Mark Reviews Movies: NINA WU

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Review by Mark Dujsik | March 25, 2021

At its core, Nina Wu is about the abuse of power and the ways in which people ignore it, excuse it, or twist it. The film was co-written by its star Wu Ke-Xi, playing an actress who endures multiple instances of abuse and violence, simply so she can do the job she wants to. A lot has been revealed about the nefarious and criminal activities of people of power toward women in Hollywood. This film, from Taiwan and about that country's movie system, shows that sexism and misogyny in the entertainment industry have no borders.

Wu plays the eponymous character—the stage name of an aspiring actress. Nina moved from a rural area, where she participated in a local theater company, to the city, where she has had a stalled career of shorts and commercials. Her big break could be a feature—a movie about a spy in the 1960s. The role demands full-frontal nudity and plenty of sex scenes, but Nina's agent (played by Lee Lee-Zen) believes it could be her big breakthrough.

Wu and director Midi Z's screenplay jumps right into the filming process in scenes that intentionally put up a barrier of artificiality. We can see the dolly tracks, for example, as the film's camera pulls away from the shooting of the movie-within-the-movie. The climax of the shoot, when Nina's safety is ignored for a pyrotechnic effect, coincides with the climax of the movie, when we're not certain if Nina's apparent injuries are real or just makeup. An intense scene within the shoot is paused, so that the director (played by Shih Ming-Shuai) can give notes—going far beyond that by choking and slapping his star.

The experience is almost surreal—a frightening depiction of real on-set abuse kept at a distance by the acknowledgement of artifice. As for the rest of the story, it focuses on the fallout of Nina's dreams being fulfilled—journalists only caring about the controversial nudity, Nina losing touch with her roots, a woman who seems to hold a grudge against her, the secret behind flashbacks to a hotel before Nina was cast.

The film, then, is not only about the immediate pain of abuse. In its depiction of uncertain reality, as a victim sees herself a possible villain in her own story, Nina Wu digs into the lingering, scarring psychological effects of that abuse, too.

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