cinewomen

It very rarely happens when a sequel is better than the first part, but in the case of the Scent film it does not happen. This is a very good sequel and the way the story moves forward is great. This is a much better paced film compare to the first part. The story is much easier to understand with great visuals, but I don't know why some scene are just too dark.

The music of this film is also outstanding like the first part and I feel it's used better here unlike the first part where it was over used. I really like the variations of the theme track.

Overall this is a very good film and a great sequel. I am happy to see the quality of indie films is getting better. I just hope more platform have more indie films like this.

The music, performance, & camera work is outstanding. Looking at the budget it's made on they've managed to put together a nice indie film.

That being said, pacing could've been a bit faster and there could've been more to the protagonist story.

The musician of this film deserves all the appreciation because he has done an outstanding job. Also the cinematographer has captured the frames beautifully and visuals look stunning. I personally like the use of different aspect ratios and it somewhat reminds me of Wes Andersons film although the tonality of this film is very different, but it does remind you of his work.

Overall a good indie film.

Saw Loners (Beijing Diaries) at a private screening. It seems to be a very experimental film in terms of its aesthetics. It depicts struggles of life & relationships. The characters are interesting and realistic. It is a character driven film and the characters you see are relatable. We either know people like them or encounter such people at some point in our lives.

The aesthetics and style of the film stands out mainly because of it's changing aspect ratio, documentary style shots, and heavy use of captions.

The dialogues of this film are also good, especially at the mid point of the film, they sum up the reality of the world we live in.

Although there is a lot going in favour of the film, but there are some flaws too. Firstly, not all characters are fleshed out completely and you may want to know more about them. Especially one character that really stands out in the film tends to have the shortest screen time and you really want to know more about that character. It's a great performance and had a lot of potential to be explored futher. Secondly, the pacing of the film changes close to the end of the film. It would've been better if it maintained the same pace throughout the film.

Special mention for the music composer of the film, he's done a great job and the film relies on music as much as it does on the performances. But it seems a bit over used at times. There are moments where more ambience could have been used.

If you like experimental or arthouse films with realistic characters and plots then you should give this one a shot.