‘The Movie Emperor’ Review: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Red Carpet | Toronto
The Movie Emperor is a satire that wastes no time in showing its presence. We open with a group of crew members preparing the red carpet for the upcoming Hong Kong Film Awards. As a cart unwittingly drags a piece of the red carpet away, we are introduced to Andy Lau’s character, whose first name is just the letters of his real name rearranged. It’s a perfect setup.
Dany Lau (Lau) is a successful, prestigious actor. But like many of the greats, he is nearing the end of his career and is still hungry for more, trying to keep himself relevant. After all, he’s been advised that in today’s Internet meme culture, you either get with the times or you fade away. Dany, however, is a stubborn arrogant man who refuses to budge. Every opportunity, from a feature film to a commercial, he stresses the importance of an actor to do “serious work.” Just as the original Chinese title of the film – 紅毯先生 – suggests, he is Mr. Red Carpet, and he lives for fame and recognition. Whether it is from the brilliant screenplay or Lau’s impeccable sense of comedic timing, we shift back and forth between laughing at Dany and agreeing with him.
Like the best of comedies, The Movie Emperor is unapologetic when it comes to making fun of the industry and its celebrity culture. – Writers – name drop a famous actor or director in service of a joke, with real criticism underneath. Every time, the joke lands, and it’s a difficult balance to get right. Director Ning Hao embraces the absurdity of what’s being said, as if tapping into a secret the whole industry knows (that’s not that secret) – we know you know this is all just a little bit pretentious. Just a bit. Maybe we oughta all get off our high horses.
Dany, however, insists. Even if you present the self-deprecating joke to him, it would likely fly over his head. He’s a serious actor who doesn’t get off his high horse. Instead, he rides one and praises himself that it is “true art” because he and the animal actor are both pulling off a true stunt in front of the camera. I mean, Tom Cruise and Jackie Chan do it, so he should too!
Seeing the current trend of how actors win awards and how films successfully get into festivals, Dany takes on an incoming project where he plays a peasant. He is willing to do whatever is necessary to make a good work of art. Not only does he bring in late millennial investors – who have no actual interest in cinema – to fund the project, he decides to immerse himself at a pig farm in order to get into the mindset of a peasant. Maybe he’ll even keep a pig as a pet! Nevermind the hassle in taking care of one! Lau not only continues to cement his place as a Hong Kong legend in cinema, but he strolls right in and delivers a comedic performance like no other. He plays Dany so seriously, so straight, that nearly every moment with him is hysterical. It’s not far off from having a dream and randomly seeing Nicolas Cage.
But underneath each joke is a clear scathing critique of wealth and social status. Dany dips his foot into “normal lives” just enough, in a way that only benefits him. Slowly but surely, we see each incremental decision he makes come back to bite him or the filming crew. The investors, for example, propose changes to the movie while they’re on the shooting set. We can see it clearly on the director’s face, as well as Dany’s, that the suggestions are stupid and they make no sense in the scene. But they’re the ones with the money, so what can you do? It seems like the process of making any movie comes with a ton of caveats and compromises, and at any point, the production can snowball out of control and no one’s got a steady grip on it. Though extremely entertaining, it is a stark showcase of how volatile the film industry is. For those in charge, making a movie is an enormous amount of pressure in the decision-making, which only worsens if you’re a movie star who is constantly gawked at. Not only must you choose your words carefully, but it seems as if the cameras are always watching you.
As the film progresses, it becomes clear and inevitable that if we are to talk about the film industry and celebrity culture, then we must talk about cancel culture. But a lesser script would side with Dany completely and shrug off the subject matter entirely. But the film isn’t making fun of cancel culture, it’s making fun of how it could be so easily avoidable if egotistical people just learn how to apologize correctly. We can sit and laugh at how these circumstances unfold. For people in the industry, these jokes may feel all too familiar. Like the best satires, the jokes are funny because there is a real anxiety underneath.
If there is one thing Ning Hao gets right in The Movie Emperor, it’s the disappearance of the movie star in the Internet age. The story may center around an actor who sees himself above all others, but it is a clear portrayal of an entire ecosystem that seems like it’s always on the verge of destabilizing. As much as it is about the thousands of below-the-line people who feel the consequences of above-the-line actions, the film explores how artists (especially famous ones) must reckon with the next generation, who consume and produce information at a million miles a second. Just like the striking image of Andy Lau learning to ride a hoverboard suggests, you either learn fast and keep your balance or you fall off.
Grade: A-
This review is from the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
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