Chen Kaige's new film - 無極

[Outofin]

I watched the movie today. It's good. Not a masterpeice but definitely a successful movie.

[chenpv]

我是去年年末在我们学校附近一家刚开张的电影院里看的这部电影。这可是多年来首次支持祖国的反盗版事业，结果......影片真是令我大失所望。 要故事，没故事；要画面，没画面，只见一群人在‘逃’，在‘飘’，懵懵懂懂之间，剧终。嘿，无语了，真是无语了。说实话，陈凯歌未必能在短期内拍出和《霸王别姬》一样出色的电影。

BTW, in the trailer there was a scene where the dark-haired guy (can't remember his name yet) smelling Heath Ledger's clothes, and I think it is touching ...

于无声处......我刚看了原著，也很期待这部影片。不过好像大陆不传播‘色情’ 电影，只有等PD了。

PS：有人关注陈逸飞的《理发师》吗？

[skylee]

聽説西安那個特別首映是爲了滿足奧斯卡的入圍要求而辦的，而且有一個特別要求，就是影評人不能批評這電影，所以辦得沒聲沒息的，不知道這是真是假。

BTW, I watched the trailer of Brokeback Mountain again the other day and found that I had mixed up the two guys.

還有，是情色，不是色情。呵呵。

[sky888]

FYI, the film is now all over Ebay. I look forward to seeing this.

[chenpv]

聽説西安那個特別首映是爲了滿足奧斯卡的入圍要求而辦的，而且有一個特別要求，就是影評人不能批評這電影，所以辦得沒聲沒息的，不知道這是真是假。

惭愧，惭愧。我目前在武汉上学，只有过年的时候才能回一次家，有关西安的新闻估计不及你灵通。

還有，是情色，不是色情。

哈哈，要是你是国家广电总局局长就好喽。 可以解放一大批影片：《新天堂电影院》（New paradise cinema）, 不羁夜（boogie night）......

[xiaocai]

没去看，准备买碟。票太贵了，浪费不起。

把钱存下来等看冯小刚的新片。其实也不图看个啥的，主要就是娱乐一下。

顺便小发句牢骚，我实在是搞不明白中国的电影审查制度的标准是什么，或者是根本就没有标准？

有些电影实在是被封杀得莫名其妙。

[Outofin]

Make a quick comment on the costume, graphic and stage objects. Introducing three concepts:

调 match to the class and life of a role

品 stylish

格 quintessential ; present the soul of a role

I think The Promise achieved 有调、有品、有格, except the trial in the ending, which is badly designed. Compared to The Promise, I say Hero’s costumes are 有调、有品、无格. But if anyone still remember the sword boxes of Broken Sword and Flying Snow, those are art.

[Ian_Lee]

Lately I watched some talk shows that invited some "Straight" society guys whom blasted "Brokeback Mountain" on pontificating gay values. Definitely this movie is controversial.

But unlike Lee's former Blockbuster movies, "Brokeback Mountain" is not the kind of movie that will make it in U.S. Box Office.

I doubt if Ang Lee is the best Chinese Director right now. Lee is famous in Hollywood. But in Europe, Wong Kar Wai seems to have more fame. Wong is just chosen as the Jury President for the next Cannes Film Festival.

[Song You Shen]

I think most straight guys would blast "Brokeback Mountain." I personally will not watch the movie... but that's just me.

Youshen

[studentyoung]

7、李安确实是华人第一导演。

Really? Ang Lee is good, but I just doubt whether he is the number one. Tsai, Mingliang 蔡明亮 has a good reputation in Europe for his unique style. In my opinion, I don’t think Tsai should be placed behind Lee.

Cheers!

[wushijiao]

I’ve read a lot about how bad this movie is, and how it was a huge waste of money, so I figured I had to see it, in the same sense that I had to see "Waterworld" in the theaters. Also, I really loved "Farwell My Concubine" and the "Emperor and the Assassin".

Anyway, although this wasn’t a great movie, I must admit, I did kind of enjoy it. Part of that is due to the fact that I came into the theater with tremendously low expectations. The movie had some strengths. Color was brilliantly used. The scenery was breathtaking (some filmed in near “Shangri-la” (near 中甸 if I’m not mistaken). At first I thought the acting was almost hilariously bad, but by the end I admired the performances of all the major characters, especially Jang Dong-gun and Cecilia Cheung’s performances.

However, to some degree, the film suffers from a sort of cheesy weirdness, and also somewhat sub-par special effects. The tone of the movie was a bit strange too. At first I thought it was awful. Then I thought it was going to be a "Pirates of the Caribbean" action movie, in which they wink at you with a post-modern self-conscious awareness. But they didn’t do that. In the end, I felt it tried to have the solemn epic tone of one of the prequel "Star Wars" movies, which is a bit regrettable.

Still, like I said, the movie does have its redeeming qualities. I think the movie also raises some ambiguous questions that critics are left to ponder. To what degree should one be loyal to a corrupted ruler? Do the 雪国人 represent Chinese people? If so, who is oppressing them? To what degree can you blame a common person for working with an occupying force (being a 卖国贼) when he has no alternative? To what degree is oppression and mental slavery self-constructed and self-inflicted? Anyway, these questions also add a bit to the viewing experience.

.

[wushijiao]

Someone made a pretty funny satire of 无极. It's also a pretty good satire of the news formats, and other things. It's called 一个馒头引发的血案．

I found a version at this random website:

http://bbs.cfanclub.net/dispbbs.asp?boardID=23&ID=521248

[Outofin]

I have seen it before. Very funny. A little too long for an amateur work, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The guy even started a forum on video editing. www.1mantou.com/forum

[little_golden_panda]

Does anyone know if this is going to be released in the UK anywhere?

[Ian_Lee]

I just watched its DVD last night.

My comment is that Chen Kaige was 扮野 (Cantonese colloquial) in the movie.

Everything is so faked in the movie -- even including the compassion of the main characters. I think most audience would not be even a little bit moved by the love Cecilia Cheung embraced towards Sanada Hiroyki and Jang Dong Kun at the end of the movie.

The problem with this movie is that Chen wanted to make an art-house movie as well as a commercial movie. But he failed. And apparently he aimed for Oscar. The supporting crew includes Peter Pau (Best Oscar Cinematography from CTHD) and Tim Yip (Best Oscar Costume Design from CTHD).

However, like Zhang Yimou, the more intentionally he strived for those major film awards, the farther Chen is away from them.

And does anybody motice that the scene the General got lost in the jungle and came across the witch/angel whom told the prophecy is straightly copied from Shakespeare's Macbeth?

Another interesting phenomenon is that why is there no nationalistic uproar over the love scene between Cecilia Cheung and Sanada in this movie while there is so much @#$%^&^* over the love scene between Zhang Ziyi and Watanabe in "Memoirs of a Geisha"?

[Lu]

Cheung doesn't play a whore, and the general is not Japanese in the movie. That might help.

[Ian_Lee]

Lu:

Thanks for correcting my mistake. Cecilia Cheung was going to bed with 劉燁. I seldom watch Mainland movies and can't recognize him:wall

[skylee]

But that is not 劉燁. That is Sanada Hiroyuki 真田廣之. But his role is not a Japanese.

[Ian_Lee]

Skylee:

Now I got confused by Lu and you. Whom did Cecilia Cheung go to bed with? 劉燁 or 真田廣之?

I have to confess this is the first time I watched 劉燁 and 真田廣之 in the movie.

So if it is no big deal for Cecilia Cheung going to bed with a Japanese actor, why is it a big deal for Zhang Ziyi going to bed with another Japanese actor?

That is all acting in the movie!

P.S. After reading your posts again, now I figure out what you two mean.

It is okay for Cecilia Cheung to go to bed with Sanada because Sanada's role in the movie is not a Japanese. It is not okay for Zhang Ziyi to go to bed with Watanable because Watanabe's role in the movie is a Japanese. Of course, that is not your logic. But that is the principal reason behind the nationalistic uproar in the Mainland-based forums.

[Lu]

Ian Lee: Yes, that's what I meant. And in addition to Sanada's role not being Japanese, Cheung is not playing a whore, whereas Zhang is (sort of). Chinese audiences might have less problems with a love affair between a Japanese and a Chinese than with a Chinese selling her body to a Japanese.

And you're also right that the logic used in Mainland forums to condemn Memoirs... is not my logic, but who am I to argue with the Chinese.