TEACHING A NEW DOGGIE OLD TRICKS
THE KING OF MASKS Directed by Wu Tianming Screenplay by Wei Minglung With Zhu Xu, Zhou Ren-ying Plan B no rating 101 min
"King of Masks", an endearing if sentimental Chinese melodrama, joins the ranks of movies about crusty grownups reluctantly adopting adorable tykes and growing to love them -- "Central Station", "Kolya", "Gloria", "Big Daddy"; the list runs back, including such classics as "Little Miss Marker" and Chaplin's "The Kid". There are few among them that do not require that pocket pack of Kleenex.
In this story, Wang (Zhu Xu) actually wants the kid. He's an elderly street performer who specializes in lightning-fast changes of paper masks, but he has no heir to whom to hand down his secrets. This is provincial China in the 30s, and tradition requires that these mysteries be passed only from father to son; no girls allowed. Wang goes to a shadowy small-town slave market where destitute parents peddle their children. Girls are a glut on the market, but healthy little boys are not to be had, not even for ready money. To his surpassing joy, Wang spots a bright 7-year-old and snaps him up.
Doggie (Zhou Ren-ying) is everything a street performer could want in a son. Almost. He's cute, loyal, hardworking, a talented acrobat, and can find the right spot to scratch a back. There's only one thing missing: when circumstances require him to pee on demand, he lacks the "little teapot spout" that distinguishes the male of the species.
A girl! In a culture that held performers in low esteem, girls were not even esteemed enough to be performers. The King of Masks tries to dump the deceitful baggage, but she won't stay dumped; eventually, he relents. But no more "Grandpa". From now on, it's "Boss".
Zhu Xu is a veteran of the Beijing People's Artistic Theater, and he brings a craggy warmth and quicksilver dexterity to his title role as the King of Masks. Zhou Reng-ying is a big-eyed, round-faced kid with a remarkable gymnastic talent honed by her background as a professional acrobat. Zhou also brings life experience to the role -- she was sold to a circus troupe at the age of 3. Shanghai opera star Zhao Zhigang plays Master Liang, a famous female impersonator. These three characters all live on society's fringes, and all survive through the use of masks and deception.
Director Wu Tianming draws us into this old hanky with an exotic setting, good storytelling, and beautiful cinematography. There's a bit too much of the maudlin, a little excess in the weeping and crying "Grandpa" department, but with three fine actors and even a trained monkey pulling the strings, it's satisfying sentimentality.
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