He
represented the dark side of agrarianism in a way the Unabomber could relate to,
but at least Yang Rumen took precautions to avoid injuries. The fully pardoned bomb-maker
turned organic food activist’s creation story is chronicled in Cho Li’s The Rice Bomber (trailer here), which screens
during the 2014 Asian American International Film Festival in New York.
By
working class standards, Yang’s father did okay selling chickens in the city,
but the young man always identified with his rice farming grandparents. He
spent his formative years on their farm and it is there he returns after his military
discharge. Yang almost went Full Metal
Jacket on the NCOs who persistently bullied him, suggesting he is wound
rather tightly.
With
Taiwan’s rural economy stagnating, Yang migrates back to the city, becoming a
street hawker. That is where he meets a preteen aboriginal competitor and
reconnects with his childhood sweetheart, “Troublemaker.” She lives off her
gangster-politician father, but fancies herself a revolutionary. Yet, she balks
whenever Yang asks her to assist his new friend’s three younger siblings.
Slowly, Yang’s environmental and class consciousness grows, but his engagement takes
a quantum leap when tragedy strikes. At least, he carefully labels his bombs
and judiciously minimizes their potency.
For
a film that starts with a bomb disposal scene, Rice is surprisingly talky and cerebral. Clearly, it would rather
discuss agricultural policy than indulge in a car chase, but its analysis
basically boils down to “they are out
to get the farmers.” Arguably though, most of the leftist demonstrators come
across just as kneejerk and clueless as the government bureaucrats. The
intermittent time shifts do not exactly do any favors for clarity either.
Nevertheless, there is something fascinating about Yang’s slow descent into
mad-ish-ness, even when the hardscrabble realities depicted on-screen clash with
Peyman Yazdanian’s sentimental score.
Indeed,
Cho’s dispassionate approach is likely to leave many viewers cold, but the lack
of cheap grandstanding is rather refreshing. There are the odd moments here and
there, such as Yang marveling at the cache of guns Troublemaker has scrounged,
for no practical purpose. Yet, it mostly feels docu-real.
As
Yang, Huang Chien-wei slow burns like a champion, convincingly showing his
evolution from victim to self-styled avenger. Nikki Hsieh’s Troublemaker also consistently
keeps viewers off-balance, while Michael Chang is admirably earnest and
understated as Yang’s mildly underdeveloped younger brother, Tung-tsai.
Having
previously helmed the underappreciated adultery thriller Zoom Hunting (a 2010 AAIFF selection), Cho once again shows a knack
for subverting genre expectations. While Rice
probably will not radicalize any viewers who were not already teetering on
the brink, it definitely captures the messy bedlam of contemporary history.
Consistently interesting (but not for those looking for simple stories and
simplistic take-aways), The Rice Bomber screens
tomorrow (7/26) at the Village East and Sunday (7/27) at the Made in NY Media
Center, as part of this year’s AAIFF.
