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This film reminded me an awful lot of that story from Jenna Jameson who
talked about being grilled and debated with by Bill O’Reilly on his
show, and yet once the cameras stopped rolling he asked to take a look
at a few of her movies on DVD. Clevaria gets the fascination with
pornography, and from the fans who rabidly follow other stars, right
down to conservatives who protest it, people are just fascinated with
porn, period, and Clevaria understands that by his exploring that with
his feature length mock documentary about fictional porn star Han Sum,
and his controversial but landmark porn “Measuring Up: The Erotic
Samurai.” Clevaria doesn’t just show the sheer idiocy of fanaticism, but
he also puts on show the real appeal of pornography and the mystique
porn stars give to the general masses in spite of the obvious allusions
they create.
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“The
Orientation of Han Sum” is not so much a biography about the
fictional performer, but the aftermath of his attempts at
directing and starring in porn and defying all clichés of
the normal porn star by being Asian, short, and bearing an
awfully large penis. This inspires a viciously devoted fan
club filled with horrifyingly loyal women who devote
themselves to the man and analyze his one film endlessly,
and a protest from people who insist that he’s a menace
because he’s too short to be a porn star. |
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While the film is
first and foremost a comedy, Claveria provides an interesting commentary
about porn and features actual porn industry professionals like Seymour
Butts who has a decent appearance, Sophie Dee who had a very close but
brief friendship with him while he learned the tricks of the trade, and
Mari Possa who battles with a director attempting to mimic Sum’s
directing style. Claveria doesn’t hesitate to show the absurd and it
works on many occasions, from utterly absurd commentary about Sum’s
film, to the insane battles his fan club often has in attempts to
compete for his love.
Clevaria’s mock
documentary is sadly a film that’s just hit or miss in the end. I really
wanted to love “The Orientation of Han Sum,” but instead I found myself
confused to what the entire purpose of the commentary provided was
supposed to be telling us. Was it just an outright lampooning of porn
and conservative America, or was Clevaria actually trying to tell us
something and provide some commentary? Was it both cases? I could never
really differentiate what he was attempting to get across, but surely
enough, “The Orientation of Han Sum” never quite gets to where it wants
to be in terms of comedy. The weaker points of the movie are the
interviews with the Conservative protestors working to protest the
popularity of Han Sum. Not only do the comments here fall flat, but I
never really gained any interest in their sub-plots. Their tedious
presence is hammered home in an unfunny and overwrought finale where
they protest for five minutes, and explain why short people should be
protested, not to mention an odd and unusual closer to the Han Sum fan
club, all of which just never sparked a single laugh for me and really
should have quit while it was ahead.
Though a little
overlong and hit or miss on some occasions, “The Orientation of Han Sum”
is a funny and clever mock documentary about our fascination with
pornography, and the effect one person can have on so many people. Claveria has a lot of talent and he’s only beginning to show us what
he’s capable of; I look forward to more from him.
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