"The Monkey Kid "
                             A Film Review by
                           Linda Lopez McAlister
                           on "The Women's Show"
                          WMNF-FM 88.5, Tampa FL
                               May 24, 1996


    This morning I wanted to tell you, somewhat belatedly, about a very lovely
film about a young girl and about the promising young woman filmmaker who made
it. I had the pleasure of encountering both a couple of weeks back as part of
the Philadelphia Fesival of World Cinema. The film is called The Monkey Kid
and the screenwriter/director and creative force behind the film is a young
woman named Xiao-Yen Wang. The Monkey Kid is, in fact, the autobiographical
story of Xiao-Yen Wang's childhood in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution.
So the central character in the film, a little girl named Shi-Wei (played by
Fu Di) is essentially the filmmaker herself as she has reconstructed and
dramatised a particular year in her childhood. The year was 1970, and 
Shi-Wei's parents, who were teachers and thus branded as intellectuals, have 
been banished from the city to rural sections of the country so that they 
may be reeducated by doing physical labor. Their children, Shi-Wei and her 
older sister are left to fend for themselves in the family s Beijing 
apartment.

   The film is episodic and doesn't have much in the way of plot; it's a
character study of this one little girl in this extraordinary time and place
and of her mother who is allowed, on rare occasions, to return to the city to
visit. It is, however, remarkably rich with insights into the psychology of
the characters and subtly-made political points about the situation in which
they live, showing once again how the personal is political.

   One of the things I loved about it was the fact that film history is 
chock-full of films about waif-like little children on their own apart 
from adults, and such films are almost entirely about boys. Here is one of 
that genre that focuses on a spirited, ingenious, gutsy little girl for a 
change. For despite all the political repression around her and the extra 
burden of work that falls upon her and her sister as they run their own 
household, absolutely nothing can squelch this kid's spirit. She's a 
leader, she's not afraid to stand up for her rights, she faces down a 
pack of bully boys from the workers housing projects and comes out on 
top. She's also as cute as she can be, while not being cutesy. The other 
thing I loved about it is the fact that her mother encourages her in her 
projects and dreams and sense of independence, even when you know she 
must be dying inside, as when she comes home to see her monkey kid 
walking tight-rope-style on the railing of their apartment balcony--four 
stories up. That leads her mother to encourage her to think someday of 
learning to fly airplanes.

   I'm sorry I wasn't here last week to review this film in connection with
Mother s Day.  Xiao-Yen Wang has dedicated this film to her mother. 
Indeed its main theme is how her mother's courage (in, for example, 
teaching the children something about Western music when such an activity 
was treasonous) provided that seed of strength that got her and the 
family through this difficult period. It closes with one more poignant 
example. On a rainy day Shi-Wei looks out the window and muses about how 
much fun it would be to ride her bicycle in the rain, but that if her 
father were there he wouldn't let her do it. Her mother says, go right 
ahead and the film end with shots of this drenched little girl riding 
blissfully around and around in front of her apartment house, feeling 
obviously empowered and strong.

   Let me say a bit about what happened to director Xiao-Yen Wang after she
grew up. She was admitted, at the end of the Cultural Revolution, to study at
the Bejing Film Academy where she was trained as an art director, making her a
member of the acclaimed Fifth Generation of filmmakers that has produced such
magnificent features as Raise the Red Lantern and Farewell, My Concubine 
among others. Xiao-Yen Wang, who was at the Festival in Philadelphia to 
talk about The Monkey Kid has since emigrated to the U.S. and lives in 
San Francisco. When she returned to Bejing to make this film, the 
authorities refused to give her permission to do so on the grounds
that it was too political. She made it anyway, explaining that Bejing is a big
city and she just proceeded as if she had permission. She shot for three
months in her old neighborhood where she had grown up, and everyone knew her
and was willing to be of help. Then she smuggled the film footage out a little
at a time and finished the work in the U.S. She is now working on a film 
called I Discombobbled about cultural conflict between Chinese immigrants and
Chinese-Americans.

    One last word of praise for the film. One of the characteristis of the
Fifth Wave filmmakers is the visual beauty of their compositions. Xiao-Yen
Wang's training as an art director in this tradition is very evident in The
Monkey Kid and, though the film was obviously shot with virtually no 
budget, it is full of detail and complex compositions that reveal the 
beauty of everyday objects and venues.

    I don't know when this film will be in general release, but keep an eye
out for it. It's very much worth your attention.

    For the WMNF Women's Show this is Linda Lopez McAlister on Women
and Film.

    Copyright 1996 by Linda Lopez McAlister.  All rights reserved.

Linda Lopez McAlister is professor of women's studies and philosophy
at University of South Florida in Tampa, FL.