Dumplings

Dumplings (“Gaau Ji”)

Hong Kong. 2004

In Cantonese, Mandarin

Directed by Fruit Chan

Starring Miriam Yeung and Bai Ling

            Greetings, Scarers! I’m back after a hiatus where I switched jobs and lost a lot of free time. I know you’ve been sleeping too well for the past couple months, but don’t worry: this movie should keep you up at night! -AC

            I love Chinese food. It’s an addiction my ever-hardening arteries beg me to break, but I just can’t stay away from fried rice, orange chicken, and various other flavors of slow-death. However, after watching “Dumplings,” I may have to remove West Garden, Hunan, and Wok ‘n’ Talk from my speed dial permanently. In this creepfest, a certain Aunt Wei (Ling) is the maker of expensive doughy treats which allegedly have revivifying powers. She is visited by Mrs. Li (Yeung), an aging star who wishes to reclaim her youthful beauty and her cheating husband’s love. The catch? Aunt Wei fills her dumplings with unborn fetuses from an abortion clinic. Yep. Now wipe the mess off your keyboard and let’s continue.

            “Dumplings” is an expanded version of the 40-minute film of the same name released in 2004 as part of “Three…Extremes” (“Saam gaang yi”), a collaborative project of short horror films by East Asian directors. The cinematography by Christopher Doyle is extremely well-done, at times hiding or obscuring the gory subject matter, at times revealing it in flashes. This movie earns an almost default 5/5 (“I just vommed in my popcorn”) on the gore-o-meter. Li’s vile buffets become more visually graphic as she consumes Wei’s dumplings with increasing voracity. The movie doesn’t contain much terror in the traditional horror movie sense, but its emotional intensity qualifies a 4/5 (“Holy cannoli, that’s scary!”) on the scare-o-meter as the viewer is introduced to subplots depicting incest, murder, infidelity, and graphic abortion.

            “Dumplings” attempts various political messages, largely with the depiction of females obsessed with beauty and youth within the dog-eat-dog (woman-eat-child?) nature of a capitalist system. Thus, although Li finds Wei’s business despicable at first, she’s still driven to return time and time again to literally try and consume her way to happiness. And Wei, the ultimate luxury salesperson, shows outward contempt for Li’s loveless but cash-plump marriage, saying “Unlike you, I’m my own boss. You may be rich, but I’m free.”

            Will we be spared from a Hollywood remake? I’d say so. Although abortion is ever the hot-button issue in the States, depicting abortion in film, especially in such graphic terms, is a huge no-go. If someone proves me wrong, I’ll eat my…hat.

Gory, vile, and altogether dégueulasse, “Dumplings” is for you Scarers with iron bellies. It is well-acted and the cinematography by Christopher Doyle is exceptional. If you’re willing to risk never wanting Chinese cuisine ever again, give “Dumplings” a taste!

-AC