Author Topic: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 561688 times)

Sandy

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2340 on: January 18, 2017, 09:09:24 PM »

If this is a history lesson, it’s not very forthcoming. The stories intertwine, sort of, and play off each other, sort of, but there’s a sense of emic filmmaking throughout. I don’t think the film is made for me, someone who’s not versed in the Taiwanese past. Instead, it’s for those who are in the know, those who will fill in the gaps of narrative and find meaning in therein. The cloudy concepts I am able to pull from it are distrust, nationalistic fervor, unrest and a modern emptiness for not looking to the past for the lessons learned there. Other than that, there is some interesting static shots and some not so interesting ones, but mostly this film is an exercise in patience. Had I known it was from the director who made The Puppetmaster, I might not have chosen it, because I had a very hard time finishing that movie.




“You’ll get used to it here soon. The cage will become invisible. You’ll only see things you wanna see. That is your strength. You are not living inside the cage. Instead, people outside are trapped by the cage."

Instead of leaving me outside looking in, like my experience with Good Men, Good Women, this movie brings me right in and virtually gives me my own cage/living space to hang out in, while meeting and greeting the inhabitants of this type of residence. And, unlike the static camera in the other movie, this camera is constantly on the move, bringing me around corners and over heads to get a better view. So fluidly, it follows conversations of men and brings in more, as others voices chimed in. Color me impressed.

This is a movie I would have liked to watch with oldkid. I want to know what he thinks of this type of dwelling. Maybe I’ve seen enough homeless people who have been continually moved and have had their possessions taken from them, to make me wish they at least had somewhere safe to keep their things and to sleep at night. I find myself wondering if this lifestyle may have some answers to the way things are done in the U.S. I for sure would like to see a larger space for each person and for it to look less like a cage, but the security, the economy and the sense of community this movie shows me, holds great value. Again, color me impressed.



No surprise here. Cageman moves on.
« Last Edit: March 22, 2020, 04:28:07 PM by Sandy »

pixote

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2341 on: January 18, 2017, 09:15:29 PM »
Yeah, Good Men, Good Women is pretty dense and not for everyone. I assume "emic filmmaking" is a typo for "emetic", lol.

Cageman seems to be the ultimate dark horse in his bracket. I didn't think it'd make it out of round one, based on reputation and the version quality available to us back then, yet here it is advancing to the final bracket of 32!

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BlueVoid

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2342 on: January 18, 2017, 09:17:29 PM »
Loved the write-ups Sandy! Cageman sounds great-- hadn't been one I was interested in until now.
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smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2343 on: January 18, 2017, 11:07:02 PM »
Had I known it was from the director who made The Puppetmaster, I might not have chosen it, because I had a very hard time finishing that movie.

Had I known/remembered you had a very hard time finishing it, I probably wouldn't have chosen it for my current match up. Oh well, too late now! :))

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No surprise here. Cageman moves on.

I'm not much of an advocate for Cageman, but I've seen a lot worse for this bracket, and don't mind seeing it move on. Well done

Sandy

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2344 on: January 19, 2017, 01:59:46 AM »
Yeah, Good Men, Good Women is pretty dense and not for everyone. I assume "emic filmmaking" is a typo for "emetic", lol.

That works too! :D

Actually there were a few somewhat sexy scenes in this, so it wasn't a total loss. Emic just means observation within a culture, as apposed to etic, which would be me, observing from outside it.

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Cageman seems to be the ultimate dark horse in his bracket. I didn't think it'd make it out of round one, based on reputation and the version quality available to us back then, yet here it is advancing to the final bracket of 32!

pixote

It took a while for me to get into the film, but about halfway through I realized I wanted to continue on with the story. It's not going anywhere fast, though.

Loved the write-ups Sandy! Cageman sounds great-- hadn't been one I was interested in until now.

Hi BlueVoid! Thanks. :)

Had I known/remembered you had a very hard time finishing it, I probably wouldn't have chosen it for my current match up. Oh well, too late now! :))

:))

When I saw you had picked it, I whispered under my breath. "I'm so sorry, smirnoff."

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I'm not much of an advocate for Cageman, but I've seen a lot worse for this bracket, and don't mind seeing it move on. Well done

Thanks! I enjoyed your review. I like getting to go back and see how the movie fared, after I watch and write something about it. Each of the reviews echoed my own experience with it. It's a pretty straight forward movie.

oldkid

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2345 on: January 19, 2017, 02:12:59 AM »
Cageman sounds interesting.  Perhaps I will get to see it.  I'll see if I can get it in the next round.
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Jared

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2346 on: January 19, 2017, 12:22:58 PM »
Cageman seems to be the ultimate dark horse in his bracket. I didn't think it'd make it out of round one, based on reputation and the version quality available to us back then, yet here it is advancing to the final bracket of 32!

Not just advancing over easy match-ups either. It's knocked out a Yimou Zhang (my bad) and a Triple H movie! Having advanced both of Sandy's movies, I agree with this verdict myself.

BlueVoid

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2347 on: January 21, 2017, 11:47:12 PM »
Made in Hong Kong VS. Sleeping Man



Fruit Chan is an interesting director. He is lauded as being crucial to Hong Kong independent cinema, and 'Made in Hong Kong' is the main reason why. It is the film that launched him to fame, being made with non-actors, a shoe-string budget and left over stock footage. Having been an AD for years prior, this was his big break, and it's no wonder that this is what triggered his success and elevated to be one of Hong Kong's most promising film makers.

It tells the story of Moon, who is an aimless youth in Hong Kong. He spends most of his days hanging around public spaces like the basketball courts with his mentally challenged friend Sylvester. His family life is falling apart and he can't hold a job and is turning to a the life of crime. He works part time for a Triad group collecting debts. It's during one of his assignments that he meets Ping, who he falls for and he starts to rethink his purpose in life.

This feels like a movie made from the directors passion. It's packed with little tangents and unique moments. The camera is restless, almost constantly moving. It felt like Chan had been building up shots he wanted to put in a movie for years and it all came spilling out here. Sometimes to success and sometimes it came off messy and erratic. He tries to put style into every frame, and for the most part is successful.

It's a very uneven movie. There are some moments of sheer brilliance, and other times amateurish. The overall mood conveyed is what makes the movie work. The feeling of abandonment and angst is consistent even when the film making falters. In Fruit Chan's Hong Kong, its the youth who rule. Adults are flaky, selfish, dishonest and cowardly. The young people are shown in charge, being bold and taking charge. Even if it means they go out before their time, at least they have convictions.

This was the first movie in the '1997 Trilogy', and I have also seen the last, "Little Cheung". I specifically did not like Chan's directing style or choices in that film and it ruined it for me. While his erratic camera, naturalistic style and overly vulgar imagery are present in both, they work to much more success here. It's not without its significant flaws, but it never let up in its pace and left an overall impression of being significant.






I fell in love with this movie in the first 15 minutes. It is absolutely beautiful and poetic. Scenes are immaculately framed, and the lighting and movements are stylized. How did I not know about this gem before? Not too far in there is a wonderful scene of a woman singing in a bar and the lights go out. It's almost at this exact moment where the movie comes to a screeching halt. I sat bored through the rest of it and realized why it's not a beloved classic.

There is almost no plot to speak of. It takes place in an unspecified small town in Japan nestled between large mountains and sea. At some point before the movie begins a man has gone into a coma. People the town are fascinated with him and care for him and gossip about him. Thats it. That's the entire movie.

I want to highlight and underscore how gorgeous the movie is. The camera is almost entirely static except for a couple of scenes midway through. Each shot is meticulously constructed and framed with stunning lighting. The actors move incredibly slowly and speak incredibly slowly. The film is more a visual poem then anything. An incredibly slow, low energy poem.

The static shots are drawn out with little happening. Even when someone does talk, it's not about anything interesting or even insightful. This struck me. If the movie was to be lyrical could there at least be meaningful dialog. I cannot stress enough the lack of anything happening. Locations are not set up, characters are hardly introduced and their relationships not established. It was incredibly challenging to stay focused.

I feel like a film can be anything it wants to be. I once watched an experimental film that was a literally a static shot of a room over the course of time. This movie is not much more interesting. Shots in this film could be used in lectures about framing and composition, but it doesn't lead to it being a meaningful experience.



Verdict: Both movies have a very distinct style, but completely opposite approach. Where one is lethargic and stationary, the other frenetic and the camera almost never stop moving. One had a somewhat cohesive point and one I nodded off a couple times watching. It's quite possible I'm missing the hidden genius in 'Sleeping Man', but I do see the obvious appeal in Made in Hong Kong, and it moves on.
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Jared

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2348 on: January 22, 2017, 12:39:23 PM »
Nice write ups. Happy with your choice too, I felt bad about picking against that movie but it was going against Tsai in my matchup

BlueVoid

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #2349 on: January 22, 2017, 03:51:53 PM »
Nice write ups. Happy with your choice too, I felt bad about picking against that movie but it was going against Tsai in my matchup

I would have made the same choice. :)
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