We are the stories we tell

Taipei Exchanges is a gently introspective slice of life about two sisters who ponder what stories hold value when they set up a barter system in their coffee shop. This film is not for everyone. The changes in the sisters and their customers are small and quiet and will go unnoticed if you don't pay attention from your table in the corner of their café. If coffee and discovering the meaning behind the stories people tell about their lives and belongings interest you, pull up a chair, order a coffee and cookie and see where the film and memory takes you.

If someone gave you the money to do one, which would it be? Use the money to study or travel?

Doris is practical and has always wanted to open an elegant coffee café. When she finally has the opportunity fate turns her dream into the quirkiest shop in Taipei. Without giving too much away, on her opening day she ends up with a plethora of calla lilies and invites people to bring something to exchange for them. Afterwards with their shop full of junk, her sister has the idea that customers can bring something to exchange for whatever is in the shop thinking it will create more foot traffic and people will stay longer and drink and eat more. Doris reluctantly agrees hoping it will lead to financial freedom for her. Josie wants a car for herself and a set of bone china for her mother.

Along the way, the sisters find that what things are worth is a deeply personal belief. What is the story behind it? Love letters, songs, a mirror ball, stuffed alligator, and even cleaning out the backyard drain are up for exchange. As Doris hears the stories of the places people have traveled, a shift begins to take place in her.

What do you treasure the most?

Doris makes a decision that seems radical and perhaps it's radical self-love to realize that what we value may change over time. The sisters believe that whatever you are looking for someone has and it's only a matter of time before the need to have and the need to release meet each other. Often our lives can be changed by one small incident and decision, in Doris' case a fender bender with a small truck full of calla lilies led to small change after small change leading to a larger change in her life and the lives of those around her.

Taipei Exchanges is beautifully and thoughtfully shot, within the store and around Taipei. The OST is soothing and won't jar you out of the existential questions that arise over what we value, why, and what is our inner value to ourselves and others. For the most part the acting is natural and the sisters have good chemistry in the way that sisters love each other still bicker. Some of the basic business issues are touched upon when starting up a business, but don't weigh the story down. People off the street answer two of the questions above and though some may sound more scripted, others are quite relatable.

Everyday we tell ourselves stories about our failures, hopes, dreams, and even the lies about ourselves that help us sleep at night. We cherish the stories behind an object or even despise an object because of the emotional baggage that it carries. Is a song worth a book? A Barbie dollhouse worth a mirror ball? What happens when people exchange goals and dreams? This film will not turn your world upside down, but it may cause you to take a moment to look around and even within yourself and wonder what has value and why?

If you had the choice between money and calla lilies, which would you take?

2/24/23

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"Tragedy in life starts with the bondage of parent and child"

The Only Son is considered director Ozu's first talkie. Even with the spoken dialogue he still leaves space and silence to contemplate his characters' actions and conflicts. Classically Ozu, he studies the relationship between a parent and grown child. Instead of the wealthier families of some of his later films, this widow and child are living in poverty. In this film he also has the son and mother begin to define what success means to them and the emotional cost of failure.

The story begins in 1923 in rural Japan. The mother works at a silk factory doing rigorous physical labor. Her son wants to continue his education, an education she can't afford. His teacher who is preparing to leave for Tokyo stops by the house congratulating the surprised mother on allowing him to go to high school as the son had told him she'd agreed to it. Ultimately, she decides to make whatever sacrifices she must for him to have a better chance in life. The last thing he tells her is that he will become a great man.

The story jumps ahead to 1935 with the mother missing her son and deciding to go visit him in Tokyo. Mother and son have not seen each other in years and seem happy to be together again. The son has a surprise for his mother, he is married and has an infant son. He also is working as a night school geometry teacher and living in a small house in view of the garbage incinerator smokestacks. This brings about the critical theme of the film. The son is ashamed of his job and lifestyle after the sacrifices his mother made for him. The mother is disappointed that he seems to have given up on attaining a better life. Much like in Tokyo Chorus, 1930's Tokyo is portrayed as the great dream destroyer.

Later in the film, the son helps a neighbor in such a way, that the mother beams at him with pride. He may not have become the great man she'd hoped for, but he had become a good man with a good wife. For her, this is enough to ease her worries about him. This is success in her eyes.

Ozu uses many of the techniques and compositions that will define his later work. Filming from the mat, even when in a car is in place. His ubiquitous teapot takes center stage in many scenes. As always, every prop, every angle is thoughtfully and creatively brought together to be aesthetically pleasing and to help tell the story. At one point after an emotional confrontation between mother and son, with his wife sobbing in the background, Ozu lingers on a shot of a painting on a wall near a window and holds that shot for almost a minute, as night turns to day. Almost as if the raw emotions of his characters needed time to be processed by them and us.

Tokyo was the great soul crusher, and during this time the depression had finally caught up with Japan, making work hard to come by. The son's teacher had to become a cook in a small restaurant. The teacher was played by Ozu regular Ryu Chishu, someone you could always count on to bring a character quietly to life. Lida Choko conveyed the mother longing to see her son, happy to be in his presence, and also discouraged at his negative resolution perfectly. Himori Shinichi felt like the weaker acting link. He spent much of his time smiling and gave no inkling of his character's desperate emotions for most of the film.

Interestingly Ozu had the mother and son go to the movies and watch a popular German talkie. Rather lengthy clips of the film were shown. The son's house also had some posters from German movies. Though imminently Japanese, the great director was also open to influence from foreign films.

The German film was one of the only outings we see that the son took his mother on as he spent most of their money trying to show her Tokyo. Unlike so many of the ungrateful male characters in older movies, ones women sacrificed everything for, this son, despite the financial hardship, wants his mother to have a special time. He wants to make her sacrifice worthwhile and up until then had felt he'd completely failed. Even with hardships, disappointments, and setbacks, the film had a warmth and gentle humanity to it. Life wasn't easy, but the film showed the value of family and friendship, of looking out for each other.

As so often happens in Ozu's films, the parent ends up alone. The mother may have been alone, but after seeing the man her son had become could find acceptance in her trials and life. The son, reinvigorated from his mother's belief in him, sat aside his nihilistic acceptance to once again hope. This quiet film was realistic and engaging on many levels. Easily one of my favorite Ozu films.

10/24/22

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The world is not ruined by the truth

The King's Letters gave a fascinating glimpse into the creation of Hangul, the Korean alphabet. It was set in 1442 with King Sejong the Great determined to do something for his legacy as the sands were quickly running through the hourglass of his life and reign.

The Joseon court was largely ruled by ministers and scholars schooled in Confucianism and Chinese writing. They were not at all interested in developing easily learned phonetic letters for their language. Sejong wanted all of his people to learn to read and write which would have meant more competition and a threat to their power and positions.

King Sejong was not to be deterred. An envoy of Japanese monks arrived demanding the Tripitaka, the oldest collection of Buddhist scriptures written in Hanja on over 80,000 wooden blocks. A series of dots connected him, with some help from the Queen, to the Joseon Buddhist monk in charge of the Tripitaka. Sejong discovered the monks could chant, read and write in Sanskrit which was based on phonetic letters. His Eureka moment occurred after years of failed attempts to create an easy and useable alphabet. Promising the monks he would build a temple in the capitol if they would help him with the alphabet, an uneasy alliance was formed.

Much of the film covered the monks and king working through their language and breaking it down into a total of 28 consonants and vowels. Instead of memorizing thousands of characters, what they were developing would make it much easier to be literate. Sejong wanted the letters to be elegant and concise like geometry using only lines, dots, and “facets”. The major conflict of the story was keeping what they were doing from the Confucian court. Due to conflicts with the Buddhists during the Goryeo Dynasty, there were hard feelings on both sides. Most of the tension, however, dealt with the ailing king fearing he wouldn’t live long enough to not only create the letters but also to spread their use so that they would be protected and take root.

Spoiler alert! Of course, they succeeded as we all know. Sejong did end up giving the Confucians credit to try and gain their support. It took time for the “vulgar” or “women’s” script to be accepted. Thankfully, women and fiction writers used it as well as Buddhist monks which kept it alive until it took hold. In 1849, it was adopted as Korea’s national writing system. Even the Japanese during their occupation who outlawed it, couldn’t kill it.

The King’s Letters did tend to slow down and become repetitive in the latter part. I am enough of a documentary geek that this felt like an enjoyable one only dressed up and with excellent acting. Song Kang Ho (King Sejong) had great chemistry with both Park Hae Il (Monk Shin Mi) and the late Jeon Mi Seon (Queen So Hun). The cinematography, sets, and costumes were all lovely.

King Sejong was playing the long game, he wanted an educated people who would only make the country stronger and more enduring. His vision didn’t come to bear overnight or even in his lifetime, but he planted a seed that did take hold, blossomed, and bore fruit. Is still bearing fruit. A legacy of knowledge which can break down class lines and open communication is not such a bad legacy after all.

10/10/22

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Let's Start Over!

Hand Rolled Cigarette is an old school violent crime drama that almost makes itself into something a little more special, but just misses the mark. Even in the face of debt and despair, two criminal misfits keep marching forward, hoping for that chance to start over. Along the way, the disparate strangers find themselves counting on each other to survive.

The film begins with the turnover of Hong Kong and the servicemen previously in the Queen's army now being left behind. Chiu bolsters his military brothers by saying it's their chance to start over. Years later, some have made it better than others. Chiu and another military brother had borrowed heavily and invested in the stock market only to watch it crash and lose everything. Deeply in debt, Chiu hustles on the triad fringe to try and stay afloat, now shunned by his military brethren. His next big deal is as a middle man for a guy selling illegal turtles and a local kingpin, a deal that goes south landing Chiu in trouble.

Mani is an Eastern Asian immigrant, reluctantly in the drug business with his brother/cousin Kapil. Mani also takes care of his younger brother who is still in school. Due to racism, the family runs into financial and social walls everywhere. Kapil wants to take greater risks to make bigger scores which leads to deadly events after he makes a major mistake. They find out that drug dealers keep track of their product and are neither kind nor forgiving, especially with those who steal from them.

Desperately fleeing a vicious gang, Mani ducks into Chiu's apartment and hides. Chiu isn't thrilled when he finds the interloper but against his better judgement allows the young man to continue to hide there as long as he doesn't touch anything. They don't have many interactions but Chiu does help when Mani's younger brother gets into a fight at school.

Eventually, they decide to sell the stolen drugs to try and pay off everyone they owe. All of which leads to a violent no holds barred final confrontation.

Hand Rolled Cigarette is more of a character study at times than crime drama. Chiu keeps a video of his military days when he respected himself and what he did. He suffers enormous guilt over his past actions leading him to act self-destructively at times. Mani wants a better life for his younger brother, including a good education, even if it means sacrificing his own. The two small time criminals both are good men at heart forced into grim decisions by their crumbling circumstances. Recognizing that in each other they do make a bond.

Be advised there are scenes of torture and brutal murders. Mani is repeatedly called by a racist name. They don't shy away from expressing the racism underlying the society. It can be a difficult film to watch.

The cinematography while showing greater Hong Kong at night, also shows the suffocating world the men live in and all the deadly and dangerous things that can happen in small places.

This film is dark as the two men try to navigate the dangerous world of the triads, forming an unlikely bond. My only real caveat is that their friendship felt underdeveloped to me. I would have preferred a little more buildup of their relationship, events that might have shown the evolution of their devotion more. Or maybe they were just two guys that were hunkered down in the same foxhole with only each other to rely on as the bullets and bombs whizzed by. Either way it was an entertaining Hong Kong crime film, but with a little more relationship development I would have rated it higher.


9/15/22

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"Men will remain clueless unless we're more open about these things"

Our Rainy Days tackles a topic not only men are uncomfortable with, but many women as well---Menstruation. That monthly visitor most of the 51% of the population will deal with in some form or fashion in their lives is all part of being human for the female part of the species. Too often not medically studied or properly funded, because it's a "female problem", women have often suffered in silence. Period shame and period shaming will only end when people realize it is normal and healthy. This special takes a look at a photographer and a model both having to handle their symptoms on the job and in public.

Kojima Hikari is a photographer on her fist big shoot and it's for a men's magazine. Aoi is a small time idol who wants to transition to acting and is following the path of a bikini shoot to get noticed. Hikari awoke to her alarm warning her it was PMS time, also that it was her first big shoot and to not screw it up. The day starts out raining as they travel by bus to the beach. Aoi's visitor pops in during the shoot causing problems that the men have no idea how to deal with.

This special discussed how not every woman can wear a tampon, much to the crew's chagrin. It also showed that despite their pain and other symptoms the two women were able to come up with creative solutions and do their work. As Hikari says, "Some crisis are opportunities, others leave you stuck." Menstruation is normal but it can also be challenging.

Our Rainy Days wasn't a be all end all in the discussion, but it did one thing that needs to happen more often-communication. By sharing our stories with each other we normalize something that is normal. What works for one may or may not work for another. There are lots of period paraphernalia options and medical ones for those who need it. Don't be afraid to talk with a medical professional or trusted female friend or family member. Most of all, be proud of being a woman and all that entails. And if you are a man, man up and learn about what the women in your life go through each lunar cycle and practice your empathy muscle. Sarcasm and shaming are no longer acceptable. And girls/women we have nothing to feel ashamed of, it's okay to be okay with our periods. So ends The Butterfly PSA addendum to this review. ^^




9/6/22

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"If you keep on believing, the dream that you dream will come true." -Cinderella

Two of my favorite Chinese actresses, Zhou Dong Yu and Zanilia Zhao starred in The Palace. More Cinderella fairytale than actual historical tale but entertaining nonetheless.

Chen Xiang and Liu Li came to the palace as 13 year-old girls to serve as maids and became fast friends. Chen Xiang lost her earring in an abandoned garden on her first day, think Chekov's gun or Cinderella's slipper. Quickly fast forwarded 7 years, the two turned into Dong Yu and Zanilia, now twenty-year-olds still prone to giggling and screaming. Each had their dreams of winding up with a handsome prince no matter how remote the possibility. But in fairytales even remote possibilities can become reality. Chen Xiang met the 13th Prince once again in the abandoned garden only this time she wore a scarf over her face as they had a chaste memorable time. Liu Li, uh, banged into the nefarious 9th Prince. Before you could say mistaken identity the 13th Prince and Liu Li were to be married. Chen Xiang found herself becoming her friend's servant while Liu Li turned into a wicked stepsister to keep their secret.

Chen Xiang was the childlike, virginal, self-sacrificing heroine complete with a repertoire of giggles and screams. Liu Li with her lusty desires for sex and power went from fast friend to Fast Times at Ridgemont High turning evil at the drop of her clothes. There was never much of a reason for Chen Xiang to keep her secret other than to be the traditional martyr and long suffering heroine. I wasn't crazy about the portrayal of the young women. In this fairytale all women were considered pretty much alike and were designed to please men in order to have any security, which given the times probably wasn't too far off the mark. There was no shortage of examples of what happened to maids or concubines who failed to please. The fact that the 13th Prince couldn't tell them apart reinforced their interchangeable nature.

The costumes and sets were luxurious, with mood fitting lighting and exquisite cinematography. Every shot was beautifully framed. No pumpkin coach or mice, but there was a stunning CGI dragon and lots of luminescent butterflies. The actors were cornered into stereotypical roles but still managed to bring their characters to life.

Once the movie got past the giggling, so much giggling, it became more enjoyable for me, even when it dipped into melodrama and political intrigue. Being a fairytale all that mattered was the romance and Chen Xiang winning the Prince's heart through her kind and selfless acts. But it was a Chinese fairytale so that meant being able to avoid being beheaded, beaten to death or exiled in the process.


9/5/22

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Hard to Be Righteous, but Easy to Be Evil...

Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok returned as the characters they made famous a decade earlier in Storm Riders. Wind and Cloud were an unbeatable team who kept the bad guys at bay until The Evil Lord Godless and his son Heartless with their Japanese army kidnapped the emperor and searched for the treasure within the Dragon Tomb.

I enjoyed The Storm Riders (1998). It was cheesy and the CGI was rudimentary, but the story was coherent and the action fun. The Storm Warriors (2009) took itself way too seriously and replaced storyline with endless slow-mo action scenes. Dialogue and character development were kept to a bare minimum. If you haven't watched the first one it may not matter because the atmospheric boys were hard to distinguish with the poor writing for them.

Simon Yam as The Evil Lord Godless seemed invincible and pretty soon it was just Wind and Cloud left to fight him and save China. They didn't have long for a super charged training montage so that they could take their revenge on the over-compensating dressed warlord. Wind went to Lord Wicked and took the, well, wicked route via an evil mud bath while Cloud went the righteous way and was trained by the wounded Nameless at the same time. Before you could say Buckets O' Blood, super slow motion, comic book style fighting with plenty of dismemberments and red goo flying through the air, took place and Cloud had to try and bring Wind back to the good side.

The story was frightfully thin and convoluted. Shu Qi knew what she was doing when she passed on the sequel and left her role to Tiffany Tang. The movie could have easily been 20 minutes shorter if the fights had been shot at regular speed. By the last twenty minutes I didn't really care about the consequences or who lived or died I just wanted it to end. A few of the fights were beautifully shot and the CGI was better than the first movie, but they dragged on at a glacial speed. When CGI replaces actual story and character development I lose interest quickly. During one of the overcooked fight scenes I really thought one of them might yell out, "Kamehameha!"

The Storm Warriors had a cast I was very excited about but they were criminally underused. Ekin and Aaron had grown as actors since the time Storm Riders was filmed but it was irrelevant as most of the time they were filming fight scenes in overly dramatic slow motion. They certainly didn't have to worry about learning many lines. Simon Yam was at least properly menacing as an undefeatable warlord, a nifty trick given how little time he had on screen. Nicholas Tse as Heartless had little to do except look pretty and scowl. Charlene Choi as Dream had little to do but look pretty and worried for her few scenes. Even for comic book characters the lot of them were mostly lifeless. Ultimately, I didn't care about any of them.

The OST was nice if melodramatic at times. As with many of the movies in this genre, the costume department used a lot of leather, gold lame, and metal looking armor. There was no shortage of wind machines as Ekin and Aaron had their long layered mom hairdos seemingly always flowing in the wind.

If you enjoyed The Storm Riders, don't get your hopes too high for this sequel. Several storylines were left dangling, completely forgotten. Maybe I am truly the Heartless one because I actually laughed during the last scene which I'm sure was so supposed to be emotional but came across as absurd to me. As one of my favorite TV baking judges would say, The Storm Warriors was style over substance. It might have looked good, but it didn't taste very well going down.




8/24/22

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Dream Team vs Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster!

Earth is imperiled when a meteor drops a world ending monster in her lap. King Ghidorah threatens all life on Earth and only a reluctant team of Kaiju can stop him led by Godzilla.

This movie is a fun monster ride. The writers threw everything at the screen in order to entertain the audience-a foreign princess with a death squad after her who is taken over by an alien presence (from Mars, Venus, or Jupiter depending on the version you watch), a police officer trying to protect her, an intrepid and annoying female reporter, various scientists, and a doctor who will look familiar to fans of Kurosawa movies.

The alien inhabited princess tries to warn the earthlings that danger in the form of the three-headed fire breathing Ghidorah is coming their way and that Rodan is waking up from inside a volcano. Everyone thinks she's a crackpot. Shimura Takashi as the doctor runs a number of tests on her to see what's going on inside her head even as the death squad appears with guns blazing. The Cosmos return to help out and warn that Rodan and Godzilla are headed back to town. Finally, people decided it's time to start running and screaming as the three giants make their presence known.

Ghidorah rains down destruction upon the people in town while Rodan and Godzilla fight each other in the countryside. Mothra, in her caterpillar form, arrives to try and convince them to fight together against a common foe to save humanity. And their response was, "what's humanity ever done for us?" When Ghidorah attacks the squabbling monsters, the story finally picks up and it is a royal rumble for the ages.

Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster feels like a movie aimed more at children than adults, but there is enough for adults to enjoy, too. Even though the movie spends too much time leading up to the monster fights, the humans and human-alien were more entertaining than in Godzilla movies from this era. Ghidorah was nearly always a worthy opponent for Big G and it was fun to watch the Dream Team of Kaiju take him on. If you enjoy the Showa era movies, this is definitely not one to miss.

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The Soong Sisters told the story of three of the most important women at the beginning of the Chinese Republic. As the tag line said, “One loved money, one loved power, and one loved her country.”

Michelle Yeoh’s sister married a wealthy banker. Maggie Cheung’s sister married the revolutionary and ultimately leader of the Nationalist party, Sun Yat Sen. Later she was an integral part of the communist party. Vivian Wu’s sister married Chiang Kai Shek who would take over the Nationalist party after Sun’s death and later she would become the First Lady of Taiwan. And that’s about the extent of my knowledge on this subject.

I take all historical movies with a grain of salt, everyone has their own agenda or message they want to get across. I’m even more skeptical when governmental censoring is always lurking in the background. Someone else with more knowledge about Chinese history will have to judge the accuracy of the historical aspects of the story.

Purely as a work of art, The Soong Sisters was lovely to look at. The cinematography, sets, and costumes were lush. The OST gave the right amount of mood to the scenes that took place across several decades. Plus, I'm always happy when a film is F rated, Mabel Cheung was the director.

The actresses all gave strong performances. Wu Hsing Guo was quite charismatic as the mercurial leader, Chiang Kai Shek as well.

Where the movie faltered for me was that the sisters were rather thinly drawn. Ostensibly a movie about three powerful women, two who were the wealthiest in China at one point, the other a communist icon, should have fully developed the complex characters and given these talented actresses something to sink their teeth into.

Maggie’s Soong Ching Ling was the only sister who came across as three dimensional as she worked with the communist party to maintain the integrity of her husband’s legacy. Michelle’s Soon Ai Ling had the smallest role of the sisters. The tag line indicated she loved money, but there wasn’t much evidence of that. Vivian’s Soong Mai Ling seemed more like an infatuated school girl for most of the movie, finally developing a backbone in the last quarter of the story.

It felt like the three women were ignominiously dropped from era to era and place to place. Much of the time I wasn’t sure where or when the story was taking place. Their father’s story would have been fascinating to see made into a movie, but by devoting so much time to him and the women as children we missed out on the real meat of the story. His presence did loom over them as he had wanted a new China. Was his dream all that motivated them? What were they thinking? What kind of relationships did they have with these powerful men? Two of the them never had children, did that cause any conflict in their relationships? Extreme hardships were glossed over. The film did touch on the political conflicts between Chiang Kai Shek and Soong Ching Ling, he was bitterly opposed to the communist party and she had given up on the Nationalist Party when he took over and ordered purges. I can't even imagine how strained those family dinners were when they got together.

With all the wealth, power, egos, and rivalries, there should have been more depth to the characters and story. The Soong Sisters was a beautiful pool of water to look at, unfortunately these still waters didn’t run very deep.

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Dear Lena is a quiet, mostly tranquil movie about issues that run deeper than the calm surface. I truly wished they had touched more on these issues, it would have made this a more complete film for me.

Lena is a descendent of Koreans who were forced to work for the Japanese mining coal in Sakhalin and then later trapped there after WWII. Their story would make an interesting film in and off itself as they fought for citizenship and many fought to go back to South Korea. They became second class citizens in Russia and those who made it home were less than in South Korea as well. Lena wants to bury her parents' ashes in South Korea and becomes a mail order bride to make the trip. This aspect is barely touched on and again, would have given more depth to the story to explore that process.

The male lead is a tea farmer in a remote area which lends itself to some lovely cinematography. He tries very hard to make Lena feel welcome and give her anything she needs. Lena in turn tries to help with different chores to show that she is invested in the relationship. She calls him ahjussi throughout the movie which seems to make their relationship an even further oddity. As she walks to the fields she makes friends with a photographer who is traveling through and begins learning to take photographs. Both the film's cinematography and her photos play a large role. Lena tends to be quiet, walking and taking pictures as she has much on her mind. I wish we'd been more privy to what was weighing so heavily on her.

The last thirty minutes or so give the movie the emotional thrust it sorely needed. While this was a beautiful, quiet movie, it could have been more meaningful if only the director had stirred the calm surface with the emotions running beneath.

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Dong Ju: The Portrait of a Poet is an eloquent story woven around the poet's own insightful words. Shot in black and white, the monochrome film beautifully fits the quiet, intense mood of the short lives of these two young men.

I will leave the historical aspect of this film to those who have a personal stake in it or are more well versed in it than I am.

This film is as much about Yun Dong Ju's cousin and revolutionary, Song Mong Gyu, as it is the poet. Their lives are intertwined, two different ideals in how to resist during a time of hated occupation. One willing to use a gun, the other a pen though at times those lines blur. Their friendship though challenged never waivers.

The story begins and ends with the young men in prison. The present takes place during Yun's interrogation by the Japanese. As Yun is questioned, the past is revealed to show the steps they took to end up in prison. Quoting Yun's poetry to the corresponding events paints the conflicted feelings he had over his role during the dark times and his attempt to find hope in the moment. The tripod of present, past and poetry is perfectly balanced.

Kang Ha Neul gives a restrained and poignant performance as Yun's younger self and later as the tortured prisoner knowing death is imminent, reflecting on his actions and inactions. All the performances are good but his stood out as the titular character.

Dong Ju is an elegantly filmed story of an inelegant and agonizing time told through the courage, defiance and beauty of poetry and a poet.

Prelude

Wishing not to have
so much as a speck of shame

toward heaven until the day I die,
I suffered, even when the wind stirred the leaves.

With my heart singing to the stars,
I shall love all things that are dying.

And I must walk the road
that has been given to me.

Tonight, again, the stars are
brushed by the wind.

-Yun Dong Ju

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This coming of age drama revolved around five friends, three of whose lives were poised on the edge of a knife. Their lives were complicated by poverty, lack of parental guidance and support, and lack of mental health resources. All these kids wanted was to have a better life, to live and to love. Beset by problems, they often made dangerous decisions out of desperation.

The production values of this older Taiwanese drama weren't terribly high yet it felt real and honest. If it had one flaw it's that it confronted too many social issues and was unable to spend enough time on each for the characters and the audience to fully digest their consequences.

Days We Stared at the Sun was gritty, raw, and devastating with glimmers of hope quietly woven through the unlikely friendships.

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Though an extremely simple story, it was not well told. The CGI/Special Effects were very good but should enhance the story and not be the star of it. The two humans were simply along for the ride.

Unless one is familiar with the book it's hard to get a handle on how this world works, because they simply did not spend the time needed to build it for us. The leads bonded together faster than Wolverine and Rogue with a similar relationship dynamic. The gruff, world weary, reluctant hero and the abandoned young woman with a power that frightens people.

It felt like the FL's one acting note she was given was to stand there and look pretty and forlorn. Not a lot of depth to the performance. The ML spent most of his time running and jumping which to his credit, he did well.

The CGI was very good and creative. The problem for me was that the story overly-relied on it and over-estimated how interesting it is without an emotional story to propel the characters through the monsters and labyrinths.

It's a shame they didn't spend a few more minutes developing these characters because there is an interesting story behind the wall of CGI.

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Time manages to weave together the disparate stories of a retired assassin team, the problems of the elderly, assisted suicide and team pregnancy. It brings together a cast of well-known older Hong Kong actors---PatrickTse, Bobo Fung, and Lam Suet and gives them a chance to shine. They did not fail to take advantage of the opportunity to show that they've still got it.

Patrick Tse at 85 showed he could still be a menacing threat as the flying blade assassin who had been relegated to cutting noodles in his golden years. Bobo went from terrorizing her victims with her throwing weapons to singing in a small-time cabaret. Lam Suet, the getaway driver, now suffering from various illnesses and struggling to pay for and receive proper medical care spends his free time with a prostitute he's fallen in love with.

Without being morbid, Time shines a light on the plight of the elderly---illness, loneliness, ungrateful children, poverty, and the knowledge that more sand has run out of the hourglass than remains. The old team gets back together when they find the older population requesting their services and they earn extra spending money respectfully doling out assisted suicide. This works out fine until the blade man discovers his intended victim/client is a teenage girl.

Bobo did an amazing job as the mother with a child who believed because she gave birth to him, she was eternally responsible for him. The fact that he was a grown man who was married and a father and responsible for his own child escaped him. Lam Suet gave a heartwarming performance as the team member who kept them all together, finally getting his chance at a quality main role. The actress who plays the teenage girl was the weakest link in this movie. She was unable to keep up with the rest of the experienced cast. The youth story threatened to take over the narrative, but stopped just short, or maybe went slightly over the line. It did give Patrick's loner character a chance to connect with someone and discover a part of himself he didn't know existed.

There are many touching scenes in this movie and Time deals with its gray-haired characters and their problems with sensitivity and gentle humor. It shows that people of a certain age need love, time, attention, and care. And in the case of Time, it showed that actors who are no longer young still have stories left to tell.

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"People are ghosts, and ghosts are people."

The cold stone complex with glowing red eyes in Zhang Yi Mou’s Raise the Red Lantern bids young women into its luxurious lifestyle. Afterall, it’s just as easy to marry a rich man as it is a poor man. Or is it?

Gong Li stars as Songlian the newest concubine of a rich man in this gilded cage of competitive horrors. Educated but with few options after her father dies she marries an older man. She quickly learns that the women and servants are pitted against one another in a popularity game to garner the master’s favor. Red lanterns are lit in the courtyard and living apartment of the woman he chooses for the night. The clickety clack of massage hammers used on the chosen one’s feet turns into a Pavlov’s bell for the women. The master’s idea of foreplay is something akin to “brace yourself darlin’” but the women do what they must to attract his attention and keep it.

Other than the privileges the chosen one temporarily receives, the concubines hold no power. They are largely interchangeable, this is the territory of the powerful master and his game and rules. The women’s fate is tied to pleasing him and gifting him sons. In the ruthless conflict between the concubines, betrayal and tragedy are always near at hand.

Master Chen’s face is never focused on. His is the face of oppression and rigid familial customs, the ringmaster in the tragic circus.

Songlian discovers that the people in the huge complex are largely ghosts living in the house abiding by the rules of ancestors long gone. She tries to rebel, game the system, and in the end becomes ostracized and alone. When she witnesses an unspeakable act she realizes that she is trapped with only two ways out-death or madness.

Raise the Red Lantern criticizes a number of social structures as well as the plight of women during this time. Outdated cruel traditions that guide their everyday life are firmly in the director’s bullseye. It is gripping and difficult to watch at times.

Songlian is not an easy character to like as she can be very abrasive and snobbish. Her youth and independent nature cause her to chafe under the ridiculous rules and volatile hierarchy. She learns the hard way the price for disobedience. Gong Li’s expressive face helps us to understand how we should feel as well. Rebellious. Trapped. Isolated. Horrified. She gives a gloriously understated performance as a young woman caught in the chains of family customs; the players involved more like ghosts ensnaring fresh faces to drag into their macabre story.

Zhang Yi Mou saturates some scenes in a rich red light, the color of birth, life, and death. At other times an icy blue hue overtakes the scene driving home the solitariness of the one not chosen. The large complex could almost be given a credit as well the way Zhang lovingly uses the stunning architecture to showcase the concubines’ limited stone world. There was no soft place to land amongst the hard edges. The lush colors of their costumes played in stark contrast to the institutional banality. It was a remote facility both physically and emotionally.

The sets, concubines, and costumes are intoxicatingly beautiful but lying beneath them is a grotesque cruelty. Raise the Red Lantern is a treat for the eyes as most of Zhang Yi Mou’s films are. Though difficult to watch this story of the powerful’s abuse of women and tradition is one worth trying.

“What do people amount to in this house? They’re like dogs, cats, or rats, but certainly not people.”

1/12/23

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