YMDB Part Deux

[sidehacker]

The Puppetmaster (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1993) - 6/10 - September 29th

I'm sorry but I just don't see it. This is Hou so there's plenty of things I like about it, in fact I'd say that's it the purest example of Hou's filmmaking style but it's just so boring. I mean, there's plenty of really cool moments but the film seems to drag about 75% of the time. Really, the only time I can think Hou has fallen so flat is Cafe Lumiere but that feels like an fast-paced plot-heavy action film compared to this. Maybe it's because this feels more like a history lesson that needless to say, couldn't be less interesting. The film is in the academy ratio too which honestly seems sort of snobby to me especially considering how it doesn't apply to Hou's very visual and slow-moving style. To top it all off, the film is way too long.

[sidehacker]

Stolen Life (Shaohong Li, 2005) - 7.5/10 - September 28th

Flawed in almost every department but also in some ways, sort of cute and endearing. It has the look of a television show shot on digital, that is to say, that it's got the more crisp digital look where as the image on films like Unknown Pleasures and Bright Future is a bit more soft and rough. I actually think the later looks far better since the former seems to be give off a very melodramatic mood. The acting in the film definitely supports such a claim since every actor is fairly terrible. Except for Zhou Xun, who acts everyone else off the screen in a way that's almost frightening, the acting lacks the realism that it's obviously aiming for. Despite all it's flaws, I actually enjoyed this. This is most likely a result of Zhou Xun's great performance but I guess it was pretty compelling across the board. There's no doubt that in the hands of someone like Wong Kar-Wai (of who the director is clearly influenced by) this could have been a masterpiece.

[sidehacker]

71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (Michael Haneke, 1994) - 9.75/10 - September 28th

This is the total masterpiece that I was hoping to see from Haneke. The editing style truly is amazing. Even though it's pretty impressive in The Seventh Continent, it seems much more refined here. The way he fragments sequences and ends them in a very jarring manner gives the film a really odd, and almost condescending humor. At the same time, there's a firm emotional grasp on almost all of the characters. There's a scene about half-way through this when the homeless kid pretends to jump into the train and it sort of startled me. A few seconds later, there's a sequence where the mother tries to reach out to orphan but the child rejects. Maybe I'm trying too hard to make a connection but I found it quite odd that they presented in such quick succession. The sequence with the homeless kid is terrifying in a physical, ahem "surface level" way while the other sequence is equally just as terrifying but in a much deeper and emotional way. The whole movie is filled with really subtle and harrowing moments like that.

[JakeA]

I think maybe you should give Code Unknown a rewatch. It's so similar to 71 Fragments, but so much more refined, that i can't image you wouldn't like it more now.

[sidehacker]

Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, 1983) - 9/10 - September 29th

About as perfect as a film can be, but a tad bit tedious at times. I mean, the film essentially doesn't really go "anywhere" and there's moments, particularly half-way through the film where I felt like I understood what Marker was doing but didn't need certain sequences to exist. This is possibly because the first twenty minutes of the film are amazing, and totally beautiful. In that case, the film's flow is interrupted when the current sequence doesn't live up to the previous one which sadly, happens several times. Still, the movie is absolutely incredible and poignant in a fairly bizarre way. It's a true testament to Marker's ability that the film can be so powerful but still possess none of the aspects of a conventional film.

[JakeA]

I watched it with the English narration. I think for the purposes of the film, you need to be able to listen to it in a language you understand while giving your complete focal attention on the images. Which is why i think Marker had both versions recorded in the first place. He also had versions in Japanese and German recorded.

By the way, which parts did you feel interrupted the flow? The only weak(er) sequence i can think of is the part with the computerized footage, which is a little dated.

[sidehacker]

Les Amants (Louis Malle, 1958) - 7/10 - September 29th

A significant step back from Elevator to the Gallows which in all honesty, I really only love for it's surprising camp elements. This feels a bit more serious and unfortunately, sterile. Maybe even like Malle's attempt at imitating one of Buñuel's chamber dramas. It's actually fairly surprising to learn that Diary of a Chambermaid, which also features Moreau, was made after this. It seems now, that perhaps Buñuel saw this and decided to make his own funnier, lighter and for my money, better version. This is still pretty interesting, though, if only for the great cinematography.

[Sean P]

you should see Malle's Black Moon and Murmur of the Heart. both are fantastic.

[PimpPanda]

[sidehacker]

Hollywood Hong Kong (Fruit Chan, 2001) - 7.5/10 - October 3rd

I hate to say it, but I'm really frustrated with Mr. Chan lately. It seems that with every one of his films that I view I begin to like him less and less. This, like all of his other films, definitely shows glipses of greatness but is again dragged down by an otherwise unimportant element. Where as, these little details were able to be ignored in his previous films, it's just far too overbearing here. I can't even understand what he's trying to do. There's a scene early in the film of this really beautiful shot of this girl walking through the streets but then a second a later we have a corny as hell slow motion sequence of the same girl and some other guy running through the streets. God, what a fucking depressing juxtaposition but at the same time it seems to perfectly represent how I feel about Chan as a whole. He's able to create moments that are just amazing, yet follow them up with really sappy and bad ones. It should be also noted that the music is really terrible here, as well. Chan never picks good music, but it's exceptionally terrible in this case and only adds to the film's very whimsical tone. Which brings me to my next point, there's now a new problem with Chan - he almost crosses the line into some campy Greenaway-esque zone, which, in my opinion, is the exact opposite of why I was impressed with Chan to begin with. This isn't to say I didn't enjoy watching the movie, I actually did and would probably consider it "good" but I'm still being a bit too soft on Chan. It's really inexcusable that he has had to revert back to stuff like this when he is obviously capable of so much more. It's also sort of sad to see the great Zhou Xun do her best with a really underwritten character. I wish I could see her in something great.

[snb]

So where's that Beekeeper review? :p

[Sean P]

[Chaco Salvaje]

I also prefer Good Men, Good Women to Goodbye South, Goodbye.

I plan on watching Dust in the Wind soon.

[sidehacker]

A City of Sadness (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1989) - 9.75/10 - October 4th

Hou and Leung - it doesn't get much better than this. Perfect example of why cinema exists, blahblahblahblah.

[Ulveman]