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Fang hua (2017)
An Epic, Yet Intimate Look into the Youth of the Cultural Revolution
A sprawling story taking place during and after the Cultural Revolution in China mainly following three characters of a theatre troupe (Liu Feng, He Xiaoping, Suizi).
The film does not directly condemn nor does it fully praise this tumultuous dark time in Chinese history. Instead, as the title intimates, the film focuses on the relationships between the young troupe members and the transition from youth to adulthood. In this way, this film reminds me of Jiang Wen's, "In the Heat of the Sun".
The scenes of the girls bullying the main character and new member, He Xiaoping, rang with such authenticity and personal pain. The stories of Suizi and Xiaoping's fathers that were "rehabilitated" are heartbreaking as well. This might be because these scenes may have come from author Yan Geling's personal experience (she was also a dancer in a performance troupe). I personally appreciated the female perspective, though the film's gaze is somewhat male, (director is Feng Xiaogang), it felt as if I was peeking behind the curtain of the women's locker room, not for perverted reasons, but to see another world of intrigue I'm unaware of.
The more epic scenes of war did not ring as true and seemed a bit overly patriotic too be honest. I wonder if the film did not have to go through Chinese censors how it might've been different.
Regardless, the film does not shy away from the failures of the Cultural Revolution and portrays the horrors of war vividly. Be careful, there are a lot of shaky camera, handheld, steadicam movements throughout the film, so if you get close seats, you're likely to get motion sick.
As the film ends, the tone of the film begins to regain it's authenticity particularly in the relationship between Liu Feng and Xiaoping. Their story is equally tragic yet hopeful and full of love. When Xiaoping finally asks Liu Feng her question, it's sweet and heartbreaking.
The film worships those young carefree days, at times too excessively with it's montages and emotional music, but at the same time it shows how much heartache is experienced during those times. That's part of the beauty of youth, that heightened sensitivity to the whole spectrum of emotion: love, anger, longing, hope. It may be why I'm also kinda over it.
Some middle sections of the film meandered and I felt could've been shortened. Overall, I enjoyed following the story of these youth and seeing the mishap of their relationships.
Side Note: Watching this film, I realized how alien this world was to me. Growing up in the U.S., I've also felt certain moments of this alienation when watching the movies here as an Asian American. This gives me further inspiration to pursue telling my own personal stories.
One Punch Man: Wanpanman (2015)
One Punch to Rule them All
The concept, an invincible hero that can defeat anyone with one punch, turned me off to the series initially. It's the same reason I'm not a fan of Superman, he's too powerful and it's boring.
However, what's fun and keeps me interested in One Punch Man (OPM) are: 1. humor: the comedy and one liners in this series are hilarious (e.g. Genos as modern art). Since this show was initially a satire, observing the series as such makes it much more enjoyable. It uses tropes and expands on them or pokes fun at them: what if a person was all powerful, then he'd be extremely bored. Also, Saitama is essentially a Goku character and the show doesn't hide this" hero to come and save everyone" trope, but lays it out.
2. the hope of a villain that can take more than one punch: Boros and Garou are the only two known characters to be in this category and I'm curious to see what the fight between Garou and Saitama would look like, even though we all know whose going to win.
3. side characters: these characters are not invincible and have their own backstories and enemies that adds to the drama and action of the show. When these characters fight or take up screen time, I get pulled in because there's no longer that promise they'll really survive and they also have their own demons.
Still, the show gets the 8 only because it's just a fun show and doesn't really delve deeper into the message it tries to give or get even more meta on it's genre. If it explored moral themes and made even more fun of its genre, it would help.
Ting che (2008)
Every Building Has It's Stories
Actually this film was filmed in Taiwan, not China. And just to rebut a point made by the previous reviewer, there are many films that come out of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan that are not Kung Fu films (for example all the films made by the great Taiwanese director Edward Yang).
What's good about this film is that it shows us that in any given building or city section, there's a wealth of interesting people and stories to be heard. The interconnection of these different lives seen through the perspective of Chang Chen's character (and here I agree with the previous reviewer) gives us a microcosm of life, particularly of the lower echelon of society that are trying to make ends meet, in Taipei.
Also the naturalistic acting by the characters make it all the more believable even in the face of some of the ridiculous situations that arise. A good film, gets my recommendation.
Qing hong (2005)
A Rare Film with Great Performances
Qing Hong, 青紅 is a film that captures this strong innocence and sadness that is rarely seen in modern films these days. When I first watched the film I thought the father (played by AnLian Yao, 姚安濂) was a bastard. But on the second viewing, and knowing the course of events, I understand more of why he is the way he is. AnLian Yao's performance was also striking and effective. YuanYuan Gao 高圓圓 portrays Qing Hong seemingly effortlessly and with a melancholy that is heart wrenching. She has this beauty that isn't forced and shines on screen.
I liked how the rich historical backdrop of the movie played second to the emotional lives of the characters involved. Though the times may be different now, the characters still speak clearly to me the same pain and hope that exists today.
This film was truly enjoyable to watch.
Ai qing lai le (1997)
Response to Reality
This film, like Chen's first film "Tropical Fish", presents to us a series of situations that border on the line of reality and fantasy. What's great about this film, and "Tropical Fish", is that the situations are just real enough to make them believable and so full of child-like optimism that you can't help but fall in love with those involved.
Chen Yu Hsun (陳玉勳) I believe has a full understanding of how hard reality can be, and I believe that his films, however idealistic, are an answer to that reality: never stop dreaming even when the going gets tough.