Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with our main man in Chi-town, Capone. He's seen THE YEAR OF THE YAO, the doco on basketball superstar Yao Ming. I know nothing about sports and only know Yao from those "Yo!" "Yao!" commericals, but I trust Capone's tastes and if he says this is a good flick then I'll definitely take a gander! Here's Capone!
Hey all, Capone in Chicago here with something of a plea to New Line Cinema. Believe me, New Line doesn't owe me or anybody else anything after the last few years. The company has done a fine job keeping me entertained at three Butt-Numb-a-Thon's, so I'm not complaining. But I'd be remiss in my duty if I didn't put in a personal plea to New Line to release a wonderful film profiling one of the sports world's more fascinating characters, Yao Ming, the 7-ft. 6-in. Chinese basketball players who has spent part of his year since 2002 being the Houston Rockets center. My plea to New Line is this: please release THE YEAR OF THE YAO. It's a sport movie for people who aren't that into sports but really appreciate great documentary filmmaking.
The movie was supposed to open right around now, but right before the release date, New Line yanked it "indefinitely." Why, or lord, why? They had to screenings of it in Chicago in the last couple weeks, including one sponsored by an influential group from our Chinatown. One of the directors was on hand as was one of the producers; the after-film Q&A was lively; but when it came time to talk about distribution, the filmmakers were dumbstruck. I literally found out the film had been pulled as I was walking into the theatre. I'm not looking for an explanation; I simply want those outside of the Houston area (where the film is playing currently) to have the opportunity to see this great, quirky little movie.
THE YEAR OF THE YAO begins with the NBA draft in which Yao was the first-round pick by Houston, but its the filmmakers' focus on Yao's life before even coming to America that is its strongest feature. Yao had been a certified superstar in China since his early teens, so representing his nation in the United States literally put the weight of 1.2 billion on his shoulders. More than most other NBA players, the pressure and scrutiny placed on him and the attention paid to him was greater than most could imagine. It didn't help that he knew almost no English when he arrived in the United States and that his translator, Colin Pine, has never professionally translated for anyone before meeting Yao at the airport.
Despite all of the outstanding footage of Yao on the court, it's the relationship between Yao and Pine that operates as the heart of this film. Yao is a painfully shy man who even had trouble in his own country dealing with the attention and media coverage he received. So when the Western press gets a hold of him, forget about it. Yao almost totally shuts down from fear. Pine, not exactly the most expressive guy either, is unexpectedly saddled with the extra responsibility of pulling Yao out of his shell. Some of my favorite scenes are of Pine and Yao shopping for music and video games at Best Buy, with Pine attempting to explain the missions of all the games.
The chronicling of his first season is a thing of wonder (the film was financed in large part by the NBA, so getting clearances for the game footage wasn't a problem). The struggle Yao has simply learning the physicality of American basketball in his early games is apparent. He also has trouble understanding the Rockets' playbook and communicating with his teammates (although this he picks up faster than anything else). It isn't long before Yao is playing in top form and eventually coming face to face with his most obvious rival Shaquille O'Neal, whom we see in news footage unleashing a string of nasty racist remarks against Yao after being asked about him just before their first on-court meeting.
Some might complain that the film lacks any insight into the mind of Yao, but I disagree. At worst, the insight is harder to spot than it might be for any other NBA player, but Yao certainly isn't any other player. There's a story in his silence, and the directors Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern do a fine job giving us the modern Chinese history that is such a huge part of Yao's maturity. They also do great work capturing the small moments in Yao's life where he begins to open up a bit and even make fun of himself a little in commercials and print ads for Visa Check Card and Macintosh. I think there was a deliberate attempt to edit and pace the film differently than the standard sports profiles you might see on ESPN.
Yao doesn't seem like a complicated man. I doubt he's particularly profound even to those to whom he's closest. Instead, he is a textbook example of an ordinary man placed in extraordinary circumstances thanks to his special talents as a basketball player. He was clearly unprepared for the level of responsibility he reached or to be the most popular man in his own country since Chairman Mao, but he's dealing with it with the help of some very close, reliable people. THE YEAR OF THE YAO is a film well worth releasing and seeing. Come on New Line, if you have the guts to dump MONSTER-IN-LAW on us, you can give Yao Ming a shot.
Capone
email: Hey ladies! Email Capone here with your favorite brand of femine hygene products... He's curious!
