Change Your Image
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Reviews
The Concrete Revolution (2004)
Apt Image of Modern China
I had the fortunate experience to watch this film and talk to the director afterward. Guo Xiaolu is an energetic figure who, unfortunately, seems to be in the minority in China when in comes to ideas of cultural preservation. I recently returned from two months of travels there and the reality is all too similar to the film. Everywhere old buildings are still being destroyed while lip-service is paid to China's cultural heritage. The confounding thing about it is that all sorts of regular Chinese that you will meet on the street will go on about the great history of Chinese culture, and then little is done about it. Everything is subsumed by a maniacal drive towards "development". This means that historical buildings are torn down and rebuilt to accommodate tourists. If they aren't rebuilt in concrete then they will be so over-restored that they may as well have been.
Either way, this film is a good depiction of the architectural atrocity that China seems eager to become. It shows the human element that seems so helpless in the face of a tide of concrete. It is good to keep in mind when watching this film a comment Guo Xiaolu made to me, "The Concrete Revolution has already destroyed more than the Cultural Revolution in China." A good satire of this situation, and complement to this film is _The World_ by Zhang Jiake.
Shijie (2004)
The World Park of Modern China
While this film is radically different from Jia's earlier films it still packs the same cultural criticism wallop. A commentary on the urbanization of modern day China, Jia has moved into the slick world of government approved film-making without losing touch with the direction of his earlier films. It is tempting to watch the film superficially and dismiss it as a glossy state approved image. However, from my perspective, what is happening in the film is much more subtle; it is form of art-making that is particular to China and its authoritarian governing systems through history.
Practically speaking China has never enjoyed freedom of expression for its artists and writers. In order to get around censorship that came from absolute monarchies or dictatorships artists and writers would use subtle inter-textual messages. For instance, a line or radical would be left out a character to slightly change the meaning within the text. The head radical might be left out of a character describing the emperor to indicate the writers desire that the emperor be beheaded, or something along those lines. They were small enough messages that sympathizers would pick up on them, but a censor (censors usually not being the brightest or most creative people around) would miss it.
It is my opinion that Jia Zhangke is doing something along these lines with this film. It may not be as subtle as the messages have historically been, but a close reading clearly conveys something the government wouldn't be happy with. The Chinese government would like for the world to see them as metropolitan, glitzy, shiny, and new, so Jia, in this first film of his with government backing, uses cinema-scope, modern techno beats, computer animation and up-to-date electronics. But under the glitz is the reality screaming to get through the World Park facade. It is dirty and personal. There is prostitution, crime, and pirate copiers (maybe the theme here is modern Chinese society, as promoted by the government and big business, that is the pirated copy of the rest of the world). The subsistence living youth can all have cell phones, but for all their text messaging they don't seem to be able to communicate. Basically Jia seems to say that the Chinese youth are headed for a future of oblivion under the current direction of their country. It is hard to disagree with him. But at least he he leaves a morsel of hope in the end of it all.
Gokushiteki erosu: Renka 1974 (1974)
A good portrait of a brave woman
Very much a good watch. Hara's ex-girlfriend Takeda Miyuki is an incredible subject matter as well. Her headstrong ways, while sometimes seeming arrogant, are impressive considering the time and culture in which she was living. Her bisexual relationships, not to mention her interracial child she births, are very brave. She is obviously a very independent. so independent in fact, that she births her half black half Japanese baby all by herself while Hara watches on from his camera and another woman sits next her watching while holding a microphone. While she has this incredible can-do attitude she doesn't make much of it, which makes it all the more impressive.
While one could nitpick at the film for its technical shortcomings-- out of sync sound and blurry shots-- yet in many ways these things lend the film its authentic feeling. It is akin to watching an old homemade film, except the subject-person is more interesting than your family is likely to be.
Magnifico (2003)
A lot of sap and some good cinematography
I can't figure out why people are saying that this film isn't melodramatic, because it really lays on the sap. It follows a formula we've seen before of inspiration and tragedy, all just to get a few cheap tugs at the heartstrings. The story's evolution is not convincing and the dignity of the poor aspect is overplayed for what it is worth.
All that said, there are redeeming aspects. Most notably is the cinematography. The images are all well lit for depth and contrast of cool and warm colors. Also, the camera shots from low angles with wide lenses give an overall visual perspective that rings true as the way a child would see the world. There is also some good scenes between the protagonist and his grandmother and his sister. These three were probably the best actors to boot.
In the end, it is not something worth going out of your way to see though.
Kung fu (2004)
Falls short of what could have been
This film simply lacked the funniness of other much better Steven Chow films like Shaolin Soccer. In Shaolin Soccer the CGI was used to good comic effect whereas Kungfu Hustle uses them more in the "cool" and dazzling aspect of an action film. In fact I would say that this film really is more of an action film than comedy. The funny parts were too far and few between and the over the top action was the centerpiece.
On top of that the story lacks cohesiveness. Maybe this was intended to be spoofing other kungfu film's tendency to wander, but it simply came off as more of the same.
Overall though, there were good action sequences and Chow had two funny scenes. Too bad it didn't carry through.
Doki-Doki (2003)
So good, then it hits the tea.
Everything about this short video was great except *spoiler* for a scene where a man being pursued by an admirer buys two iced teas, making the pursuing admirer wonder via narration who the other tea could be for, only to have it handed to her when she rounds the corner. The scene was painfully predicable and lacking in originality. What made this particularly unfortunate is that the rest of the video was very well done. Texture and space were remarkably well handled to the advantage of the story which was quixotically pleasant. It could have been a 9/10 or even 10/10 without the sappy tea scene. I still rate it at a respectable 8/10 for overall story portrayal.
He ni zai yi qi (2002)
Plodding, Lacking Cohesion, Formulaic, Wooden
This film suffers in the same respect as TEMPTRESS MOON does, a lack of cohesiveness. The film acts like a mash of cinematic moments compelling connection to each other. The very basic plot structure seems to be thrown together on the fly and real emotion is completely lacking in the formulas the audience is made to endure. After seeing this film and have it try and so clumsily grab for some sort of father son emotional chemistry one is left wondering, what was the point of that?
One of the main characters, Professor Jiang, is completely useless. *SPOILER* And then why in the world would this character, who really did nothing for our protagonist, Liu Xiaochun, be in the final (and worst) scene in the Beijing Bei Train Station? The relationships were entirely unconvincing and were not helped by Yun Tang's non-acting. Other than his violin playing, which was admittedly impressive, all he did in his acting was recite lines like so much wood and throw out a few tears here and there. While there is good underacting out there, this is not an example.
Then there was his father, Liu Cheng, whose character flops between a bumbling source of comic relief to the heroic father. There was nothing about the way it was done that made me want to suspend my disbelief. Moreover halfway through Chen Kaige throws himself into the mix, squashing all the previous plot development, with his own role as the strict ego-maniacal professor, presumably to satisfy his own egomania. There's nothing like sitting through a few scenes of Chen Kaige with a fancy photo of Chen Kaige behind him. My advice is this film is best avoided. Instead check out Chen's earlier, and much better, work such as YELLOW EARTH & FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE.
Magnolia (1999)
The type of film that live with you outside the theater.
This is one of the few films that I can say has had a major impact on my non-movie going life (a point I won't even attempt to delve into here). However, after discussing it with many people I now realize that my reaction is not the most common one; I have yet to meet anyone who more that just "liked it OK." I would recommend, though, that anyone who has not seen this film see it alone first, from start to finish. Too many people I've talked to about this film say that they didn't get this scene or that scene. Inevitably I ask them if they saw it from beginning to finish and they always have missed the first few minutes. The problem with seeing it that way is that the stories told in the beginning are absolutely critical to the overall magic of the film. Basically I recommend that it be seen as an uninterrupted whole.