House of Flying Daggers

[review/savour]

Rating: * * * *
MegaStars: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi
Directed by: Zhang Yimou
Country: China/Hong Kong
Programme: Viacom Galas

Song Synopsis: " To speak of things anew/To weep in quiet blue..." - Shawn Philips, Woman of the Land

the line up for rush tickets started before 7:30 AM, 2 hours before the start time. advance tickets were sold out. Zhang’s Hero was number one in the box office in Canada. I liked Hero, but didn’t think it measured up to its hype and was a little pretentious. will House of Flying Daggers disappoint? did Y bring his digicam? was beingboring late again? where was WTF and her dude?

one of the difficulties of watching historical martial arts action/adventure/dramas is the burden of how the genre is perceived in the West. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee good... Hulk bad...) enjoyed critical acclaim and success at the box office, but it also disappointed those who expected something that they haven’t seen before. if you watch these kinds of movies, then you might’ve thought it was really an art house film instead of a wuxia movie. for the wuxia elements, well, maybe you’ve seen it all before.

in this film, Takeshi Kaneshiro portrays local captain Jin with Andy Lau as his partner Leo who are battling the underground rebels of the House of the Flying Daggers. In pursuit of the new leader of the House, Jin goes undercover to charm the captured Zhang Ziyi's blind dancer Mei for the location of the hideout. Instead, he falls in love and we quickly find that Leo, Jin and Mei are ambushed from all sides, on many levels. the Chinese title 十面埋伏, roughly translate as ambushed from all sides, which I think is a whole lot better than the English.

House of Flying Daggers balanced the exciting fight scenes with a luxurious palatte of colours that changed as the scenery changed. as in Hero, Zhang continues to use colour thematically in his scenes, but this time, it's the background that changes. nature reflects the emotional states of the characters, the moral tones of the conflicts, the texture of the twisting plot. this film is not anywhere near as epic as Hero aspired to be, but I think it's precisely this small love story that makes all the sylistic elements a fully workable structural device. it's a beautiful, sumptious movie. the beginning drum and dance scene and the bamboo fight scene were the best!

and Takeshi! oh, I think he's dreamy in this film. the sap I am, I totally believed every smile and tear from him. and I'm not even a Takeshi fan. and while the acting is not quite up to Tony Leung Chi Wai's and Maggie Cheung's standards, who cannot love Zhang Ziyi dressed up like a man? Andy Lau is the only weakness. if only he didn't play Leo like a psycho stalker. as a film, I'd say it really lost a star for the... um... ending... that never ends... (email me for more details if you don't mind a spoiler!). But I was thorougly entertained on an early Sunday morning. For that, I give it full marks! and, yes, Y brought the digicam, WTF & the dude saved our seats, while I went to fetch beinboring again.

@ the movie intro - "I've never got up this early to see a movie!" - Zhang Yimou commenting on the audience's film fest survival skills. No Q&A. :( and turn off pop up blockers to see the official website.

Nobody Knows

[review/bittersweet]

Rating: * * *
Bright Young Stars: Yuya Yagira, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura, Momoko Shimizu, Hanae Kan, You (tv star)
Directed by: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Country: Japan
Programme: Contemporary World

Song Synopsis: "Though she was born a long, long time ago,
Your mother should know." - the Beatles

Yuya Yagira won the Prix d'interprétation masculine (2004) at the Festival de Cannes for his portrayal of Akira, the oldest son who’s left to take care of his three younger sisters and brother while their mother Keiko slides into a new life. like the suitcase that secretly brought the youngest daughter into their new home, their world is sealed from the outside world by their mother’s hopeless and selfish love.

for the complexity of role involved, Yuga Yagira admirably conveys a fragile determination of a child thrust into adulthood. he conveys so much naive wisdom in his eyes that it is heartbreaking to watch the family slowly lose hope while adapting to their helplessness as best as children can. while there may have been other equally deserving actors, he certainly earned his award.

based on a true story, the film moves in a quiet, slow pace and at times can seem almost glacial. it is perhaps about 30 minutes too long, but it is much like Kore-eda's other film After Life, where what happens on screen isn’t as interesting as what goes on in the characters’ heads. to me, this film is primarily about connections, making these connections, the loyalties that binds the connections, the unbreakable connections. the children themselves share the same mother, but not the same fathers. Akira tries to befriend the neighbourhood boys, the youngest son yearns to leave the apartment & see the world outside, the youngest yearns to see her mother, and the oldest girl hides to avoid connecting to anyone.

you can’t help but take away the images of a messy apartment (much like mine on a bad day, sad to say!), the haunting image of the kids walking to and from the convenience store, the suitcase buried as a plane flies from the airport, the sadness in Akira’s eyes. it’s a long journey to the end of the film, but it’s worth it.

an audience member asked in Japanese during the Q&A whether the children’s future was positive or negative. I don’t think the answer was as important as the underlying sentiment of that question. we want to believe that we would know, that we would care, if there were children abandonned in our city.

@ the Q&A - "This was supposed to be my debut film..." - Hirokazu Kore-eda commenting on the 15 years wait before making the film.

je me souviens

[Beauport, Québec]

the motto for Québec is “Je me souviens” or “I remember.” the phrase, I think, is to instill upon the Québecois that they should never forget their roots in this very english North America. unlike Ontario’s license plates motto “Yours to Discover”, “Je me souviens” has a solemnity about it that makes you think on what it means. what do you remember? and what does it mean when you remember those things?

I’m in Québec City for a few days, for a much needed break from work and the life in toronto. Y, beingboring, her colleague and I caught our last film fest film, Vital (****), late at the Isabel Bader theatre on Friday. Y and I hurried back to pack and to sleep early for the 8 hour drive to Québec to visit his mom and her old friend Jcql (who came all the way from Ile de la Réunion!) after a brief mishap with a broken CD player in the rental car, we managed to get into the city in the evening. it’s beautiful here, life a little slower, air a whole lot fresher and cute Quebécois men a little more cute. I’ll try to post the rest of the film reviews before I get back, since we just helped Y’s mom install her DSL connection and I brought my iBook with me. I named my hard drive volume Icy, so I guess my iBook is Icy. it’s a snowy white iBook, so I guess the name kinda suits it.

fittingly, the story of Vital revolves around the main character’s recovery of his memory after surviving a car accident where he lost his girlfriend. (review to follow.) Hiroshi Takagi slowly unravels the mystery of his past through Ryoko's body. the movie is as much about lost memories as it is about lost loves. and so thinking about what I remember here in Québec makes me think of the memories I have of the love and the happiness that I’ve lost. it’s the first time I’ve been back since my breakup with Y. when I look at the Château Frontenac, at the chute de montmorency, the pont de Québec, I would usually feel like I’m returning to a second home. these Québec landmarks now suddenly seem foreign, full of meaning that no longer seem to have the same hold on me. at the marché du vieux port de Québec, I’ve only now noticed the many windows on the roof of the beautiful train station next door.

I want to feel like I’m home again, but when I try to remember the past holidays, the past Christmases, the past road trips with his family, I feel too much pain to want to remember. like the corpse of the girlfriend Ryoko in Vital, each layer of my memories was removed by my own hand, dissecting away the remembered joys that each street, each building, each sound, each smell have on me. to remember who I am here, is to remember the person I’ve been trying to let go these past few months.

I am having a good time, despite the sadness casts by the shadows of this city... and it is good to see momo and jcql and the dogs, rosa and valentin. Y’s beautiful cousin Caroline “du bois” just gave birth to a son Sunday @ 4PM, but has no name yet. everyone is happy with the news and there is still joy and love here. today, when Y got up to use the washroom @ Ashton’s (best poutine in Québec!), momo smiled to me and said again that I can visit anytime, even without Y. visit with beingboring. or just by myself. she and Y are like family to me, even if we’re not together anymore. and so I smile back at her and I remember. je me souviens. merci, momo! je vous aime.

Clean

[review/bite]

Rating: * *
Diva Stars: Maggie Cheung, Nick Nolte, Martha Henry
Directed by: Olivier Assayas
Country: France/UK/Canada
Programme: Viacom Galas

Song Synopsis: "The lights shine clear through the sodium haze." - The Sisters of Mercy

Maggie Cheung won the Prix d'interprétation féminine (2004) at Festival de Cannes for her protrayal of a recovering heroin junkie Emily trying to start over for the sake of reuniting with her son. Nick Nolte plays Albrecht the grandfather who has custody over the child.

subtle would be an understatement to describe the two principal leads' performances. I half-expected a messy Nolte with a deeply controlled Maggie chewing up the scenery. instead, Nick Nolte did a very gentle and understanding grandfather against a very elegant former junkie Maggie. I've always liked Maggie Cheung's intense performances (In the Mood for Love was fab!) and her underlying pain could be seen very clearly in her eyes. and despite the audience laughing upon seeing Nick Nolte, he made me admire his restraint in the film.

that said, the film is so small, so sharply contained in its emotions that the film never seemed to open up. it wasn't terribly convincing. yet, the actors were. a bit of a contradiction, but that's how it seemed to me.

however, WTF, beingboring and I were totally impressed with Maggie's multilingual skills: she spoke English when Emily was in Canada, French in Paris and Cantonese working at the Chinese restaurant. damn. I need to improve my French, so I too can babble so effortlessly. it's too bad Maggie can't sing. ack. please make her stop, I thought. or it could be the song. as they say in Canadian Idol, it's all about the song choices!

fabulously talented Maggie Cheung and ex-husband director Olivier Assayas was available for the Q&A. i forgot to borrow Y's camera.

@ the Q&A - "I would've taken a cheap imitation..." - Olivier Assayas commenting on the miracle of casting Nick Nolte in the movie.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

[review/bite]

Rating: * * * 1/2
Directed by: Mamoru Oshii
Country: Japan
Programme: Midnight Madness

Song Synopsis: "Karma Police/Arrest this man/he talks in maths..." - Radiohead

achingly breathtaking. the sequel to the anime Ghost in the Shell (1995), takes us years after the "Major" disappears into the Net. malfunctioning androids start murdering their owners, triggering an investigation by Batou of Public Security Section 9.

Mamoru Oshii impresses again with stunningly detailed animation, a mix between 2D characters & 3D machinery and backgrounds. i could not stop watching every corner of the screen, be sucked into another world. like the original, this film explores the questions of humanity, machinery, the spiritual, the soul. quotes from Shakespeare and Descartes fly through the dialogue.

I don't expect the sequel to come close to having the same influence as the original. what you see in GITS2 is familiar to anyone who has seen the Matrix or read William Gibson. the influences of cyberpunk literature had on the original GITS is the same as how the original had on the Matrix trilogy. some might find it disappointing, but I thought it was great. too bad the director didn't attend the screening.

@ the intro - "Let's have a two second moment of silence." - Colin Geddes, Programmer, in memory of the demolished Uptown Cinema, which was probably the most popular venue for the Midnight Madness programme.

my squinty eyes are nothing like the sun

[tired]

oh, I could barely keep my eyes opened during the beginning Clean. still recovering from the midnight madness showing of Ghost in the Shell 2" Innocence, I kept thinking I'm getting old!

luckily, I got all my picks, and so did WTF. seven movies in all. not much, but considering I'm still working during the day, I think it's pretty challenging. I swear I will take some time off next year to do this right.

so far, the lines are crazy for the popular movies. people were waiting at 7:30 AM for the chance of a few rush tickets for House of Flying Daggers (****), two hours in advance! Y got up early and was second ticket holder in line. I managed to drag my ass out and could have been third in line for Clean, but I thought coffee was more important than waiting. too bad there wasn't any wireless internet by the theatre. I could be posting from outside instead of leaving this poor blog so neglected.

must rub my eyes. need more coffee. but I am having a blast!

film things

[update]

just a quick note for now...

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence ***1/2

Clean **
@ the Q&A - "I would've taken a cheap imitation..." - Olivier Assayas commenting on the miracle of casting Nick Nolte in the movie.


Nobody Knows ***
@ the Q&A - "This was supposed to be my debut film..." - Hirokazu Kore-eda commenting on the 15 years wait before making the film.

Tomorrow: House of Flying Daggers.
I will try to remember to bring the digicam. Maggie Cheung was stunning! Too bad no pics.

happy labour day!

[cheer]

no posts this weekend... go play with the cat instead!

random plastic dreams

[picks]

after hours of diliberation and waiting for the damn website to load, I finally chose my film picks for this year's Toronto International Film Festival. each year i swore to take time off next year and do the festival properly, and each year i end up watching just a few movies while i work during the day. even WTF & her dude took time off to fly to toronto for the fest. i haven't done the full festival since i was in school at UofT. oh how i miss the student life. especially now when i can see the many cute students moving into ryerson university residence. one advantage of living on campus! then i remember the long winter nights with the fire alarm going off next door caused by the same cute students. now, if only someone can give me their password for the ryerson WIFI network.

This year we're aiming for two midnight madness films: Zebraman and Ghost in the Shell 2. i will be like a zombie next day at work. also hope to get into House of Flying Daggers, Steamboy and Nobody Knows. i figure lots of people will try for Zhang Yimou's new movie since Hero just got released (finally!) in North America. i'm also expecting to see Vital and Clean. we won't know how the draw works out until next week. so wish me luck that i will get my picks!

if anyone is flying into town or is planning on going to the film fest, let me know. maybe we'll be catching the same flick! i plan to post some quick and dirty reviews over the week, along with some photos. maybe someone famous will blow me a kiss.