Posted by J. Robert Parks
I mentioned to someone yesterday how much simpler it is to write reviews of films you loathe than of ones you love. Sarcasm and nasty criticism make for deliciously easy writing. Rave reviews, on the other hand, are much, much harder. If you’re not careful, it's easy to sound like a gushing teenager describing his favorite band.
All that to say, please excuse me if I slip into gushdom over the latest film by Singapore director Eric Khoo. Be with Me is one of those rare films that's both rigorous and deeply moving. Featuring little dialogue (though a fair amount of on-screen text), it constructs its stories from careful observation, gorgeous widescreen compositions, and a beautiful mix of music and ambient sound. Khoo combines close ups of faces and food with long shots of people in an urban setting. He also tracks various storylines in fascinating ways--a teen girl falls in love with a girl she meets online, an overweight security guard obsesses over a gorgeous professional he sees every day, an old man takes food to his wife in the hospital, and a deaf-and-blind woman makes her way through the day while writing her autobiography, which is also a treatise on love, both earthly and heavenly. That last thread becomes more prominent as the movie goes on, but Khoo never allows it to slip into sentimentality. And by keeping such control, he makes the themes of communication and love (both gained and lost) so much more powerful. Unfortunately, the multiple narratives don't come together as seamlessly as I'd like, but the film's final sequence is so profound and profoundly affecting that I didn't much care. "Be with me, my beloved love, that my smile may not fade." four 1/2, out of five
Hou Hsaio-hsien's latest film, Three Times, had a tough act to follow and, for me at least, it didn't live up to my hopes. Structured in three non-chronological parts, Hou revisits his themes of history, women struggling against societal norms, and disaffected youth. Few directors can rival Hou's visual eye and flair for lighting, and he's more than ably assisted here by cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bin. For my friend Garth, those ravishing images were enough, as he got swept along in Hou's grandeur. I found the film gorgeous but inert, and I say this as someone who's loved Hou's earlier films such as Flowers of Shanghai and Good Men, Good Women. The pacing in those films was obviously slow, but Hou built to something beautiful and provocative. Three Times doesn't go particularly anywhere, and I got more frustrated, especially in the final section, which seems like a re-hash of Hou's earlier tomes on young adult ennui (Goodbye, South Goodbye and Millennium Mambo). It doesn't help that there are some surprisingly clunky moments that indicate Hou might not be in full control. In the first section, a young man and woman fall in love. And in the ultimate scene, they tentatively prepare to hold hands. But instead of shooting in a slow-building long take, Hou abruptly cuts to a close up of the hands in shallow focus. As if he needs to pander to his audience with a big moment. Then towards the end of the film, one character writes a climactic email. For no reason at all (at least narratively speaking), Hou has the character read the entire thing out loud, even though just a few minutes later we'll get to read it for ourselves. These are not the sort of miscues I expect from Hou. Furthermore, the second section is a period piece that almost feels like outtakes from Flowers of Shanghai, while numerous critics have noted how much the first section feels like Wong Kar-wai redux, especially in its use of music. two 1/2, out of five
I continued the day's Asian theme, as I left Taiwan for the emotionally sunnier climes of Japan. Linda, Linda, Linda is an exceedingly charming tale of four teen girls trying to learn a pop song for their high school's talent show. Director and co-screenwriter Nobuhiro Yamashita has a great ear for how teenagers interact with each other--from their petty disagreements which get blown all out of proportion to their infatuations which are so easy to indulge but so hard to divulge. The central figure and lead singer in the group, Son (Bae Doona), is a Korean exchange student who hilariously tries to fit in with both her new friends and the school at large, while the other three Japanese girls try to learn their instruments and deal with the hurt feelings of friends who weren't invited. Secondary characters like a pair of budding filmmakers and a befuddled teacher provide both appropriate background and wonderful comic relief. Those expecting anything much deeper than an engaging story will be disappointed, and the buildup to the big concert doesn't quite pay off (when will directors learn how to film concert crowds?). But the good will generated in the film's first 100 minutes more than make up for it. And I've been singing the titular chorus ("Linda-Linda...Linda-Linda-Linda") for the last three days. three 1/2, out of five
From Japan to mainland China, Sunflower is a familial epic that portrays the relationship of a father and son over the course of 30+ years. Beginning in 1967 with the birth of Xiangyang, it quickly skips ahead to the pivotal year of 1976. His father, Gengnian (Sun Haiying), has just returned home from six years at a labor camp, and his son recognizes neither him nor his authority. Even worse, Gengnian's gift as a painter has been destroyed by the brutal beatings at the camp. So the father, recognizing that his son has some talent for drawing, decides to become the teacher instead of the artist. Predictable, if still powerful, clashes ensue. This first major section is the best of the three, in part because Zhang Fan is fantastic as the nine-year-old boy and has great chemistry with Sun. But the film also takes its time to develop the setting and characters. When it skips ahead to 1987 and then 1999, it becomes more plot-heavy and not as interesting. Still, the central conflict between son and father is powerfully depicted, and director Zhang Yang wisely refuses to minimize either character's faults and inherent stubbornness. That's not to say Zhang can't resist several sentimental flourishes (the music in the movie's last half is particularly insipid), but the audience I was with appeared to appreciate those touches; otherwise, the story might've been too difficult for them. The movie's political frame trots out the big events of the time--Cultural Revolution, death of Mao and overthrow of the Gang of Four, China's rapid expansion in the late '90s--with relative ease, though it's not clear (to this non-Chinese viewer at least) whether Zhang has anything much to say about contemporary politics. Still, he (working in semi-autobiographical mode) certainly has something to say about fathers and sons. three 1/2, out of five
And finally, we end up in South Korea, with another domestic drama, this one entitled Sa-Kwa. It stars the brilliant Korean actress Moon So-ri, who is just as good here as she was in the flashier role in Oasis. Her character this time is a normal young professional woman named Hyun-jung who thinks she's about to get engaged. Instead, her selfish boyfriend dumps her, depressing both Hyun-jung and her overbearing mother. Hyun-jung can't stay single for long, though, and she's soon dating Sang-hoon, a co-worker who has been persistently asking her on dates for months. The two don't have much in common (he's an outdoorsman, she likes to shop), but they don't foresee any better options, and they quickly decide to get married. The rest of the film tracks their marriage, and what happens to two souls who aren’t quite right for each other. In his pre-film comments, director Kang Yi-kwan dedicated the movie to anyone who's been in love, is in love, or will be in love, and the movie is certainly an antidote to foolish infatuation. It's not a downer, though, in part because of Moon's radiant performance. She is one of the finest actresses in the world, and her expressive face can exhibit any mood required. Her co-stars aren't anywhere near as good, though the actresses playing the mother and sister are saddled with hopelessly exaggerated characters who are supposed to provide comic relief but come across as shrill and unlikable. Fortunately, they recede in importance as the movie goes on and Moon So-ri takes center stage. Her performance grows in stature as her character grows in wisdom. And the themes of love and marriage translate beautifully across boundaries. three 1/2, out of five
Who knew that of the five Asian movies on today's program, my least favorite would be from Hou Hsaio-hsien. Tomorrow shifts to other continents, for four movies that could be hit or miss.
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