RED CORNER

Richard Gere timed the release of RED CORNER for late October when Communist Chinese President Jiang Zemin was busy being wined and dined by President Clinton, making speeches and touring U.S. historical landmarks (including, ironically, Independence Hall in Philadelphia). Although the White House claimed that the illegal contributions the Communist Chinese funneled into President Clinton’s reelection campaign had no influence on U.S. policy, President Zemin was the first Communist Chinese official to be given a royal tour of the U.S.A., capped by President Clinton’s Executive Order allowing China to buy nuclear technology from U.S. companies ( technology which China can then resell to Algeria, Iraq and Iran.

Thus, to highlight the political ramifications of President Zemin’s visit, millions of Americans were given the opportunity to experience a hair-raising look at China’s lunatic criminal justice system and its ruthless repression of human rights, courtesy of their neighborhood movie theater. While not exactly a cinematic masterpiece, RED CORNER is generally well-crafted and engrossing enough to provide its audiences with a much-needed civics lesson.

Richard Gere, a convert to Buddhism and vocal critic of Chinese policies in Tibet, stars as Jack Moore, a slick, smug entertainment attorney who is on the verge of closing a very lucrative deal. He will supply, via satellite, an unprecedented flow of American entertainment into mainland China, assuming that he can convince a group of uptight censors that the programming he intends to import won’t corrupt the local citizenry.

Ultimately, party officials are swayed by his arguments (if not by a wide-eyed viewing of a BAYWATCH-style bikini-fest), which includes an aphorism borrowed from Chairman Mao that such material serves to illustrate the corruption of western cultures. (Ironically, Moore finds out that THE BRADY BUNCH has been vetoed because of China’s ruthless one-child-per-family policy.)

Celebrating his hot deal, Moore flirts with a glamorous Beijing fashion model, who willingly accompanies him to his hotel for a night of free-flowing alcohol and casual sex. This proves to be a major mistake. Early in the next morning, he is jolted out of a drugged stupor to find a roomful of grim policemen, the woman’s corpse covered with his bloody fingerprints and no alibi. With such damning evidence, proving one’s innocence would be hard enough even with Perry Mason on the case, but this is China, and the murder victim happens to be the daughter of a high-ranking military officer. In short order, it becomes abundantly clear that we’re not in Kansas any more, and Moore can forget such minor details as due process, appropriate legal representation and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

In fact, as presented in RED CORNER, the criminal justice system in China seems to have originated in ALICE IN WONDERLAND, where the Queen of Hearts routinely pronounced sentence before beginning the trial. After some rough treatment at the hands of the police, Moore learns why China has such a low crime rate. The job of the accused is to plead guilty and hope for the best, and the court’s motto is, “Leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist.” Trials last a few hours, and usually harsh sentences are carried out within a week. To make matters worse, the local American embassy officials don’t want to ruffle any feathers during sensitive trade negotiations (sound familiar?), so forget about the Marines coming to the rescue.

What about a defense attorney? The state provides one – and his or her job is to make certain no one wastes the court’s time with a not-guilty plea. Fortunately, Moore has been assigned to Shen Yuelm (Bai Ling), an up-and-coming young attorney who at first forges ahead with the usual drill. Through sheer determination, including learning enough of Chinese legal proceedings to invoke a neglected prerogative of the accused to question witnesses, Moore eventually convinces his reluctant counsel that the evidence against him doesn’t add up.

At this point, RED CORNER begins to chug along the track of a conventional whodunit, including ambushes and chases, plot and schemes involving government officials, and even courtroom twists and dramatic confessions uttered just in the nick of time. All of this isn’t nearly as effective as the ongoing depiction of exasperating Chinese court protocols, and the cautious relationship growing between Moore, who gains some much-need humility, and Yuelm, who is becoming increasingly impatient with her government’s entrenched inhumanity. The absence of a contrived romance between them is indeed refreshing, as is their growing mutual respect which ultimately leads each to commit acts of considerable courage and self-sacrifice.

RED CORNER’s impact is enhanced by excellent production design and some subtle but convincing digital effects which seamlessly blend actual views of Beijing with the unfolding drama. According to press materials, the filmmakers went to considerable effort (and some risk) to provide an accurate depiction of Chinese jurisprudence. What remains long after the lights come up is a sober realization that in China more than a billion people continually endure a systematic trampling of individual rights, not only the right to a fair trial, but also to basic freedoms of speech, association and religion. In a way, this should hardly come as any great surprise, given China’s formal and relentless renunciation of God, to whom all people and governments are ultimately accountable and from whom all human rights are ultimately derived.