It’s the 4th of July and what better way to celebrate American independence than watching Asian cinema? I promised pix a verdict and I always keep my promises. As we get deeper in the bracket, I expect more greatness so I went in with high expectations. Keep that in mind when I discuss these movies.
The Story of Qiu Ju Director Zhang Yimou is a favorite of the bracket and for good reason. He’s made some of the most gorgeous and emotional films in the bracket. I sat down anticipating something great and what I got was okay. As I read up on this film, I’m not sure if I’m missing something because it seems well-regarded and picked up some decent awards.
The film is the titular character’s quest for justice when the government chief kicks her husband in the nuts. As she pursues her lofty ideas of justice, it quickly becomes a deconstruction of government bureaucracy. Even nearing the end of her pregnancy, she continues the quest for some higher power to bring justice.
Gong Li gives a decent performance here, but I felt like the camerawork didn’t do her a lot of favors. Most of her performance is more about the physicality of acting pregnant with a lot of medium shots and generally reserved acting. She given much better performances in this bracket.
I can relate to the sentiment of the character a lot, but the tone is so flat. It lacks the emotional punches I expected from Yimou’s films. I looked it up, and it’s classified as a comedy on IMDb, but if it is, I never laughed. There’s a detached, muted tone to the whole proceedings which I could see working for another filmmaker as sort of comment on the dehumanization the whole process brings, but the story never feels like it’s grinding these characters down.
The film is pretty to look at. The style can be muted but there are some great landscapes and solid camerawork. I’m not sure if I had the wrong expectations or if even seeing this cold I would have felt the same way. It’s not bad, I just couldn’t help but think that Kiarostami seems to have made a few films that feel like this, but actually made me think and feel in a way this film never could.
Moving (Ohikkoshi) I was enticed by this film when I saw pix post some screens in the resurrection review. I feel like he might have cherry picked a lot of the best shots because it wasn’t as gorgeous as I expected it to be. Don’t get me wrong, it still looks great and I love how vibrant colors are used in some scenes to catch your attention, it’s just there are lots of shots that aren’t quite as rich as others.
The actual content of the film is rather pedantic. A married couple separates and Renko (Tomoko Tabata) finds herself slowly finding the new arrangement troubling. She lives with her mom when it’s clear she prefers her dad. She doesn’t tell anyone because she’s one of the girls bullying another girl for her parent's divorce. As she tries to wrestle with this new life, her parents continue their own separate lives.
The story beats are rather paint by the numbers but it generally flows by well enough. Until the last act. I get what the film is trying to do, but it feels a bit overblown. The final act does get at what makes Moving interesting: it’s attempt to use visuals to convey the emotions. Not all the visual moments work, but enough land to make the film decent enough.
It’s not nearly as moving as I was expecting it to be. Her parents aren’t fleshed out enough for me and I never felt devastated by her situation. I had to keep reminding myself that Renko was likely acting out as a child would, but I never felt immersed enough in who she was and getting that child perspective to root for her. I felt indifferent to the entire cast. They’re painted generally enough to play out their role, but not much more than that.
Verdict: I think high expectations soiled this matchup for me. Neither film is poor, but neither evokes any sort of strong reaction from me. I could swing either way on these films, but I have to make a choice and I think Moving is the more interesting film. It tries to do more with its visuals and is more tonally sound. Plus, it’s hard for me not to think of how much better the other Zhang Yimou films in the bracket are and how I’d much rather champion something a bit off the beaten track that other people are less likely to see otherwise. Moving moves on to the next round.