From Variety · Vadim Rizov · · 1m 20s
Wayne Wang's mad old man turns dull
A perverse Tanizaki novel about lust, age and decay somehow becomes a slog in Wayne Wang's return to features.
In brief
A perverse Tanizaki novel about lust, age and decay somehow becomes a slog in Wayne Wang's return to features. Shock alone doesn't carry a film. Wang updates Tanizaki's transgression and still ends up with something inert. Originally reported by Variety.
A premise built to shock
Tanizaki's 1961 novel follows a retiree recovering from a stroke who finds sexual pleasure in his own daughter-in-law. The perversity is the engine.
“a post-stroke retiree derives sexual pleasure from his daughter-in-law”
Tame by 2026 standards
What scandalized readers in 1961 barely registers now. The novel itself is more suggestive than explicit, which leaves an adapter with a problem.
“by the standards of contemporary mores, the 1961 novel isn't particularly explicit”
Wang answers with an opening shot
His fix is to go blunt from frame one: retired Utsugi, played by Lily Franky, masturbating furiously under his desk, then ruefully giving up.
Deliberate tweaks to the text
Wang isn't adapting on autopilot. He redirects Tanizaki for new aims and makes considered changes throughout the script.
“Consciously redirecting Tanizaki for new aims, the film makes thoughtful textual tweaks throughout”
The result falls flat
All that thought produces a film that is counterintuitively dull. Sex and death, the two subjects that should never bore, do.
“the final product is counterintuitively dull”
A tepid return after six years
This is Wang's first feature since 2019, and Fan Bingbing's presence doesn't lift it. The update lands as a missed chance rather than a comeback.
At a glance
Shock alone doesn't carry a film. Wang updates Tanizaki's transgression and still ends up with something inert.
