Author Topic: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 561576 times)

duder

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4404
Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #720 on: July 09, 2009, 10:32:23 PM »
The video quality looks waaaaaaaaaay above the average for this bracket.
 
It's a good looking movie, too, I'll give it that.







...

Melvil

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9977
  • Eek
Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #721 on: July 09, 2009, 10:57:29 PM »
Quote from: duder
If this setup sounds stupid and contrived, it's because it is.
Actually I was thinking 'this is sounding pretty good'... and then you squashed it :)

I was thinking the same thing. And it does look really nice.

I like the idea of an epic 45 minute rescue. Sounds pretty awesome. ;D

edgar00

  • 00 Agent
  • Objectively Awesome
  • *
  • Posts: 12131
  • corndogs are better than Die Another Day
    • Between The Seats
Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #722 on: July 10, 2009, 11:25:27 AM »
Wouldn't The Lake House be the American version of Love Letter? I haven't seen either so I could be way off.
-Le Chiffre: You changed your shirt, Mr Bond. I hope our little game isn't causing you to perspire.

-James Bond: A little. But I won't consider myself to be in trouble until I start weeping blood.

https://twitter.com/Betweentheseats
http://crabkeyheadquarters.wordpress.com/

duder

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4404
Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #723 on: July 10, 2009, 11:37:30 AM »
Wouldn't The Lake House be the American version of Love Letter?
No, The Lake House is the American version of Il Mare :P

(but no, not the same plot at all)
...

Tequila

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 11143
Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #724 on: July 10, 2009, 11:42:13 AM »
My thoughts exactly when I saw that shot of the mailbox.
'What am I doing? I'm quietly judging you'
http://letterboxd.com/Tagave/

smirnoff

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 26251
    • smirnoff's Top 100
Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #725 on: July 10, 2009, 04:40:28 PM »
Ermo

Beware the evils of western civilization!

That's the message of the movie imo, but thankfully it's not quite so blatant ;). Ermo is a wife and mother. She's a noodle maker by night and a noodle saleswoman by day. Every evening she goes through her noodle making routine.





And every day she tries to out shout the competition. "Noodles for sale!"



She's the breadwinner for the family. Her husband is too sick to do anything but maintain the household while she works. Their relationship is little more than an obligation. Their only child, a boy, spends his days at school and evenings at their neighbour's house watching the only television in town. This annoys Ermo. Her son is the only thing that seems to give her life meaning. As hard as she works it's to the neighbour's house that he runs every night after dinner.

One day in town, after selling all of her noodles, Ermo walks into an electronics store. She gets it in her head that if she can just save up enough money and buy the biggest TV available, everything will be better.



29"!!!!! ZOMG!  ;)


She starts working harder than ever. Really burning the candle at both ends. Working a second job, and even donating blood on a daily basis. Everything she can do for a few extra yuan.

"You're selling you blood! Are you trying to kill yourself?"


"It's okay, I drink three bowls of water before I go in. They get half blood, half water"


That's the real dialogue btw. It shows her determination, but also her country girl naivete. And as far as I can tell she really does drink all three bowls of water in that scene. There's no cuts or camera tricks. It's quite impressive.

Eventually she does save up enough for the TV. When she gets it home she discovers she isn't any happier for having bought it. She doesn't even watch it. She merely sits beside it, lifeless. Working towards buying the TV gave her a purpose in life that she didn't have before, but now that she has the TV she's back to feeling how she did when the whole thing started.

She refuses to take the sticker off. She thinks it's part of the TV.

The final scene is perhaps the most meaningful. The family sits sleeping in front of the TV. But suddenly the picture goes to fuzz, as if broken. Ermo wakes up and stares into the haze. The camera slowly zooms in closer and closer. The last line we hear is "Noodles for sale!". I guess you could interpret that in a couple ways, but I saw it as Ermo's purpose in life being renewed. The TV is broken and will need to be replaced. Time to wake up and get back to work. Such is the reality of being stuck in the consumer spin cycle. Your only reason for living is to buy more stuff. The film is an extreme but effective demonstration.



It's a nicely done film with a few interesting side stories that add a lot to the experience. At an hour and half long, I thought it was well worth seeing. 3/4


__________________________


Woman Sesame Oil Maker

Once upon a time, a girl named Xiang was sold as a bride. It was the only way her family could raise the money to pay off their debts. Xiang's own wishes didn't factor into it. Such was life for young girls of poor families in that time and place. Fast forward 20 years and we pick up where this film begins. Xiang is now a wife and mother. Her epileptic son Dunzi is 22 but has the mind of a toddler. Her husband is a drunk. She has a younger daughter as well. With their limited help, and the help of a few hired hands, they produce and sell sesame oil in their humble country village. Xiang has grown into a headstrong woman with good business sense, and thanks to her the family always has food on the table and a roof over their heads. They aren't rich by any means, but they enjoy a level of prestige in the community. Xiang's family troubles and business matters fill her with concern, but she continues to do her duty and live the life that was chosen for her.

One day a Japanese woman comes to town. She's gotten wind that there is some very good sesame oil being made by one of the locals. She meets with Xiang, who gladly gives her a tour of their entire operation. The Japanese woman is impressed not only by the quality of the product, but by Xiang as well. Eventually an offer is made to invest in Xiang's business, which is of course accepted. The plan is to start small. One or two pieces of machinery are brought in to do the more grueling work, thereby increasing production. Then they'll ship the product to Japan to test the market there. It turns out to be a big hit. And soon plans are made to increase production yet again.

With the business booming, Xiang's family is earning a lot more than they used to. More than enough to pay for the essentials. Xiang, not being the materialistic type, starts to consider how she might spend this new money. She wonders if it might help her son to have a wife. For one thing, it would get him out of her hair. The problem is that nobody would take him for a husband under normal circumstances, because of his illness. She comes to the conclusion that she'll have to pay the family of the woman who is to be his wife. And I think now you can start to see where this is going.

There is a girl in town, Huanhuan, whose family is in debt and who is the right age for marraige, so Xiang proposes the deal. She'll pay off the family debt and in return Huanhuan must marry Dunzi. Worth noting is that Huanhuan herself decides to accept the deal. The marriage goes through, but it's immediately apparent that Huanhuan is unhappy. Not that she ever though it would be a pleasant marriage, but it's even worse than she was expecting. Dunzi is rough, not that he means to cause harm of course, but it's just his nature. And the marriage isn't merely hard on Huanhhuan physically, but emotionally too. She is lonely. Dunzi loves her, but only like a child loves his dolls. And Xiang is stern with her, partly because she expects her to do her duty, but I think also to inspire confidence. As if to say 'look at my situation, it's no different than yours, but here I am making the best of it. So buck up!'

But the truth is that Xiang is just as unhappy as Huanhuan. The difference is that Xiang has learned not to acknowledge her unhappiness, or rather has found a way to cope with it. For years she's been having an affair with her brother-in-law. And near the end of the film he decides to break things off without warning. This utterly devastates Xiang. Their affair was her only real pleasure in life. It allowed her escape or ignore her own fate, however briefly. And now it's been snatched away, like a rug from under her feet. Without it she is overwhelmed. Those unhappy and hopeless feelings she thought she'd come to terms with come rushing back. The stress of it all is so much it actually makes her sick. She spends the next few days in bed, followed by a boat ride to a quiet part of the lake where she just lays down and sobs for what is probably hours.

The next day Xiang is more composed. After her good cry, she appears to have adjusted to her new, more bitter, reality. She starts to give some thought to Huanhuan's situation, and her own part in it. The final scene is a real heart to heart talk between the two. It's not a terribly happy ending, but it's touching. Which I liked.


In writing about Woman Sesame Oil Maker I've come to appreciate it a little more than I did when I was watching it, and I quite liked it even then. It's kind of a slow movie, and the video quality is poor (made worse by a lot of night scenes), so when it ended I was kind of glad. But despite its pacing, I think it's a more interesting story than Ermo. I'd rate it the same, 3/4.

It was a very tough choice but Woman Sesame Oil Maker moves on to round two.

I would happily take Ermo over Madadayo, Talking Head, or Dr. Akagi, but that's just the way things matched up. Too bad for Ermo.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2016, 11:34:44 PM by smirnoff »

duder

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4404
Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #726 on: July 10, 2009, 05:11:48 PM »
Cool that you liked both movies, maybe you should have picked my next matchup ::) They sound good. Ermo especially, but that's probably only because there are more screenshots :)
...

smirnoff

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 26251
    • smirnoff's Top 100
Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #727 on: July 10, 2009, 05:24:56 PM »
Naturally :)

Melvil

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9977
  • Eek
Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #728 on: July 10, 2009, 08:31:44 PM »
Both sound pretty interesting and well-matched. I've been there on wanting to put both movies in a matchup ahead of winners from previous matchups, but such is the nature of the beast. :)

Tequila

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 11143
Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #729 on: July 10, 2009, 08:43:25 PM »
Yeah,but those are stupid rules. Unlike the US Bracket, there's, quite frankly, a lot of garbage in this one. Moving some of that stuff to the next round instead of the unlucky losers in high quality matchups seems like a bad idea. Maybe we should think of something there.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2009, 08:46:16 PM by Tequila »
'What am I doing? I'm quietly judging you'
http://letterboxd.com/Tagave/