Joe_Means

There are movies that entertain, then there are movies that make you feel. House of Hummingbird is very much a deeply emotive experience, that stirs the soul and communicates existential truths with subtle yet sharp brush strokes, leaving as much a deep cut as it does gently lay down a beautiful flower. The performance by actress Park Ji-Hu who plays Eun-hee is raw, unfiltered, mature and grounded, she's so impressive that it doesn't take long to forget you're watching a movie and feel like you are witnessing someones life unfold in front of you. The cinematography finds a harmonious balance between intimate organic handheld shots, gracefully moving with the characters, then shifting to scenes with still shots, some like a beautiful painting capturing an ephemeral moment in time, others perfectly placed in narrow corridors and rooms, escaping the usual directors urge to find perfect symmetry, but instead embracing slight imperfections in alignment, a wall between the kitchen and hallway off centre for instance, with Eun-hee's room only half in shot, showing her disconnect from the family yet still being loosely tied to the periphery of her family piety. The film's tone somehow strikes a balance between a muted, sombre, yet ethereal and buoyant sense. I felt initially towards the end the script had tried too hard to hit me with too much tragedy, but as I reflected more on it, I opened up to a message I feel the director/writer was trying to convey; you cannot escape loss, pain, suffering. Every connection with someone will always have a part that feels broken, sunken and missing, but those who truly cared will always leave something tangibly beautiful in your heart and in your life.

There's so much misuse of the word "epic" these days that usually upon hearing it, I cringe into other-dimensional gut churning. This film however, deserves the true meaning of the word, because it is quite literally an epic, about a very important and meaningful period in China's history. It is a saga, it is a huge sprawling story of not only China, but historical figures and entities who express that period's struggle, from different positions in China's social strata of the time, driving them all to act out on their own deeper motives, all due to one factor; The British Empire. In this film we see the negative and in some cases horrific effects Britains interfering had in China, wreaking havoc in many ways, in many peoples lives. One such Chinese man affected, a folk hero of sorts, was Wong Fei-hung, a martial arts master, teacher, medicine man and all round nice guy, played perfectly by Jet Li. The way Tsui Hark deals with the subject matter is truly poetic, so many shots expressing deeper layers of China's struggle, the heart of Chinese society being torn at and yet still beating and fighting to stay alive. Fei-hung is faced with some very difficult challenges, conundrums in which whatever he chooses, he is acting in a disloyal way or breaking the law or letting someone down, but somehow he remains steadfast in following his heart to do what he feels is the right thing, which always centres around helping his people, and helping the weak, the innocent, protecting those who need it, using martial arts for one of its highest functions, selfless protection. This is a beautiful, poetic and timeless piece of art that happens to include some breathtaking martial arts fight scenes, expert cinematography, wonderful music all combined to accentuate both the action and the narrative, really offering up a masterpiece painting of China's heart and soul. I honestly don't think any other martial arts film has so perfectly been able to capture the balance between high level fight scenes and expert storytelling. It is the greatest martial arts movie ever made imo. It has heart, and has high quality martial arts. It is quite simply, martial 'art'.

A film with heart... and my god this film's heart is about to burst. Rather than hitting me in the senses, it hit me right in the feels, deeply. This film has such a beautiful and meaningful ending that is imo expertly crafted, with the little budget they were given and lack of big actors, it achieves some kind of cinematic transcendence not many films manage to achieve under such circumstances. The whole premise is centred around martial arts, but it is not a film 'about' martial arts, it uses martial arts as a vehicle to express the journey of a wounded human heart, spearheaded by both Alex Grady (Eric Roberts) and Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee). So essentially at the centre of this movie is the warriors journey to find peace through facing extreme adversity. It may be somewhat dated in its approach throughout most of its running time, with the fight choreography seeming average by the golden era of Hong Kong as well as modern day standards, and Eric Roberts may overdo it in a couple of scenes with his emotional exertion, but mostly the acting and screenplay is solid, engaging and entertaining, and push the narrative into the final showdown at the tournament (which has some spectacular fight scenes), with more to fight for than most martial arts films. They're fighting for more than a medal, than a trophy, more than revenge, they're fighting for meaning, and fighting their own inner demons, to clear the debris of human suffering, and heal the human heart. After all, isn't that the true meaning of martial arts? Through training, fighting, testing oneself and helping to test others spirit, the practitioner could find peace in the centre of the storm, and ultimately become a better version of yourself. This film displays that, to the best of its abilities.