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Chung Hing sam lam (1994)
An Interconnected Love Story
"Actually, really knowing someone doesn't mean anything. People change. A person may like pineapple today and something else tomorrow."
I remember trying to move on from a girl I desperately liked. I say desperately because in hindsight, I would never have liked that girl all too much. But that doesn't matter, because I still mourned the loss of our relationship for our month. The grief eventually expired. Watching this film, I realized three things: Number one, this is not the film you'll want to watch if you are starting to venture into film. But again, why do I make a subtle nod to my half-assed elitism when I just watch and review movies? Just watch it when you're ready. Don't take my word for it, you will enjoy it if you love film, or if you love romance movies. Not because of the lone fact that it is simply top-tier. Number two, the director, Kar Wai-Wong, really is writing his way into the movie. Every scene in the movie was written the night before the actual shooting. What you get is a character reflection, riddled with a gorgeous cerebral perspective in Hong Kong's Chungking night life, filled with food stalls, crime, and lots of Indians, Pakistanis, and the local Hongkongese selling char siu, rice meals, and chef's salads. There are a number of shots unique to this style of filmmaking. A blurry visual atmosphere, some of the action is somewhat filmed in moving pictures. Number three... I am madly in love with the narrative style each scene brings. The level of intimacy the characters share, along with delectable bites of realizations about love, is a wonderfully crafted element of this film. So let's talk about Chungking Express, and why it is the best alternative-style romance film, ever. Chungking Express is a dreamy take on love and its fleeting cycle, a story about the complexities of an emotion; an emotion that affects every one of us. The movie has two stories, with two cops as our main characters. Despite the "All cops are bastards" ideology all around the world, anyone can relate to the two lovable and charismatically lovesick characters in the film. Plot: The first is a youngster named Qiwu, who, after the breakup with his girlfriend on April Fools', decides to, buy a can of pineapples, all with an expiry date of May 1, 1994, for a month. Reasons? May 1 is his birthday, and his ex loves pineapples. The second one is a cop named cop 663 who seems to find the beauty of personifying every possible object in his house. (Towel? Check. Soap bar? Check. Uniform? Check.) He then enters a relationship with a flight attendant, that of which leaves him abruptly. Both explore a cycle of love, hoping to rekindle their relationship with their exes, only to rediscover that magical feeling with another. Pineapple man falls in love with a lady with a blonde wig, who is a dashingly suave criminal smuggler. She has her own problems as things go south, and she is forced to escape as rival criminals aim to kill her. She and our pineapple man then meet in a bar, both down on their luck, and essentially forming an unlikely connection, until we start the second story. Our second main, cop 663 forms an unspoken relationship with a ethereal, quirky, but graceful waiter who falls in love with him and tries to cheer him up by secretly renovating his home in such awe and wonder for doing so. She is the star of the story, as she imbues the film with such magic, and love, and curiosity for the great question: What is love? What ends up happening is they end up resolving their individual arcs and meet a year later, both in what seems to be their ideal selves, deciding on where to travel. The film gracefully strides on a visual spectrum of lights, logos, slogans, and flashes, while maintaining the intimacy of the Hong-Kong lifestyle, and its mundane simplicity. Love is really a whimsical, yet frustrating emotion to have. Our first character, Qiwu, is in a one-sided relationship. What he feels for his ex is not the same feeling his ex has for him. And that childish yet tragic feeling towards love, is straining. And when he finally gets to experience some semblance of love from another girl, albeit not wholly romantic, he now gains the strength to move on and feel love again from any girl. Anyways, the second one, cop 663, is a love of realness, if substance, because we are shown his memories of his lover, and what love really is for cop 663 was frozen in time when the girl he loves leaves him, and that freeze in his heart has caused him to neglect his well-being, and has made him ignore the condition of his apartment, where he and his lover used to make love to each other. But when the waitress named Faye, enters his life, she renews cop 663's life, as literally shown when he cleans his apartment, and repairs the physical and emotional damage cop 663 gained after the loss of love. When cop 663 finally realizes that Faye loves him, the crux of her character appears. She loves him, but she is not ready for him. She is confused, as shown when she does not show up in their date, and instead, goes to California.
The movie is simply a thematic masterpiece and visual masterpiece. A much more complex and nuanced love story than all others, this begs the question: What is love, for you?
Kaubôi bibappu: Cowboy Bebop (1998)
"A mundane masterpiece, extravagant episodes, A day in the life adventures. A new genre, Cowboy Bebop.
Ratings: 10/10
Honestly, I never saw anything wrong with it. This could easily be top 5 on my favorites list. The episodical nature of cowboy bebop gives it a grand nostalgic feel. After you've watched it of course.
P. S. Episodes 14, up to 26 are spectacular."
This is my previous analysis of Cowboy Bebop on the first time I've watched it. Since then, I have watched dozens more anime, most are lesser in quality compared to this series, and a handful few have since topped Bebop for me. But last August, I may have had a revelation: Cowboy Bebop is the most visual, musical and tonally gorgeous anime of all time. Every technical aspect of the series, from the visuals, to the art style, and that juicy, phenomenal, banger of a soundtrack, is simply perfection. Thanks to Hajime Yatate, and the collective efforts of Sunrise studios, this is one of the greatest tv shows that has graced the 20th century. I don't care if you're some 40 year old elitist who thinks that anime is for kids, or a 14 year old child who is into some random anime like Jujutsu Kaisen, but I think everyone can watch Cowboy Bebop. The characters, themes, and dialogue are all complex, quirky, unique, and break ground for other pieces of medium to come. Spike has a mysterious past, and is explored excellently throughout the series. Jet is a perfect foil to what Spike represents. Faye has a layered backstory, and is a substantial and is a magnificent character. Ed (or Francoisé) is a great, quirky, and a lovable comic relief who gets a proper send off in the story. The ending is heartbreaking, and is a perfect end to all the questions posed by Spike throughout the show. His multi-faceted nature as a laid-back character, doubled down by his past, relates to seeing and perceiving life as a dream. As for me, I wouldn't be who I am today without experiencing Cowboy Bebop.
"I'm not going there to die, I'm going see if I'm really alive."
See you Space Cowboy.
Schindler's List (1993)
Schindler's List: A review No spoiler alert, this is based off of the real life Oskar Schindler.
This movie is a sensitive one, so, take caution.
18+! Nude men and women, and violence.
Schindler's List
Dir: Steven Spielberg (Also directed The Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, and E. T.)
We are greeted by a black-and-white style coloring, which in my opinion, is a better choice for this movie. The violence around is omnipresent in the movie, but you keep your eyes open, for there is something to happen. Enter, Oskar Schindler, a married, wealthy businessman who happens to be selfish, charismatic, and domineering. A womanizer, he spends his time in lavish parties, in the allure of women, watching them dance by the distance, and attracting himself to military officials of the Nazi Party. Opportunuty strikes, and Oskar, as he is, finds a way to earn money in the war; Enamelware. Pots, pans, and cups, to be manufactured by the Jewish employees, and to be managed, by a Jewish accountant, Itzhak Stern. As Oskar observes the Poles, and the Jewish, we feel an eerie sense of normalcy, a mundane feel to the violence that occurs every now and then. If someone so much as fails to show a paper, they die. If you bend a detail as to protect yourself, you die. The tragedy is felt everywhere, as babies cry, toddlers shriek, and children watch in terror, as soldiers of the Nazi party approach. The liquidification of the ghetto is one of the most powerful yet traumatic scenes in the movie, marking the first appearance of the girl in red, a powerful symbol for the innocence of the Jews. The different perspectives in the war is crucial, as every character has a life to live, and we see them getting by, struggling to do so. As a powerful figure in the german military by the name of Amon Goeth appears, a sense of unfiltered violence and carelessness emanates, as he has no regard for the lives he's killed. There is one scene when one of the important characters named Helen details his disregard for the passerby, those he does not detest, nor take pleasure in. The music is stunning, as we are taken aback by the scenes of death, followed by a requiem. The melancholic scenes, with a sense of style, and gravita, as the score reaches out to us. The landscape is jarring, a historic location, filled with blood, despair, and the hope that the war may end soon. The dialogue is one of praise as well. German signs and dialogue is heavily scattered throughout the film, and Nazi propaganda is heard. At one point in the early parts of the movie, we even hear the Nazi anthem. As the film progresses, we then start to see Oskar, feeling a sense of remorse, as he feels the need to protect the Jew workers in his enamel factory. I can also add that this film features one of the best character progressions in any story. An unlikely hero, in the form of a chauvinistic, selfish, and powerful businessman, turn into one of the most important humanitarians in history.
9.5/10
A powerful film about the Holocaust, and a reminder of why we should never ignore the history books.
Nothing could ever top this in the war drama genre. Ever.