rdinislobo's Reviews

Xiao cheng zhi chun (1948)

7/10

19 November 2015

If you are looking for a slice of life movie, look no further. A word of caution, however: this movie is a story, and a child of its time. There is no spectacular camera work, no epic soundtrack (or sound at all, for the most part), and certainly no special effects. Even the acting and dialogues are passable, at best. If you need any of these things to be immersed or even enjoy a movie, Spring in a Small Town is not for you.

There are four characters in the movie (and I mean four, there are no other supporting cast members or extras). The first two we are introduced are a couple, and they are "content". This is he best word to describe their situation, for they are not happy nor sad. You quickly realize that they have been frozen in time for years.

The conflict is created when an old friend (of both) comes back to town. This establishes the classic love triangle: the old friend has feelings for the wife, and she is torn between her own feelings towards him (or what she believes them to be) and those towards her husband.

There is little more to say about this movie without spoiling, except reiterate that this is a Chinese movie from the 40's. This is very much removed from the "factory assembled" plot lines that have plagued movies/books/video games/series for a long time.

If you were keeping track, the fourth character is the couple's caretaker, and he is a supporting character.

In the end, i still walk away with a lesson: no matter how much we think our life will stay the same, things will always happen. Whether they create change or not, is up to us.

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Chappie (2015)

5/10

Disappointing, but not too bad

19 November 2015

In my opinion, this movie is disappointing. But, this does not make it a bad movie.

Having watched trailers, I created some expectation. The Asimov- esque premise had a lot of potential to create deep characters and interactions. These hopes for an enthralling storyline were dashed in the first half hour by almost every characters' clear lack of common sense. In the first half hour of movie this reached a point that it actually broke my immersion. I'm not sure why, I still kept hope for a good plot, but the movie just defaults to the "do what is right, protect the ones you love" cliché.

So, why watch this?

Because, despite its flaws, it has strengths. The character "Chappie" is very much different from what is today's cookie cutter protagonist. And even if the story is shallow, it feels complete, without any cliffhanger meant as hooks for a sequel or plot holes.

If you are looking for movies with AI, there are better ones out there (I, Robot and Ex Machina come to mind), but this movie is still a good bet when you want a cinematic "light snack".

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Tian yun shan chuan qi (1980)

5/10

All for the party, nothing against the party

19 November 2015

Warning: Spoilers

I had no idea what to expect going into this movie, but I was still disappointed.

The story has an interesting start. We are presented with a character who feels remorse over something in her past. As the movie progresses, it develops in a mildly satisfying way and you almost get an interesting story, but then comes the propaganda.

The woman is a public official and feels guilty for abandoning her boyfriend years ago when he was accused of being a dissident. After years of him being in exile, a folder with his request for pardon comes to her desk, which brings the memories come flooding back. She travels back to the place where he spent the past decades, and we are shown what lead a promising young mind to being exiled by the government he so firmly believe in.

When she arrives, and for no reason that I could understand, the (almost faceless) superiors that expelled him from the party (and, in practice, exiled him) are outed as incompetent. They were the ones against "The Party". The Party is benevolent and perfect, and in seeing him wronged, corrects the mistakes of those backwards officials.

Thus, "The Party" is never at fault, being almost an omnipotent entity that, when it appears, will right all the wrongs, and then everything is OK, and the people and the country will move forwards, led by The Party.

In my opinion, this is not a good movie. But I don't regret watching it. It is completely removed from my personal experience. It also made me want to visit China. To learn about the culture and attempt to understand it. And that is why I watch films: to expand my horizons.

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Only God Forgives (2013)

8/10

Inexorable

25 August 2015

This is a slow movie, and not in a bad way. But what I liked the most about it was that it has a certain inevitability. I felt that everything that happened, had to happen. There is no "if character A had done X instead of Y, the story would be different". I feel this comes from the fact that there are no heroes or villains in this. And there is nothing to distract you. No forced side- stories, no action movie style fight scenes (combat or guns).

The visuals are not what I was used to, but the minimalism (which I believe is very typical of the director, Nicolas Refn) adds to the inexorability of what's to come.

Plus if you have a difficult relation with your mother, perhaps this movie can give you a little perspective.

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