Harold, Kumar, and the NPH are on a mission not quite from God as they search for a White Castle to feed their buzz
WAVERLY MIDNIGHTS: HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE (Danny Leiner, 2004)
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Harold (John Cho) is a hardworking Asian who is taken advantage of by the men in his office, forced to do their work and have no fun while having no idea how to talk to hot neighbor Maria (Paula Garcés). Kumar (Kal Penn) comes from a family of doctors and is expected to follow in the same direction. But all Kumar likes to do is get blasted on beer and pot and chase girls. So one night he convinces the much more straitlaced Harold that they have to go to White Castle to fill their craving for major munchies. Unfortunately, the nearest White Castle branch is no more, so they set out on a rowdy all-night adventure in search of the next WC, in Cherry Hill, and on the way they get sidetracked by college parties, strange bathroom incidents, the ugliest man in the world, a team of extreme idiots, cops with attitude, and Doogie Howser. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle knows exactly what it is, and it does it extremely well, expertly directed by Danny Leiner, who also brought us the unforgettable classics Dude, Where’s My Car? and Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach. The film also features a bevy of cool cameos, including David Krumholtz as Goldstein and Eddie Kaye Thomas as Rosenberg, Harold and Kumar’s drug-addled sloth friends; Fred Willard as Dr. Willoughby, who has one hell of an interview with Kumar; Ryan Reynolds as a male nurse; Anthony Anderson as a fast-food employee; Christopher Meloni and Malin Åkerman as Mr. & Mrs. Freakshow; and, yes, Neil Patrick Harris as the ultimate Neil Patrick Harris. You’ll start out hating yourself for laughing so much, but eventually you’ll just come around to accepting that this is just a damn funny movie that you understand far too well. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle — which led to a pair of lesser sequels, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas — is screening in a tenth anniversary 35mm print September 19-20 as part of the IFC Center’s Waverly Midnights: High Art series, which continues through November 8 with such other highbrow drug-related fare as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dazed & Confused, True Romance, and Reefer Madness.
The subject of The Green Prince seems like a plotline stolen from an episode of Homeland or a John le Carré thriller, except in this case it’s all very real. Nadav Schirman’s documentary follows what one would expect to be an impossible mission: Gonen Ben Yitzhak, an experienced handler for the Shin Bet, Israeli’s secret police, attempts to “recruit” Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of Hamas’s founders. Writer, director, and producer Schirman, who focused on a Mossad agent in The Champagne Spy and the family of Carlos the Jackal in In the Dark Room, somehow persuaded Gonen and Mosab to go on camera and share the details of their compelling story. Gonen tries to convince Mosab to turn on his friends and relatives, Hamas, and everything he believes in and start working undercover for Shin Bet. But when Gonen grasps an unexpected moment of opportunity, breaking rules he had always followed previously, leading to his Shin Bet bosses thinking he’s compromised the plan, his move actually ends up bringing Mosab and him closer together, beginning what might even be termed a legitimate friendship. The Green Prince is set up like an intricate game of cat and mouse, built around trust, lies, and the search for the truth. Even though the two men and the filmmakers know how it all ends up, they keep viewers on the edge of their seats as wild episodes are described in detail and raw emotions are revealed, supplemented with archival footage, news reports, and staged re-creations — which feel rather unnecessary. The movie, based on Mosab’s book, Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices, is rather static, mostly cutting between Gonen and Mosab talking to the camera, but it is one helluva story — which, by the way, is being turned into a feature film as well. It’s also not just about Israelis vs. Palestinians, Jews vs. Muslims, the Shin Bet vs. Hamas but about family and the hope of a lasting peace.
Taiwanese New Wave auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien’s masterpiece, The Puppetmaster, is a beautifully poetic exploration of the art of storytelling. The second film of his history trilogy, coming between 1989’s A City of Sadness and 1995’s Good Men, Good Women, the 1993 work employs three unique methods as it traces the life and career of puppeteer Li Tien-lu from 1909 to 1945, during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. Episodes from Li’s life are re-created, beginning even before his birth, as his father sacrifices his family name and takes his wife’s instead at the request of her clan, with the modern-day Li adding voice-over narration. (The film is based on Li’s memoirs.) Hou also uses Peking opera, theater, and puppet shows to demonstrate Li’s skill and to place the film in artistic and historical context. And the eighty-four-year-old Li, who had already been in three of Hou’s films, appears onscreen several times, right on the set, adding an intimate, personal touch to the proceedings. Hou and cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-Bin often let the camera remain still for long periods of time, allowing viewers to decide where to look and what to focus on, as if they were watching a live performance. The film features stunning art direction by Chang Hung and Lu Ming-jin and a lovely traditional score by Chen Ming-chang; the stellar cast includes Lin Chung and Lim Giong as Li, Tsai Chen-nan as his father, Yang Li-yin as his stepmother, Liou Hung as his grandfather, Bai Ming Hwa as his grandmother, and Vicky Wei as Lei Tzu.
