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 - Yasujirō Ozu. 再談小津

再談小津

More about Yasujirō Ozu - A great Japanese film director

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多少能看個七、八部電影。去程已經看了四個影片。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

Crazy Rich Asians II

Crazy Rich Asians II

9/13/2018

As most critics among Asian viewers agree, the film

merits greatly the overall perspective change for Asian filmmakers as well as film workers including actors.  If every wish comes true and the wind blows the favorite direction, this category (Asian cast /Asian film crew) of films shall bring very promising result 情況大好。

A similar endeavor twenty some years ago, a mostly Asian cast movie based on bestseller “Joy Luck Club “,  however has not made much of a dent in the promise land after an initial box office success.  You may say: time is different now!  True, with globalization and technological advancement, the time may be ripe for the Asians in the film industry to shine now more than ever before.

25年前，《喜福會》也曾給亞裔帶來希望，後來呢？ - 紐約時報中文網

https://cn.nytimes.com/culture/20180911/joy-luck-club-crazy-rich-asians/zh-hant/?_ga=2.208447698.1542199955.1536690083-2010588281.1503603585

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Success in box office of a film does not always guarantee it to last or endure time and other situational changes. Most of the classic films like classical literature possess something endurable through time.  It is found in the content, style and innovative feature which set them apart from the rest.  What they unveiled through distinct narratives and styles made unforgettable impressions or spoke to the hearts of millions, or reveal truths of matter important to many.  This is just a short list of some lasting value of humanity and experience of humankind’s.  Without any of these qualities, artistic or otherwise, the film may not sustain against time and tides.  

Box office may bring in huge profits for those participating in the process, yet without endurable quality they may fade into thin air in time.  Say, similar features parading glitter and glamour may overload the audience and dull their senses.   When there are something else worth exploring in the movie, the human elements that speak universal language, such as arts and music, an authentic episode which touches the hearts of many, a poetic or lyric rendition which says more than you see on the screen, the films are thus elevated to the value of lasting quality, some may even become candidates for a future classic.

I am not at all critical to this film.  There are plenty of positive things in the movie which has been reiterated by many critics.  Such as: it opens eyes particularly of the westerners’ to eradicate the myths of yesterday’s stereotypes, it boosts Asian filmmakers‘ self-confidence and promises promotion of talents in the young and innovative newcomers in the industry.  

I give credits to those young filmmakers for a task well done.  Yet success often breeds complacency, I hope they continue to elevate their efforts toward providing more than entertainment to their audiences.  Not that the current film is deficient, but that their future endeavors could be focused on a wider range of subject matter or style, with more depth in theme development or issue raised.

This is just two cents from a layperson which might not be the cup of tea most people like to sip from.

 

Grace