This is not so much a review but more of an anecdote of a viewing experience.

Once again, dGenerate films was able to deliver a better than 3D experience. They served dumplings for the screening of Oxhide II, and with Disorder, it proved to be even more of an immersive experience. And I’m not being sarky about the following, I really had a blast during the screening.

It was a Target Free Friday Night at MoMA, so the screen was free, too, and it turned out to be a hot ticket as the line practically snaked around that small mezzanine that led to Theater 2. I found the end of the line and courteously asked this petit Chinese girl if she was the end of the line. I can barely remember her face now, but I strongly remember she had a Chinese character tattooed on her nape. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to identify what character that was. She asked me if she was lining up for the right screening, as she was going to watch Disorder, but her ticket said Theater 1. I told her I was going to see the same thing, I was pretty sure that was it. So it seemed like we were about to get a conversation going, but then since I was now the end of the line, the next person approached me to ask if I was the end of the line, and this person started talking to me. So I ended conversing with the person who lined up behind me and she became my new friend, and it seemed like kismet that both our planned viewing companions couldn’t go with us, and now we were going to watch the movie together. And boy, was I glad I met her because Karin Chien, president of dGenerate Films (or was it the MoMA Film Programming Director? I don’t know, my memory is kind of fuzzy now) came up to the podium and made an announcement no one wanted to hear, the screening copy wasn’t working, and they were trying to secure a back-up, but it would take 20-30 minutes. Great, at least I had someone to talk to and entertain me during the wait and not have to read a book I wasn’t in the mood to read just to pass the time.

Since the director of Disorder, Huang Weikei, was there in person, he came up to the podium with his translator and started talking about the movie. Of course, what he was talking about was pretty difficult to understand, since no one had seen the film, so they lacked context. What made it even more absurd was they had a little Q&A before the screening. So questions were like “I was reading the summary outside and it seemed like the English title didn’t suit the film, was there a different title in Chinese?”, silly speculative stuff like that. After a while it felt like the director was going on and on, and even though what he talking about was insightful and perceptive, it just felt like a lecture before the film. Finally, they had the second copy at hand and started playing it. This was now 1 hour after the film was scheduled to start, and the film is only an hour long!

So film starts, and it was a terrible copy, heavily interlaced, and, as we were soon to discover, without subtitles! I immediately informed my new friend of the problem and she started asking me what was going on. I began whispering and narrating the events, and this clearly miffed the lady sitting next to me on the other side, as she promptly told me off. I apologized, as I don’t usually talk during films, but necessary to do so. My new friend even defended me and said she just needed to know what was being said because of the lack of subs, and the lady was adamant in saying that the lack of subtitles were intentional. And then, the lights came on and the film was stopped.

I told the lady I had seen the film before and I definitely remember subs. She apologized, too, saying she was at least trying understand it without them. I was later to learn that that lady was actually a friend of the Film Programming Director of MoMA.

So, the Film Programming Director of MoMA came up to the podium and apologized for the lack of subs, and by that time there quite a few irate folks in the audience, I remember the row behind us practically cleared. She said, to make up for it, they were going to do two things, one they would give us all complimentary tickets either to watch the film again on its next screening or another doc from the Fortnight Program, and then for those who were willing to stay, they were going to have the translator do a live dub of the film. I was thinking, great, it would be like those old Japanese silent films with those Benshis. What an absurd experience it was, and how appropriate for a film that depicts life’s absurdities. The translator’s translations were pretty simple (like “Be careful.” “Come on.”), and the deadpan delivery made it even funnier.

When I saw the film for the first time, I was reacting straight from the gut. This second viewing, special circumstances notwithstanding, the film has lost none of its power. It is equally funny and distressing at times, just watching a film that depicted the absurdities of life in such an absurd manner elevated the viewing experience. Just hearing Huang Weikei relay the dialogue to the translator, he clearly knew his film by heart, and how much dedication it took him to edit all of the 1000 plus hours he acquired to something a little under an hour.

Of course, when the credits came for those responsible for English subtitles, it elicited a big laugh from the audience.

They quickly zipped through the Q&A, only answering two questions before calling it a night.

As we exited the museum, the moon looked so huge amongst the Fifth Avenue Buildings, it was quite a sight.

So all-in-all, what did I get out of it? A unique experience, a new friend, and an opportunity to see Nostalgia for the Light for free; I’d say I did pretty good. Thanks, dGenerate films and MoMA.

Oh, and just as post script, I realized from the experience that if I ever attend one of my screenings with a Q&A, I’d like to have a translator, too. That would be awesome.