Entertainment

‘Unmade In China’ review

Gil Kofman has an interesting and funny story to tell in his documentary “Unmade in China.’’ Too bad he spends more time talking about himself than detailing his misadventures in Xiamen, China, population 3.67 million.

Kofman goes to that Communist land to direct and write a film in a language he doesn’t speak (Mandarin). But his biggest problem is dealing with corrupt Chinese censors. They rewrite the script and makes changes in cast, crew and locations without consulting Kofman. They insert a puppy-torture scene into the movie, which previously made no mention of dogs. They assign Kofman a new cinematographer, who promptly flies to Beijing, never to be heard from again. To top it all off, Kofman doesn’t get paid.

Funny stuff. Then why does Kofman, who co-directs with Tanner King Barklow, insist upon making the movie mostly about himself? He gets into nearly every frame, often in closeup. He says goodbye to his wife and daughter. He flirts with women on the street in China. He kvetches loudly into his cellphone. He looks for a copy of his previous feature at a Chinese video store. There are even superfluous scenes from a talk he once gave at a film festival. Enough already!