NINA WU BARKS AT THE MOON

Alas, Nina Wu is a film that extrapolates the misogyny of the film industry. Furthermore, what takes place in a victim’s mind when they go through this dreadful experience. For sure every situation or incidence is different. Ever since the rise of the #MeToo movement and Harvey Weinstein, the truth is not only told but is shown. Wu Kei-Xi acts and is the screenwriter for Nina Wu, which is based on her experiences in the industry.

Having appeared in a past film with director Midi Z, the project was sought thoroughly. Choosing the right genre and narrative to relay to the audience made this film effective rather than aimless. The film is a stab in the dark at the current state of the industry. Although, Nina Wu will give an understanding of the cause and effect of sexual abuse. It is a step in the right direction when it comes to the treatment of women in film and television.

Nina Wu is an at-home-influencer/cam girl who is making spare change by entertaining men online. She gets the call from her agent, played by Tan Chih-Weh, of a role that she needs to audition for. It’s a 1960s spy thriller where she can reach the level of stardom that she has always been striving for. With one exception though, she must be in an explicit threesome scene with full-frontal nudity. The one kicker that Nina Wu has to muddle over but she agrees to the audition and wins the part.

The film jumps back and forth from when she is auditioning to the outcome of the film. This gives director Midi Z more to play shifting from documentary style to a direct cinema film. The outstanding work of cinematographer Florian Zinke makes this blend seamless and surreal. Thus, the focus of the cause and effect Nina Wu’s sexual exploitation derives into a cinematic journey.

There’s a hidden message behind the #MeToo primer of this film and it is the cost of fame. Once Nina gets the role and acts in the film there are a handful of instances where her exploitation takes place.

“They’re not only destroying my body, they are destroying my soul.”

is the line that Nina Wu has to act in her audition and a scene where her exploitation takes place. In a scene reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Nina Wu shoots a scene where she is carrying a knife in an argument with her lover. To the dismay of her director, Shing Ming Shuah, stops the scene in order for her to get it right. He shouts at her after a terrorizing couple of slaps to the face to get the emotion right. After she becomes emotional and traumatic, the director feels that the time is right to shoot the action. The line has more meaning because it is what Wu-Kei Xi feels about being in the industry.

After all the harassment from the film crew, she does come out of the project alive. But the trauma continues to persist for her. She is questionable in the media’s eyes of being in a full-frontal nudity scene. She has visions of a woman following her who is likely to pursue the same stardom as she is. In addition, she also goes back to her family home where her father’s business has gone bankrupt and her mother suffers a heart attack. She also tries to rekindle a relationship with her childhood friend Kiki, played by Vivian Sung, who is a theatre actress for children. But this does not bode well for Nina as her rise to stardom has caused odds with her. They are both not on the same level in their careers at this point.

The film is a prime example of the saying when one door closes, another one opens up. Furthermore, for the saying for every action there is a reaction. Even when Nina Wu begins to enjoy stardom, there is a hefty price to pay. What adds to the trauma of Nina Wu in her nervous breakdown after acting in this spy thriller is her struggle does not stop rather it continues. Where she comes from, her gender and her sexuality have restricted her to only a few choices in life. Those options do not always bear fruit as you see in the study of her character.

The film is a scratch in the surface when it comes to swinging the pendulum for the #MeToo movement. Director Midi Z presents Nina Wu’s harrowing and anxious journey of rising to the top in a misogynistic industry. He shows that there are many moving parts to this type of tyrannical behaviour that shows up from both men and women, unfortunately.

Director Midi Z gives us an example of what type of behaviour has gone on during those Harvey Weinstein type of moments. What he doesn’t show is that there is a win for the vulnerable. He shows at the conclusion of the film that nobody wins in this patriarchal transparent structure within the industry. It’s a sad state of affairs. At the end, it’s irreversible. (No pun intended)