Holiday greetings

Holiday greetings 

12/8/2019

This holiday season we have some thoughts to share with you

閒話電影

閒話電影

8/30/2019

這則閒話電影是多年之前寫的 (8/30/2007):

有一回在「光點台北」電影院的月册中讀到一則「影評、影展及影痴」這個資訊，以下針對「影痴」所描述的特徵：

1. 依看片頻率分每週 1 - 3 部 （電影或 DVD 都算在內）

2. 每年會做年度最佳影片之類的排行

3. 經常會打分數、做記號、寫評語等等

4. 會期許成為同儕之間的意見領袖（大家都來問他電影資訊）

5. 期望別人能在看完電影獲得相同或類似感受

仔細想想，自己每一項都能對號入座，肯定是名副其實的「影痴」無疑了。當影痴可沒什麼好處，到目前為止我收集的正版影片已超過三百部，花錢不算，光是出借沒回來的就有不少，的確不上算。

從年初開始辦了幾個電影欣賞會，雖說是自己的興趣想與人共享，但組織此類活動不僅曠日費時，人家還不當回事。上回在 Amy 家那次的電影會，她和 Larry 兩人花了好些工夫佈置放映廳的各種裝備，還審查了幾部我推薦之影片，十分的慎重其事。當日卻只來了五位賓客，加上主人和主辦人我自己共得八人觀影，說起來付出與所得實在不成比例。

然而痴人是不計較這些的。我弟弟今晨打電話來請我推薦一些華語影片，放下電話立馬下筆列了五十部華語片的名單。這當中也加入了近日在 Amy 家看過的華語及蒙古電影「註一」。

香港電影協會 2000年時出了一本「經典200 - 最佳華語電影200部」，涵蓋了在 2000年之前所拍攝的華語影片。如今又過了七個年頭，我自行列入了近幾年來的華語好片近 20 部，包括兩岸三地外加蒙古、新加坡及在美國拍攝的華人影片「註二」，這是自己編排自娛的。

註一：王全安導演「圖雅的婚事」，在內蒙拍攝，説的是華語（普通話）。

註二：Byambasuren 所拍攝的「哭泣的駱駝」"The Weeping Camel" 及「小黃狗的窩」"Cave of the Yellow Dog" 為蒙古片講的是蒙語。新加坡導演梁智強的「小孩不笨」和「小孩不笨 ll」中主要講華語，包括普通話、閩南語，還包括了英語及馬來語。新加坡人口語博雜，且經常混在一起講，因而得了"Singlish" 之美名。

3/01/2017

「後註」：沒想到電影欣賞會一辦就辦了十年，最後一次活動是在 2016 年十一月放映美國經典歌舞片 "Top Hat".  數年來參加人數持續增加，後來的兩三季每次活動接近二十人，因此改以 evite 報名，參加人數視場地而有上限。

Grace

The White Snake - a drama play based on a Chinese fable

“The White Snake”

記「白蛇傳」觀後

    9/4/2019

In a quiet corner nestled in tall redwood trees an open air stage set up for theatre lovers in the Sanborn Park of Saratoga, an unusual show was being played out in front of a full capacity crowd.  The name of the theater is Silicon Valley Shakespeare Theater.  Being a Shakespearean Theater, it’s quite refreshing to see something different on stage this time, the Play is based on a fable from China more than a thousand years ago.  “The White Snake”  belongs to an oral storytelling tradition and in essence a love story comparable to “ Cinderella “ which was enjoyed in many parts of the world for the longest time ever.

Unlike “MacBeth or “Hamlet”,  “The White Snake”「白蛇傳」 is not well known outside Chinese or some other East Asian populations such as Japanese.  It is harder to relate concepts of various elements in Chinese fable convention and to explain away certain routines of a traditional Chinese opera on a stage set.  For example, one actor serving as narrator, from time to time, came out on stage with a book which he read from: “according to the secret book of Chinese drama (of course there’s no such book in existence)” and recited how guest and host should interact in terms of common decorum of when to greet and when and where to sit respectively.  It was close to nonsensical yet all for a laugh!  

For those who came in with knowledge of the legend and Chinese culture these may not go down easily. However, you will enjoy many comedic surprises and theatrical innovations by keeping an open mind.  

The narrative style is interesting by making the ensemble cast take turn to become narrators.  The play opens by a narrator saying: there are several versions of plots in the story, while the statement is true, the version we would witness might not belong to any of them.  It is quite another animal indeed!  

I thought it a smart idea to make a comedy out of it with a bit distortion in deeds and facts with abundant deviation from the original version.  The whole production was rendered more like a slapstick *, invariably exaggerated facial expression and gestures, entertaining enough and definitely more accessible to the western audiences.  BTW, the crowd we were with is predominately white likely due to the location of the theater. The cast is however a mixture of races more in line with the current demographic constituency of California. 

Overall I think it a job well done.  I sat in the first row so no problem hearing what the actors were saying or singing.  Although some audience in the back complained about the audio level not reaching far enough in the compound.

As a matter of fact I thought the stage props and costumes are very nicely done, thanks to the behind the scene crew which equals the numbers if not more than those appearing on stage.

What a treat in a mid-summer evening!

Grace 

Osamu Tezukai 手塚治蟲

手塚治蟲

Osama Tezuka
(1928 - 1989)

Post date : 8/24/2019

小時愛看漫畫書，一路看看到了手塚治蟲的漫畫故事書，從此不想再看其他漫畫。這好比當年讀武俠小說，讀到金庸的「射鵰英雄傳」，從此除卻巫山不是雲。

七八年前偕母訪日。母親年輕時留學日本，舊地重遊，説她帶我去或許更正確。關西那麼多名勝，團友們紛紛擎著相機拍攝著名的京都鐵塔及其他地標。近傍有個手塚治蟲紀念館，留連徘徊之際拍了數張相片。若非跟團隊旅遊怕掉隊，肯定入館好好瞧瞧這位日本漫畫大師等身的不少作品展示。

除了影響二戰後近半世紀的日本漫畫界，榮獲日本漫畫之父美名，他的蟲公司還開創了日本動畫電視節目。猶記看過他主導的日本第一部動畫影片 Animé「孫悟空」，雖然並非他的佳作，卻帶動了日本動畫影片在世界動畫舞台數十年來的一片好景。

今天提起日本漫畫 Manga 和日本動畫片 Animé 可説無人不知無人不曉，尤其年輕的一代。八零年代在中文學校教過的一個學生，如今已是位名漫畫家，他的作品 a graphic novel ”American born Chinese” 為其代表作之一。

以上是我參考 Wikipedia 加上個人記憶寫的手塚治蟲簡介。下邊是京都紀念館門前的看版中，他創作漫畫人物集錦的照片。其中最有名的應該是 Astro boy, 台灣譯成「原子小金剛」，曾拍成影集外銷（至國外，包括美國）

Grace 

Man -fei, a documentary

《羅曼菲》

Man-fei, a documentary 

2017  導演 - 陳懷恩

Originally written July 17, 2019 

revised w/updated information and photo March 31, 2020

The tribute to dancer Man-fei 曼菲 was embodied in her dance “ 輓歌 - an elegy” where she dances by circling round and round on toes without pausing throughout the entire piece of her performance.  The dance first appeared in the film when she was inside the studio practicing with her back facing the photographer ( thus us the viewers.)  I thought the movie could have ended toward the end of film when “輓歌 - an elegy” was performed on stage years later as an elegy to her.  A statue of her dancing this number* was placed at two locations commemorating her achievement in dance …….(see link* below)

   https://www.ettoday.net/news/20210916/2080796.htm

 *紀念羅曼菲66歲冥誕，她是台灣傳奇的舞蹈家、編舞家，曾任雲門舞集2藝術總監、藝術學院舞蹈系主任等，一生為舞奉獻。而她的舞姿也化成雕像「旋的冥想」，由雕塑家林健成製作，一尊位於宜蘭縣政府文化局宜蘭演藝廳，另一尊則位於淡水雲門劇場的荷花池中永恆翩舞 ET Today 新聞雲 

Photo courtesy : Kathleen Y

Strangely enough, Man-fei 羅曼菲 only showed her face in the film a few times, we knew she past away nearly 15 years earlier (in 2017) and was not available for live footage in this documentary.  Yet we palpably felt her presence all along.  The scene showing her practice in the studio earlier in the film is thus carved in our collective memory which is an excellently executed scene by director 陳懷恩。

Another film I discussed on SVMLC forum in responding to LY on another dancer Pina Bauch** shares the same idea for leaving in audience an indelible memory of dancer’s images.  In the film “Pina” which was also a post-mortem work after the dancer passed away. The entire film used footage of her student dancers from various performances in tribute to the teacher who only appeared in a couple of cameo roles in the docufilm dedicated to her.   

**Philippine "Pina" Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009) was a German dancer and choreographer who was a significant contributor to a neo-expressionist dance ... 

   

 Grace 

Salaam Bombay

Salaam Bombay

(1988)

directed by Mira Nair

Original writing date： 2/9/2008

拍了數部在國際亮相的影片”Monsoon Wedding” (2001) 及”Namesake” (2006), 印度女導演Mira Nair 在熟悉外國影片的影迷中應不陌生。這部早期的作品基本上已呈現大師級的格局。Roger Elbert 的影評中提到此片僅用 53 個工作天即完成前置作業，然已兼具獨特的內涵與風格。

故事主角是 個十一、二歲的印度男孩，獨自一人在貧窮落後充滿罪犯的 Bombay 街頭及紅燈區討生活。影片跟隨他的腳步描繪他如何在生存線上掙扎，又因何而跟一位吸毒者 drug addict 在孟買街頭結識產生忘年情誼。僅管故事悲慘淒涼，不平之事接二連三發生在他身上讓人扼腕嘆息，電影鏡頭始終在旁靜靜地不動聲色地觀察。畫面傳達的訊息是如此地震㨔人心，看完全片能將影片內容完全排除腦外也不太容易吧？

整部影片的主要卡司全為當地的普通百姓，和許多主角年紀相仿的街頭孩子。無需教導他們如何演戲，全部街頭鏡次都實地拍攝，表現出自然可信幾近實況記錄，有著紀錄片的粗礫未經修飾的真實感。結局亦如真實社會一般殘酷，這個尚未成長卻歷盡滄桑，被親人社會遺棄、僅有的朋友亦遠遠離去的男孩，到頭來似乎也只有漂泊沈淪一途，看不到一線希望？而這部影片就在這形單影隻不知何去何從的一個凝鏡下結束。如此沈重的故事居然能發生在這些稚齡孩童身上，而我們只有旁觀一途，全然無法改變事實，這或許不是任何人都能接纳而願意一看的影片。

下附 Roger Elbert 影評：

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/salaam-bombay-1988

Grace

A few thoughts on “ Paradise Now “

A few thoughts on

“Paradise Now”

2005 movie production date

Director/screenwriter 

Hany Abu-Assad a Palestinian/Dutch movie director and writer. From the famous movies Abu-Assad who has directed so far are : Rana's Wedding (2002), Paradise Now (2005) and Omar (2013), The mountains between us (2017). He has been nominated twice for Academy Awards for his movies 'Paradise Now' in 2006 and 'Omar' in 2014.

Original writing date: 1/10/2009*

初次看阿拉伯影片，故事發生年代竟和今日（2009*）相距不遠，片中描繪頻仍的以阿衝突，竟像天天在電視螢幕上見到的新聞片段。兩個住在 West Bank 難民營的青年，被選上執行自殺炸彈客之任務。故事敍述從巴勒斯坦人的視角出發，以色列是壓迫者，巴勒斯坦為受迫害的一方，有心反抗卻無能力亦無武力。以一己的生命投注進去做名烈士，用一種高姿態的反抗來回應世人的漠然，成為少數一些人的表達方式。

第一回合任務失敗，兩位青年重新被賦予相同任務。主角的朋友退卻了，在死亡關頭走過一遭的人，通常沒勇氣再往死裡闖。主角家有老母，尚有個心儀他的女郎，仍無法挽回他堅持走烈士之路。影片有個開放式結局以 open-ended 鏡頭收尾，他選擇留下來做烈士，亦即走向死亡之路！

故事轉折及青年心理變化之描繪具相當震撼力，入微的刻畫人在面臨死亡刻時的本能反應，包括心理和生理上的反應，細膩然而合情入理拒走煽情路線。執行任務那一段落的拍攝，就像走鋼索的藝人般 步 步 驚 心，懸宕情節的鋪陳醖釀極具張力，攫獲了絕大部分觀衆的注意力，讓人時刻不能鬆懈下來。

電影拍得有水準、這是巴勒斯坦人自己拍的電影，相當真實的詮釋呈現普世不變的人性，直面以阿這個世代不決的難題。然而是否足夠激發一般西方人的反思？

Grace

Ozu - a great Japanese film director

再談小津

4/26/2019

Original date of writing:  4/26/2017

前日貼文「有關小津」的部分，因係影友間的信簡往來，很多部分沒多作說明，亦不夠詳盡，下面「再談」或可權當補充文字：

再回來說一下小津 （ 1903 - 1963 ），身後半個世紀以來，他的作品持續享有世界各地影迷的鍾愛，小津影片紮根世俗生活體現普遍經驗，能引起大多數人的共鳴。他的藝術手法平和簡約，輕描淡繪大和民族在變遷下的多種面貌，小民們日常生活種種面象及存在表象之下更深層的東西。講的雖是日本故事卻具有普世性。 “Late Spring”「晚春」被改編成法國的 “35 Shots of Rum”，”Tokyo Story”「東京故事」被轉化成德國的”Cherry Blossoms “，照樣能打動不同觀眾的心。

再談一下小津的當代同業木下惠介「24 隻眼睛」、「楢山節考」（舊版），黑澤明「羅生門」、「影武者」及較晚一些的山田洋次「母親」、「黃昏清兵衞」。木下的電影在日本本土早些年來一直比黑澤影片受民眾歡迎，而黑澤的名氣在國外比在日本響亮。山田則更貼近庶民生活，更加通俗（通俗也可以有格調）。在許多影評人眼中，黑澤大氣、小津精緻、木下溫婉，他們各有各的髙妙處，當然亦有欠缺的地方，風格各異，影迷群也自不同。處在不同年代的創作者，其藝術作品肯定烙有時代印記、政治及道德觀念受制於當代的風潮，用今日的眼光去看待或許有失公允。然則青菜蘿蔔，毎人口味不同，幸好我們的選擇夠多，不愁找不到自己喜愛的電影及導演。

註：2007 - 2016 年間，我負責的影社曾經放映過下列影片：

   （2013）
> Floating Weeds 「浮草 」 - Yasujiro Ozu 小津安二郎

> Ballad of Narayama 「楢山節考 」 - Keisuke Kinoshita 木下惠介

> Woman of the Dunes 「砂丘之女」- Teshigahara勅使河原宏

   （2015）

 > 35 Shots of Rum - Claire Denis （France)

Grace

電影雜談 （關於小津安二郎）- e 信簡

movie Talk

電影雜談

4/24/2019

Letter to a friend discussed Ozu's influence on films worldwide

You're welcome.  I am watching the "Tokyo Family" right now, not quite finished yet.  It is a modern version of  "Tokyo Story" with only a few minor changes over Ozu's original.  Just to be fair it is a decent rendition of the same story, a bit too closely following the original screenplay down to the scenes some of the shots are almost identically.

In contrast I much enjoy the German made film "Cherry Blossoms."  Even though I don't know whether Ozu's storyline was acknowledged in this movie, the changes or the differences are quite fitting to the backdrop of a modern society Germany or otherwise.  And the movie can certainly be evaluated independent of the well-known original it is based on.

10/31/2013

在台北時讀了一本書或許你們會感興趣。作者名野上照代，她父母的故事在山田洋次 2008年的「母親」中有較戲劇性之演繹。野上照代即片中的小女𠒇阿照。

她年輕時就和伊丹萬作認識且經常書信往返，稱之為恩師。在老師去世之後又做了伊丹十三（本名岳彥）的保姆。進入電影界後認識不少名流，也做了黑澤明的製作助理，一直到他逝世。

這本傳記寫得趣味盎然，加上她生動的插圖，讀起來親切又有趣。書中講述不少黑澤明拍片過程，包括「影武者」 中處理馬匹及士兵屍橫遍野的畫面，以及「夢」片中一段梵谷名畫重現金黃麥田中野鴉亂飛的情境，讓人更加佩服黑澤明對藝術的執着及他在拍片中處理技術方面不少過人的做法。

總之，對電影有興趣的人這是相當可讀的一本書。

Grace

8/24/2015 (Correspondent with film group members, other than Henry who’s organizer of (SVMLC), a movie club, the names of other participants were not shown.

Thank you Henry for your various input.  "Pickpocket" is the first Bresson film I saw and I am not aware of what constitutes transcendentalism in films.  Love to hear what you have to say after viewing the film yet again.

"Woman in the Dunes" however is what I would coin a perfect example of artistic film made to excel in almost every aspect of film making. 

Not only in cinematography, screenplay and sound effect does it establish itself as an outstanding work, this simple story (or allegory) with so many undercurrent themes layered and woven into the storyline in such impeccable fashion that it comes out as an organic whole.

  When I said "Ida" is like an exquisite work of art, a statue of a beautiful woman if you may,

"Woman in the Dunes" stands even taller in that the woman (of the statue) is more sophisticated and there are nuances and details abundant to be explored.

Again, it is one of my all time favorite films although my thoughts can be biased.

That is why I appreciated the ideas from you thru this exchange.

K, I hope I didn't spoil your fun in watching the film on your own.

Do we want to wait until K watches the films before further discussion? She has a talent of seeing things differently.  Besides, this will force her to watch the films earlier.

Grace

Sin Nombre

Sin Nombre 

(Nameless)

7/30/2014

A Honduran young girl and a Mexican gangster are united in a journey across the American border.

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga (as Cary Jôji Fukunaga)

Writer: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Stars: Paulina Gaitan, Marco Antonio Aguirre

(From IMDB)


I just finished watching a 2009 movie about the perilous journey of some central Americans and Mexicans trying to flee their homelands in hope of making it to their dream paradise - the United States.  Having not heard about the film before, I was taken by surprise and was moderately shocked by some of the most gritty depiction of gang movies I have ever seen. Made by first time director Cary Fukunaga who garnered the Sundance Festival award of the year for directing this debut film which took him 2 years researching. He spent time with those people en route to the border (on top of trains, etc.) and conducted several interviews with hardened gang members whom he depicted in this film.  This is not a documentary but looks and feels like one with an authentic storyline and superb acting ( by lesser known local actors.)

I thought "City of God" was hard to watch because of the graphic violence it depicted.  There's more cruelty and senseless killings of gang violence in this one.  It also portrays some of the most endearing human emotions which was lacking in the former film.  I strongly recommend this film to the die-hard film buff - it is definitely not for the faint-hearted viewers.

Grace

艾未未 草泥馬 — A Documentary Film (2/19/2014)

Film Chat - 「艾未未 草泥馬」 

Ai Wei-Wei Never Sorry

2/19/14

In response to Henry's comments on the documentary title, the following is my response:

I echo most of your points of view particularly in the decision of where to place Ai as an artist or as a dissident.  He is more of a dissident than an artist in my opinion.  People go to his exhibits because he is a famous dissident (from China where you don't hear much of him through official channels.)  His art standing alone is not much, the few shown in this film are good but not great, some of them are more sensational than artistic to my layperson eyes.

Another point of yours is that some key persons (especially the wife) are not dealt with in depth in this docu film.  You mentioned another film "Jiro Dreams Sushi"  with similar problem.  In our discussion of this film ( Our club also watched this film last spring ) some of the participants mentioned that the wife was completely left out in the film.  The reason we knew he has a wife is because a family photograph shown somewhere in the film.  Another documentary we watched last spring is "KJ - a musical life" where the mother of the young piano prodigy never made an appearance in the film (she was divorced from the father only in recent year.)  One explanation by some viewers is that she may have chosen not to be interviewed or included in the film production.  I wonder whether that is true for "Jiro" but certainly not in "Ai."

Just another cent or two from me.

Grace

電影天地 （一）

電影天地（一）

9/12/16

每次回台就是我充電的時刻，怎麼說呢？ 在美國有固定生活作息，無法有效率的去規劃一週看一部或兩部電影。回鄉一趟，在離開國界的天空中就能看個七、八部電影，回來時已經看了四個影片。在機艙內一向無法成眠，回程再混個七八小時也可以看個三兩部影片吧？

來到地球的另一端，落地之後又看了兩部新片。相信回到美國總收穫會達二位數字。下面列擧的是這趟看的影片，多半是這一兩年的出品，並非我的推薦片。

回臺北的機程中看了："The Mustang", 2016 年土耳其影片講述五個姊妹身處她們所在的郷城，反抗保守力量加諸她們身上的諸種壓迫，爭取身體和精神的自由。「暗色天堂」"Heaven In the Dark" 2016年港片，改編自香港得獎舞台劇「法吻」，是個類似羅生門（男女兩造對同一事件各説各話，撲朔迷離真相）的劇本。新進導演袁劍偉説："電影劇本只是一個藍本，現場變數很多，寫作的方法本身就不同。" 但他仍舊保持很多舞台劇的元素。「逆光少女」"Blanka"，2015 年菲律賓電影和  "Brand New Testament ",   2015/2016 法國片，影壇長青樹 Catherine Deneuve 客串主演。 

在台北華山光點電影院看的兩部影片：「比海還深」(After the Storm ), 2016日本片，是枝裕和導演又一部親情佳片。講的是一個失職離婚後的父親，盼望修補與前妻及兒子的關係，在意外來臨的颱風之夜一段感人的家庭時光悄悄展開.....。另一部電影「明天別再來敲門」 (A Man Called Ove) 為 2015 瑞典片，導演Hannes Holm 瑞典𣈱銷小說改編，幽默感人的劇情片。

有興趣的朋友請自己上網査詢細節。

Grace