YMDB Part Deux

[JakeA]

[sidehacker]

Good Men, Good Women (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1995) - 9/10 - September 16th

Sort of a warm-up to Millennium Mambo but still a masterpiece in it's own right. There's still signs of Hou's much more formal period piece drama but this is also where you start to see (or rather, hear) a lot more voice overs. All of them are totally beautiful and unpretentious in the best way possible. I think there should have been more focus on Annie Ioh's character since I found her far more compelling than that group of people who were trying to join the anti-Japanese resistance. In that story, there seems to be some sort of hint at something more educational which is almost always a turn-off. However, it was great idea on Hou's part to experiment a bit with color filters a la Zerkalo. The film definitely drags a lot, especially when it becomes a bit too talkative but I was basically into every single minute. It's always good to have moody images with poetic voiceovers.

[ottffsse]

Watch HHH's Goodbye South, Goodbye. It may be his best. It may become your favorite of his. Anyway's it's one of HHH's best.

[JakeA]

[sidehacker]

Goodbye South, Goodbye (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1996) - 8.75/10 - September 19th

Technically, right up there with the best of Hou's work. In fact, I'd say it might be his crowning technical achievement if only for the fantastic use of color filters (Terayama influence, maybe?) but I didn't find the narrative compelling in any sense. Don't get me wrong this is far more this just a nice film to look at but I found a lot of the gangster bullshit to be a little unsettling. All the characters are still fairly interesting and Hou fleshes almost all of them out with a minimum amount of dialogue. In this case, I actually think he took his success in Dust in the Wind to another level. In that film, it's the little glances that people give to each other that really resonated with me. Here, we actually see characters act up on these deep(er) feelings and the result may not be as emotional rewarding but it's still pretty great to watch. A perfect example is towards the beginning when Flatty all of sudden get pissed off and flips over a table. Somehow Hou's distanced and understated camera just works so well in such scenarios. He truly is a master.

[sidehacker]

The Devil, Probably (Robert Bresson, 1977) - 8.5/10 - September 22nd

More proof that Bresson perfected his personal vision with time. I really have no idea why it's so neglected. I suppose, along with perfecting the technically minimalistic approach, his actors began to seem less lively, beyond being deadpan. Maybe Balthazar is my favorite because it's the best of both worlds, the middle point of two extremes? His characters are incredibly passive AND fleshed out in that film where here, the acting borders on being mechanical at times. Ultimately, this works because you can sense that he still does care about his characters, regardless of the abstract acting.

[luckytourist]

You'd probably enjoy L'argent then, at least the most out of everything.

[sidehacker]

The Flowers of Shanghai (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1998) - 8.75/10 - September 24th

This actually exceeded my expectations. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I suppose I always associate period pieces with something very cold and factual but this is basically the exact opposite. It's basically the minimalist version of Faces. Hou has always sort of had the knack for pulling something off. There's long sequences in both Dust in the Wind and Goodbye South, Goodbye that are pretty dialogue heavy in a good sense. The reason why this cannot resonate with me as deeply as I want it to is because it really could occur anywhere. The same can definitely be said about Cassavetes but I think he brings a sort of unpredictable excitement to every sequence. It fleshes out it's characters in a way that feels fast-paced but is essentially plotless. This, despite some wonderful moments, drags a bit. I mean, I sort of predicted that would happen, considering it's length. The real problem is that there's certain sequences (about 50% of the ones without Tony Leung) that I, perhaps unfairly, gave up on almost immediately. The film is at it's best when it's Wang struggling to talk to one of his many lovers. That, and when everyone is intoxicated and gossiping and laughing and so on. There's other scenes where the dialogue seems a bit too "perfect" and even worse, when two people who you've never seen before start talking. Maybe it's because there's too many characters (did I mention that already?) but the film feels awfully confusing at times, especially since it's suppose to be so simple and strip-downed. Maybe all I really wanted was for people to go outside? I was expecting there to be some sequence of amazing beauty when someone finally went outside that would bring everything together but nah, doesn't happen. It's not like I watch films and wait for certain things to happen but the best films, in my opinion, should compel you enough so that it sort of just flows. That didn't quite happen when I watched this and I think it's because it's a bit too minimalistic for it's own good at times. All these things considered, it's a masterpiece, definitely. There's just times where I think Hou could have made his film a bit less claustrophobic.

By the way, I know I'm using a lot of vague terminology but I think once you actually see this movie, you may sort of understand how I'm thinking. If I've ever written a review just based on a stream of consciousness, it's definitely this one.

[Sean P]

i found Flowers of Shanghai to be quite the period piece bore. and the way every scene was lit in red. a little lame. i still kinda liked it though and i gotta admit the dvd transfer was pretty terrible i think. i like Millineum Mambo and Three Times sooo much more.

[sidehacker]

I kinda like the sepia-tone look. I'd imagine it would be amazing to see in a movie theater.

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to Three Times but I'm going to force my way through The Puppetmaster before it.

[Sophie B.]

[JimmyChanga]

hey sidehacker! This movie log is a gem... i agree that "Flowers of Shanghai" is claustrophobic... that's the most apt word to describe it. I also LOVED Dust in the Wind. It's my favorite Hou although Puppetmaster isn't far behind. I can't wait till you see Puppetmaster, it's fantastic. I also loved Wayward Cloud but I thought What Time Is It There? was a tad bit better. Have you seen that one?

[sidehacker]

Ah, comments! It's been awhile since I've had any of those.

[Sophie B.]

I'm not arguing. I was just pointing out that though I had a similar relationship to the movie as you did I may have seen 1.) the narrative and 2.) the 'gangster' characters in a more positive light, possibly because of how I regarded the movie as a whole. Those two aspects of the movie seemed perfectly fitting to me.

I find some Hou movies to be extremely boring and difficult but when something clicks with me it clicks, and I just love love love it.

[sidehacker]

The Seventh Continent (Michael Haneke, 1989) - 9/10 - September 25th

Definitely my favorite Haneke so far, though I probably should give the others I've seen a rewatch. I'm not sure why but this one, visually, seemed far more impressive than anything I've seen from him. That might be because I like that cinematography that focuses on small objects - I dunno what it's called but Wong and Kieslowski do it a lot. This whole movie is basically filled with that type of style. I really like the editing too, especially since Haneke's style is otherwise associated with a more calculating pacing but I found this fairly easy to watch. There's so many great moments too, like the ending, hell, the final fifteen minutes in general.