BEHINDWOODS COLUMN

One does not associate China with champagne, fashion and stilettos. So when the movie Tiny Times hit theaters, there was widespread controversy. The state declared the youth in the movie as callous and ambitious. The self sacrificing Maoist era had given way to the socialists who wine and dine.

Tiny Times is about four girls - Lin Xiao, Gu Li, Nan Xiang, Tang Wanru. One of them, Lin Xiao, lands an internship in a leading magazine M.E. The editor in chief (the Taiwanese-Welsh actor Rhydian Vaughan) is a ruthless task master who has a glass fetish. Like in all mainstream movies, there is romance, tragedy, friendships and drama. There is not much a plot line yet as the movie ambles along one cannot help but wonder the authenticity of the glossy outlook portrayed.

In this Devil wears Prada meets Sex and the city (with only the city) amalgamation, one cannot miss the declaration that Guo Jingming, the movie’s director, is itching to make. The golden age of China is here and now. Therefore this coming of age drama is not about nostalgia or reminiscing the past. It sticks to the present and charges ahead in the fast lanes of Shanghai. China has captured the worldwide arena with aplomb. Yet we know very little about this super power and the movie offers only a bird’s eye view of the current generation. It is therefore puzzling why the movie raked up a controversy.

The movie itself wallops in the lifestyles of the rich and the entitled. This would be a pipe dream for the common man. Yet the Chinese government condemned the materialistic content. The debate was around the movie’s economic and social value rather than the content and script. Although most of the detractors of the movie have reversed course to support the movie to condemn the state control of media, there are still voices that weigh against this mad pursuit of fashion labels and lavish lifestyles.

With all this hoopla surrounding Tiny Times, Guo Jingming has decided to release its sequel well ahead of the planned date. As the conversation surrounding the movie heats up, Guo realizes that even bad publicity is good for the box office.

Tiny Times is the perfect fix for all those looking to learn more about China. There are undertones of bureaucracy but the movie sticks to the turbo charging entrance that China is making into commodity driven capitalism. Tiny Times is best when it captures Shanghai as it is now - littered with skyscrapers, decked with malls and the allure of a big metro.