I could go on some spiel right now, but let’s be real: we’re going to be talking about “Mulan” this week. Nobody wants to counter-program against it and most streaming services are backing off this week when it comes to new major releases. There are several controversies to discuss regarding it, and they’re all worth addressing.
We’ll go in order: new series first, then movies, then documentaries. Just be aware that with fewer releases and a lot to discuss about “Mulan”, that one film is going to take up about half this week’s article:
SERIES
Away (Netflix)
showrunner Jessica Goldberg
“Away” features Hilary Swank as an astronaut commanding the first crewed mission to Mars. It wouldn’t be a space adventure without things going wrong along the way. “Away” also balances this against the struggles her family faces during her years spent away from them.
Showrunner Jessica Goldberg started as a playwright, and has since written and produced on “Parenthood” and “The Path”, as well as directing and showrunning on the latter.
You can watch “Away” on Netflix with a subscription.
The Sounds (Acorn)
showrunner Sarah-Kate Lynch
The story of a Canadian couple in New Zealand should be about tourists and locals taking turns saying, “I’m sorry, didn’t see you there,” after bumping into each other. Yet “The Sounds” is about the disappearance of a woman’s husband just after he signs a major business deal. You see, the sustainable fishery he’s started might not be so sustainable. Locals oppose it, the deal seems to contain more than it appears, and nobody can figure out if Maggie’s husband is missing or dead.
Showrunner Sarah-Kate Lynch previously wrote on Australian TV show “800 Words”.
You can watch “The Sounds” on Acorn TV with a subscription.
MOVIES
Mulan (Disney+)
directed by Niki Caro
“Mulan” is Disney’s latest live-action adaptation of one of their animated properties. The story follows a woman who disguises herself as a man in order to fight in the army. The $200 million production marks the largest budget ever afforded a film directed by a woman. More than 50 films by men have exceeded that mark. When Zack Snyder has directed three times the number of $200 million films than all women have, you’re doing it wrong.
Of course, 2020’s “Mulan” comes with a heap of controversy. Director Niki Caro is one of those few directors who never makes a bad film. The New Zealand director burst onto the scene with “Whale Rider”, her second feature in 2002. Movies like “North Country” and “McFarland, USA” – not to mention downright astounding work on “Anne with an E” – have only solidified just how good she is.
At the same time, she’s a white director telling another culture’s story within the framework of that culture. Similar criticism followed “Whale Rider”, a Maori story she adapted (both as screenwriter and director) from Witi Ihimaera’s book. While Ihimaera approved of the choice, and the film is generally perceived as treating Maori culture respectfully, the question of why a Maori filmmaker wasn’t chosen is still valid (Caro pointed this out at the time as well).
Disney did pursue Taiwanese director Ang Lee and Chinese director Jiang Wen to direct “Mulan”, but after they fell through, it’s not as if those are the only two directors that region of Asia has to offer.
That controversy has gotten somewhat lost in comparison to star Liu Yifei being quoted as supporting the brutal police occupation of Hong Kong. Pro-democracy protesters have been fighting for Hong Kong to retain a number of civil rights, and the 2019-20 protests were sparked when the Hong Kong government attempted to pass a bill that would have allowed extradition to China. This risked Hong Kong’s relative autonomy and becoming subject to China’s heavily criticized legal system.
In response to protests, Hong Kong police have regularly assaulted pro-democracy activists. There have also been allegations of police disappearing and murdering protesters. Liu’s support of the police spurred a Boycott Mulan movement in response, though it’s difficult to know if this boycott movement will extend outside the spheres of certain social media platforms. One of the core demographics for “Mulan” is families who may not have even heard about the controversy.
In an interesting move, “Mulan” also experiments with a new releasing strategy. Not only will viewers have to be Disney Plus subscribers, they’ll also have to pay another $30 on top of this to access “Mulan” right now. Viewers will then be able to access the film as long as they keep their Disney Plus subscription, so it’s not just a brief rental.
Charging $20-30 during an initial rental/purchase window isn’t anything new for films that would’ve hit theaters during COVID-19. Invariably, they become less expensive to rent a few months later, and/or become accessible through a basic streaming subscription. It seems reasonably fair – this approach mirrors the cost of 2-3 cinema tickets and assumes that many renters will be families. So what’s different this time?
This approach generally hasn’t layered a theater-level pricing on top of a pre-existing subscription cost. Disney is trying to bank on enough demand that they can double dip. First you need the subscription, and then you need a $30 purchase point on top of it. Is this fairer to do for a $200 million film? My greater worry is risking it becoming normalized for all the $50 million movies and eventually shoestring-budget indies out there.
You can watch “Mulan” on Disney+ with both a subscription and $30 extra spare cash.
Kandasamys: The Wedding (Netflix)
directed by Jayan Moodley
You don’t see a lot of films about Indian South Africans in the U.S. In fact, it’s not really widely taught here that South Africa is home to 1.3 million people of Indian descent. This is the result of enslavement of South Asian peoples from the 1600s-1800s, later programs of indentured labor, and then immigration. This all combined into a number of Indian communities growing in South Africa, often around the coastal city of Durban.
Director Jayan Moodley brings a stand-alone sequel to her 2017 film “Keeping Up with the Kandasamys”. The plot centers on a big wedding and the often controlling desires the different families have about the shape of it.
This is Moodley’s third film, and both “Kandasamys” films have been successful releases in South Africa.
You can watch “Kandasamys: The Wedding” on Netflix with a subscription.
DOCUMENTARIES
Love Fraud (Showtime)
directed by Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
This is a four part docu-series about the search for Richard Scott Smith. Using a range of aliases, he instigated relationships with women online. He’d advance each relationship as far as he needed to then steal substantial amounts of money from them. As this caught more attention and former partners and their families tried to track him down, he eventually disappeared.
Directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady are responsible for some of the most important documentaries of the last two decades. They most famously teamed together for “Jesus Camp”, covering a camp that trains children to become the next Billy Graham. They also directed “The Boys of Baraka”, “Detropia”, and “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You”, which focused on the famed TV writer’s activism.
Grady tends to direct almost exclusively with Ewing, while Ewing has branched off from time to time, such as with the upcoming “I Carry You With Me”, about a gay Mexican couple who emigrate to New York. The two are also finishing a yet-to-be-titled documentary that examines the threats and intimidation tactics used against journalists.
Part of the reason I write this feature is because the success of women directors rests in part on some of them becoming household names. There’s no woman director that people in the U.S. regularly bring up in the same conversation as Spielberg, Scorsese, Cameron, etc., despite there being women who absolutely belong in that conversation. And I get it – maybe this isn’t a wise point to bring up in the documentary section, where there’s less interest, but screw it – Ewing and Grady are two names you should know and who absolutely deserve to be in those conversations.
The first episode of “Love Fraud” premiered on August 30, and there will be a new episode released every Sunday through September 20.
You can watch “Love Fraud” on Showtime with a subscription (the first episode is available free).
Take a look at new shows + movies by women from past weeks.
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Gabriel Diego Valdez 