to the taste of everyday folks.

    Sadly, Chinese audiences, especially the young generation, have seen many movies between now and 1997, and in the process acquired more sophisticated tastes.

    Like “The Dream Factory,” the film is a sitcom style comedy consisting of three long episodes and three short ones. Aimed as a mild criticism of today’s Chinese society and catering to the common people’s resentment toward the rich and powerful, the episodes are loosely connected by a company made up of four people who help clients realize their daydreams.

    The brief opening episode, in black and white to suit the era of the woman’s daydream — to be a martyr during the rule of the Third Reich — is reminiscent of the incident where a man wants to relive battle scenes of World War II in “The Dream Factory.”

    Next, a driver (Fan Wei) asks to experience the life of a high-level official, giving himself the challenge of remaining upright in the face of bribes — both in cash and sex. Though there are lines such as “Absolute power leads to absolute corruption,” the film seems to reach the conclusion that graft happens because secretaries and others have entrapped the officials with indecent offers, posing them with the impossible mission to fight alone.

    Another episode is about sanitary worker Sister Dan (Song Dandan) given a billionaire-daydream package as a birthday gift. Here the film takes every chance to ridicule the luxurious and absurd lifestyle of the nouveau riche. Dressed up like a parody of Queen Elizabeth, Sister Dan in her day-dream role has a lover and tries hard to flush away millions a day. Again, in a mild criticism, when she demands an explanation of how she “had acquired her riches,” the film just vaguely tells the audience: “All riches come overnight.”

    The film also mentions a young girl who “dreams of a debutante ball” thrown by her rich father, echoing the phenomenon of “stacking it on your dad.”

    It’s undeniable that Fan and Song delivered a superb performance in this fable sort of story, in which the caricature-style characters are not left with much room to reveal their humanity.

    Still, when the music starts as Sister Dan bids farewell to her daydream, the poignant lyrics describing the life of an ordinary person who works hard to raise a family resonates with most of the audience.

    The concluding episode, though beautifully shot, is completely unrelated to the whole story. More of an environmental protection commercial, it addresses the problems of air and water pollution, deforestation and the destruction of the beautiful grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

    While 90 minutes is too short for a film like “Gravity,” nearly two hours is simply too long for this sitcom style comedy. It’s quite a waste when the beautiful theme song, composed by Luan Shu and lyrics by Liang Mang, starts as the credits roll in, because most of the audience have already worn out their patience and would likely be ready to walk out.

    “Personal Tailor” is screening in Shenzhen, with English subtitles.