Unless you’ve been in a coma the last couple of years or so, you could not have failed to note the rise of a young Chinese basketball star in the NBA. Chosen by the Houston Rockets as the first pick in the NBA 2002 draft, Yao Ming’s towering frame of 7 foot 6 inches guaranteed him instant recognition wherever he went.

The Year of the Yao follows the young rookie as he feels his way through his first season with the Rockets, from the time he leaves Shanghai, China, in 2002 (the theatrical release is considerably late) to the end of the season seven long months later.

The documentary from filmmakers Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern takes its angle from Colin Pine, a young rookie interpreter who lived in with Yao Ming and his parents from day one, helping to smooth the way with reporters, coaches, teammates and fans alike. At 29 years old and uncertain whether he wanted to start law school, Colin threw caution to the wind and indulged his love of the Chinese language by partnering the basketball sensation that is Yao.

Through the course of their season together, replete with minor mishaps (such as Colin’s cell phone ringing during a televised interview), Colin initiates Yao into the culture that is America-- shopping for computer games at Wal-Mart, playing computer games at a video arcade, sampling fast food and explaining ‘road rage’ to the gentle giant. These two young men develop a friendship based on mutual respect and trust, and it is very much through the interaction of these two that we see Yao as the amiable, modest, intelligent and diplomatic person that he is.

We cringe with Colin when Yao fumbles his first game with the Rockets, and we cheer him on as he comes into his own, disproving those naysayers who called him soft and doubted his ability to play the aggressive style of American pro basketball.

Yao had many difficulties to contend with, not least the language and the culture. As Colin explained, basketball has a language all its own. There’s a whole spiel of terminology that Yao Ming had to decipher and understand before he could even begin to play the way he was being asked to. Basically, he had to adapt his game to that of the NBA’s. He had to acclimatize to a different country whose culture was very much alien to him. He was very conscious of not wanting to let people down and he knew he had to live up to his billing as the number one draft pick.

And perhaps the hardest thing of all, he had the hopes and dreams of an entire nation resting solidly and unremittingly upon his shoulders. His every move--and you can tell from his face that he’s painfully aware of this--was being scrutinized by millions of people. An older and more experienced man would balk, and there he was, a 22 year-old rookie who had been the darling of his country, openly criticized by Charles Barkley, among others, and all but humiliated in his first game of his first season.

But as Yao adapts to his new environment (overwhelming and frenetic as it must have been) and his understanding and command of English grow, his confidence and performance likewise improve. It is a joy to watch him show what he is capable of on the court, and his millions of adoring fans the world over are not shy to show their affection and support for him.

Outside his game, the media frenzy is perhaps inevitable. Being as tall as he is, the poor kid has no chance of not being recognized anywhere in public. He is mobbed everywhere he goes, and as the season progresses, you can see the exhaustion plain on his face.

The last game of the first season, billed as a head-to-head with Shaquille O’Neal, the center for the Los Angeles Lakers and a dominant player in the league, is whipped into a media frenzy as Shaq challenges Yao boxer-style, in a hilarious parody of Bruce Lee. Yao was diplomatic enough to meet the challenge with his trademark modest and dignified good humour, yet without upsetting those who considered Shaq’s challenge as disrespectful or in poor taste. A fan at the game had the last word, holding up a placard that said, ‘Yao will chop suey Shaq-Fooey!’

As can be expected of a documentary financed by the NBA (produced by NBA Entertainment), this is very much a commercially oriented film meant to promote NBA basketball to a targeted audience. Not to put too fine a point to it, China is a land of untapped potential, a market of infinite possibilities where the NBA is concerned, and Yao Ming’s stardom is the key to that venture.

Critics have called the documentary less than insightful, a ‘fluff job, designed to build a myth around their new icon, while leaving more sensitive issues like race, politics, and money sitting on the bench’.

Yes, we are given a very much NBA version of affairs, which by definition would be heavily skewed on the marketable side of things, as opposed to a deep and incisive account of Yao Ming’s life as a player straddling two countries and cultures, his thoughts and opinions on various aspects of his changed life, what inspires him, and so on.

But the documentary is eminently watchable, with its central character extremely easy to root for. As a fan put it (and I’m paraphrasing here), here’s a guy with a work ethic and determination come to show these lazy millionaires how it’s done. Fresh blood invigorates, and I think Yao Ming’s presence has injected energy, excitement, and above all, dignity, into a game where players who earn far too much live a bling-bling lifestyle that’s nigh on offensive.

The end of the documentary shows Colin bidding Yao Ming farewell at the airport at the end of the first season. It’s a touching scene, made more so when Colin reflects on Yao Ming’s almost inevitable destiny as a basketball player (his height, and his parents having played basketball for their country in their youth). I’m left wondering what Colin will do once Yao Ming outgrows him. I would imagine that whatever venture Colin takes on next, the friendship between him and Yao Ming would exert a lasting influence on him.










Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4