The Year of the Yao

(Adam Del Deo, USA/China, 2004)

Documenting Chinese basketball star Yao Ming’s NBA rookie season for the Houston Rockets, Year of the Yao doesn’t stray too far from the familiar highs and lows typical of almost any rookie regardless of sport.

Director Del Deo elects to film his subjects from a comfortable distance, and as a result we never quite feel as emotionally attached as we should to both Yao and his interpreter Colin, who also serves as the film’s narrator. However, when the director does decide to take his camera into the Rockets’ locker room and practice facility, we are provided with a behind-the-scenes intimacy that is both refreshing and fascinating. This is especially true when Yao’s reserved nature is juxtaposed with some of his teammates’ overwhelming, cocky arrogance. Sadly, such moments of intimacy (and humour) remain all too fleeting throughout the rest of the documentary.

Still, the film’s true triumph is revealed in its subtle yet effective cultural explorations of Yao’s homeland China, and his surprising adjustment to the US’s own unique “brand” of culture (Yao soon finds himself pitching products on TV). These cultural clashes between East and West are by far the most interesting aspects of the film, and seamlessly fuses the sociological with the personal, even if the latter lacks the in-depth intimacy of say, a Hoop Dreams.

While not the in-depth documentary some may hope for, The Year of the Yao still has enough on its surface to satisfy both basketball die-hards and casual folk alike.

Review by:
Gary Porter