What was the last Chinese film you watched?

[amandagmu]

Well, the "missing part" definitely doesn't work for someone unfamiliar with Chinese or martial arts history of the period. Lots of quizzical looks and questions from Berlinale viewers about it... the director definitely presumed too much of his audience(s), meaning that non-fans and followers, as well as some reviewers, have commented that they have no idea what the point of that subplot/storyline was supposed to be.

But, as already pointed out, the film itself has other major issues.

[gato]

The problem with "一代宗师" is not the editing, but that the film isn't able to make you care about the characters. "My Blueberry Nights" was a disappointment. I was hoping Wong would return to old form here, but it wasn't to be.

This poem/review is apropos:

http://movie.douban....review/5761055/

评论比电影好，与王家卫不如相忘于江湖。

2013-01-30 16:40:00 　　 来自: xiche

一代宗師 / 一代宗师的评论 2 star rating

　　不是不欣赏王家卫，

　　明明东邪西毒，重庆森林，阿飞正传。。

　　奠定了神一样的地位，

　　偏偏要掉落神坛。

　　

　　实在是可叹大师陨落，

　　什么三年磨一剑，当年的感觉，找不回来就是找不回来，

　　不能因为曾经有过巅峰的好东西，

　　就一辈子带着金字招牌吧，

　　不要以一句看不懂，

　　就想糊弄了所有在电影院里昏昏欲睡的观众，

　　从花样年华到2046，

　　一次比一次让人失望，

　　没事拍什么拍，

　　把机会留给年轻人吧，大湿

　　

　　

　　与王家卫不如相忘于江湖。

[ouyangjun]

我上个星期看下面的电影。

人再囧途之泰囧 － 5/10

危险关系 － 8/10

大上海 － 6/10

[Lu]

I just watched Mao's Last Dancer, much better than I expected, it's really a good story with believable actors, they got the Chinese bits mostly right (as far as I can tell) (but not the diplomatic bits, I can't believe something like that would happen in a consulate, not even the Chinese consulate at that time) and the peasant kid goes to America-part was quite well done as well, it didn't ridicule the kid in question as I had expected from the trailer. Worth watching.

[abcdefg]

#364 --

...they got the Chinese bits mostly right (as far as I can tell) (but not the diplomatic bits, I can't believe something like that would happen in a consulate, not even the Chinese consulate at that time)...

That's actually a pretty accurate account of how it went down. I was living in Houston (where the incident took place) at the time and remember it being on the evening news and in all the papers.

(PS -- I liked the movie too.)

[Lu]

I can believe they kept him there, but have trouble believing they had four, five thugs there who bodily carried him into a room while a group of his American friends sat next to him, leaving his wife rattling at an iron gate, and his lawyer was physically prevented from leaving the room. Watching it I thought it was dramatized a bit, that he went by himself and his lawyer was persuaded to leave, something like that.

But perhaps I'm too naive. Not all embassies and consulates are created equal, I suppose.

[abcdefg]

To be fair, none of my knowledge of the event was first hand. My understanding of it was from what I saw on the news at the time. It could have very well been "dramatized" a bit for the movie.

[ZhangKaiRong]

I just fell ill during the second week of the new semester here in China, got tired of watching Jiangsu TV's 诚勿扰 so I decided to watch some movies. Before coming to learn Chinese, I saw some blockbuster movies from Hong Kong and from the mainland (Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower, Infernal Affairs Trilogy, Flowers of War), but I wasn't particularly into Chinese films. For me, Asian movies were all Koreans and Japanese, so after getting to China, I started to watch what I had missed earlier.

In the last few days, I watched 《色，戒》，《重庆森林》，《花样年华》，《2046》. I'm really amazed, all of these movies were my type. Ang Lee did a great a job with 张爱玲's short story, though the movie was long, it was exciting as hell. I saw the uncut version, the use of nudity were quite excessive, but it was a necessary thing to understand the relationship of Yee and Wong Chia-chi. It also didn't stereotype the characters, I felt there were no good or bad guys in the movie, just humans, tangled in emotions and desires.

Wong Kar Wai's movie... well, I guess they can't be described. All of them are like a dream, when you want to tell how it was, it's like holding water in your hands. From the three movies, I liked 重庆森林 the best, it was a great allegory for the alienation of the Asian societies. The cinematography in 《花样年华》 was superb, I guess I have never seen such beautiful shots in my life. 2046 was a good sequel, but nothing special.

My plan-to-watch list for the next two weeks is:

- 红高粱

- 菊豆

- 秋菊打官司

- 大红灯笼高高挂

- 摇啊摇，摇到外婆桥

- 我的父亲母亲

- 东邪西毒

- 阿飞正传

- 霸王别姬

- 卧虎藏龙

I would like to watch the film version of 活着, but I am currently reading the novel, already read the first half, I don't want to spoil the other half by the movie.

Any suggestions where to find the 山楂树之恋 by Zhang Yimou? Youku has it, but has no Chinese of English subtitles, I'm afraid that my 听力 is not good enough to understand a 2-hour long movie

[imron]

but it was a necessary thing to understand the relationship of Yee and Wong Chia-chi.

I'm not really so sure about this. For example, the short story has nothing really raunchy in it at all (just one phrase about how the way to a woman's heart is through her vagina). Granted a book can explore the thoughts and emotions of the characters more thoroughly than can be done on screen, but I'm sure it wouldn't have altered the emotional impact of the film if it hadn't been quite so graphic. Not that I'm complaining, just saying that I don't think it was necessary to be so explicit in order for the audience to understand the relationship between them.

[skylee]

(just one phrase about how the way to a woman's heart is through her vagina)

I think there is more. Something about ... "sometimes to be with that guy it is like having had a hot bath" (or something like this).

[imron]

Yeah, there were probably others (it's been a while since I read the story and don't recall all the specifics), but it was completely tame compared to the movie.

[gato]

Ang Lee wanted to explore the "heart through vagina" angle and thought it more effective to be direct about the sex.

Zhang Aileen didn't go into so much details about the sex in "色戒" the short story, but in at least one other story ("红玫瑰白玫瑰"), she was much more explicit. Sex and love were big themes for her, which is what led Ang Lee to want to explore that.

[Lu]

Any suggestions where to find the 山楂树之恋 by Zhang Yimou? Youku has it, but has no Chinese of English subtitles, I'm afraid that my 听力 is not good enough to understand a 2-hour long movie

I'd suggest you skip the movie altogether, it's not worth the time. I enjoyed the book though, it's an easy read.

[glock]

Just watched shanghai calling / 纽约客@上海, it's a kinda Hollywood cliché, though strongly recommend to expats who live in China. While watching you'll find many things so familiar as in your life in China.

[abcdefg]

Saw an excellent film yesterday at a theater here in Kunming. Well worth watching if you like the ancient history/combat genre. The English name of the film seems to be "Saving General Yang" and the Chinese name is 忠烈楊家將。

It is by Hong Kong director Ronny Yu (who also directed Jet Li's 2006 "Fearless" 霍元甲。)

It's a recent release, and I think this particular film is much better to see in a theater than it will be later as a download on a small laptop computer screen. Well worth the 30 Yuan I paid (for an early showing.)

Highly recommended.

Cast of characters here: http://en.wikipedia....ng_General_Yang

Plot synopsis and review here: http://www.moviexclu...23558-2013_2178

[Lu]

Just watched shanghai calling / 纽约客@上海, it's a kinda Hollywood cliché, though strongly recommend to expats who live in China. While watching you'll find many things so familiar as in your life in China.

To my shame I haven't watched this one (wanted to go to the cinema and pay for it, but couldn't find a showing at a convenient time), it's the only movie I'm aware of that has an Asian man dating a white woman, very un-Hollywood cliché.

[Guest realmayo]

There's this http://en.wikipedia....he_Lover_(film) with Tony Leung.

[Kobo-Daishi]

Lu wrote:

Glock wrote:

Just watched shanghai calling / 纽约客@上海, it's a kinda Hollywood cliché, though strongly recommend to expats who live in China. While watching you'll find many things so familiar as in your life in China.

To my shame I haven't watched this one (wanted to go to the cinema and pay for it, but couldn't find a showing at a convenient time), it's the only movie I'm aware of that has an Asian man dating a white woman, very un-Hollywood cliché.

Realmayo wrote:

There's this http://en.wikipedia....he_Lover_(film) with Tony Leung.

There's Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.

That's based on a true story as was The Lover.

Coincidentally, I've been downloading episodes of the television series Star Trek:Voyager, been meaning to dl the entire franchise but never got around to it but because of a hard disk failure have started to, when I came across this.

It's Seven of Nine kissing Ensign Kim. Okay, it's a dream sequence, but, the actors do lock lips.

Kobo.

[rob07]

I saw 汤唯's new movie, 北京遇上西雅图, which seems to have been heavily promoted. After Lust Caution, I wondered if in subsequent movies she might try to play roles like 花木兰 or 宋庆龄 for a while. She plays the pregnant mistress of a married corrupt businessman who spends money like water on luxury goods and goes to America to give birth because of difficulties with having the baby legally in China, but given that this is a romcom I don't think it really counts as a spoiler to say that the end of the movie does not endorse that lifestyle.

Part of the reason I went to see the movie was to find out what on earth 西雅图 was. Turns out it is the Chinese word for Seattle, and Sleepless in Seattle was heavily referenced. If you like romcoms (I don't mind them), this is well done I think.

[gato]

Did you really pay 80 kuai to see the movie to find out what ＂西雅图" means?