beejames Reviews

Sunstroke (2014)

division is not the problem, unison is

[8/10 · 13 June 2015]

This movie is actually two different stories. One is Bunin's short story Sunstroke which is shown in a beautiful and poetic way in the movie. It represents the past, old Russia, the time Bunin never dropped in his mind. The other is taken from his famous anti Bolshevism book Cursed Days. This part is shown in the movie, in a wet and muddy way, about a group of old officers waiting for their destiny after signed their declarations of surrender.

It is understandable that the director tried to divide these two stories. Old is good, elegant, beautiful, lovely, honestly. New is chaotic, dirty, brutal, empty. Although one may not fully agree with it, but this is what Ivan Bunin's understanding of Bolshevism Revolution and the opinion is widely accepted after the collapse of Soviet Russia. Nikita Mikhalkov's most famous movies are almost about the same attitude.

But the director also used his movie to pay tribute to old Soviet movie traditions. There's an astonishing shot of a baby carriage rolling downsteps, which is obviously something reminding Eisenstein. There's also certain images reminding Bondalchuk.

So far there's no problem with the two stories go in parallel. But at the very end the stories tried to reach a point of combination. This became so hard to believe that the climax felt a little bit strange.

Still it's a great movie. Despite its length, the storytelling speed is extremely well that one hardly felt the time's gone. It might also be one element the director had in mind. Time went without raising attention, old time went like river never comes back.

Mao's Last Dancer (2009)

I don't think it worth more than 6 stars

[6/10 · 14 June 2010]

God save my poor English, let me do this in the easiest way.

First, say something good about this movie.

It's about a dancer, a quite famous one. Although Mr. Li's name was rarely mentioned in mainland China, anybody who works inside the art circle knows a little bit about him. He's once a model to every dancing students in China. After his decision of living in America, everything changed. He's like most of other artists live abroad coming from the Red China, remain as someone called traitor. It's good to have his story filmed and I think it will help his book, an autobiography, asked by people who's curious about that period. This is the first good thing.

As a movie about a dancer, dancing should no doubt take a big role in it. As I see in the movie, those sections from Giselle, Le Sacre du Printemps, Swanlake and event a glimpse of Red Female Troops which is very famous and is indeed created under the direction of Madame Mao. Those dancing sections are long enough and performers are so skillful to handle that. I think it's been a great job for the choreographer who made these dances. Thank to who ever responsible for this.

The script is not so strictly connected to the period, but it's still can be called objective. With some confusion of time and language they use, the basic idea inside the characters are quite real.

So much for praise, and I should move on to criticism.

First is about the book. I don't think these kind of books can be really trusted, though it is called autobiography. People with such background as Mr Li often connects other's stories to their own. I don't mean this affirmatively, since I haven't got any chance to read this book. I just say that there should be some doubts in it. If everything is so clear in it, there shouldn't have been so much confusion in costumes, buildings, ideas which are showed in the movie. I hope these confusions are from the script writer or other crew members who are not so familiar to Chinese situation in that period. It had been a great change after Chairman Mao's death. The clearness of time and policy connected to that will be very helpful to people who watch this movie.

Secondly, I want to say that the part in which Mr Li's parents was brought to Houston to watch a ballet performance is to affected. It's totally beyond what will happen to Chinese. In such circumstance, most Chinese will still act restrained. Also the last part where Mary and Li dance under a red flag. It's just stupid. The director should really cut this part out instead of the rehearsal of the revolutionary ballet scene which is now edited out but kept in the bonus section of published DVD.

Still it's a worth seeing movie. But I really think it doesn't worth more than six stars.

Knowledge Is the Beginning (2005 TV Movie)

Great honor to be part of it

[9/10 · 8 February 2010]

It's a great honor to be the Chinese translator of this movie. As one of the series cooperation between Art Channel Shanghai and the Euro Arts company, we made a Chinese subtitled version and showed in UME cinema Shanghai. When I saw this film for the first time, the conversation between Mr. Barenboim and E. Said affect me a lot. But as the translation work progressed, I became more touched by the Children in the orchestra. I fully recognized the difference between Palestinian youth and Israeli youths, but also noticed the common language of music behind that. When music starts, everything turns into harmony. That is successfully carried out by the director's shot and editing.

For me, the conflict between Daniel Barenboim and the Minister of Culture is the most sad scenes in the whole movie. I'd rather cut it out, but I know that it's the power point of the movie.

Aupa Etxebeste! (2005)

a nice debut

[7/10 · 23 June 2006]

On the 9th Shanghai International Film Festival, this is one of my eagerly wanted movie. Finally I watched it with Asier Altuna the director. He made a speech before the show and try to explain his nationality, but said almost nothing about his movie. That shows the director's confidence about his work.

The movie is quite interesting. It's not the laughing sort of comedy but really makes you smile. Etxebeste the merchant's experience show some of human nature especially something about peacockery. Asier never tried to make any comment on the situation Etxebestes in. And sometimes he even makes the audiences feel sympathy about the family. Because it's everyone's nature feeling and that would make us think about ourself.

It's one of the best films on this festival and hope to see his new work soon.

Tu devi essere il lupo (2005)

Good for a New

[7/10 · 22 June 2006]

I see this movie on the 9th Shanghai International Film Festival. To watch a movie with the director is always a good experience. Vittorio told all the audience that he's made the movie for nearly 7 years. As a young director this is still quite slow. But when it's on, I found nothing could last so long in shooting such a piece.

The story is not very strange and the scenes are just common. It might took an experienced director about 1 year or 2 to make the whole but Vittorio spent 7 years on it. Unimaginable.

It's about a mother left the daughter to a taxi driver and disappeared. She was just trying to avoid her responsibility as the animals avoiding the wolf. The little girl grew up and showed some Electra complex. Some day the mother suddenly came back. This made the father quite nervous. Trying to avoid the conflict in life he persuaded the mother to leave.

The tempo of the movie is rather slow. Although the director was trying to show some beautiful part of Italian mountain area, the story didn't get any help from those scenes. The performance is excellent. All actors and actresses made the story attracting.

As a new director Vittorio had made an absorbing movie for us. One thumb up is enough.

El cambio (1971)

just so so

[5/10 · 19 June 2006]

Another Mexicon movie on the 9th Shanghai International Film Festival. It's not the one I wanna see, but still something amazing. To be honest, this is not such a good movie that will give you a shock. It shows something similar with Latin literature works. The story just flows quietly and there's nothing prodigious just like the two young men. They stand in the time but count for little. Nobody pays attention to them. The story shows some problem, but doesn't try to solve any. But I think this is the point. This is the way Latin artists deal with such subjects no matter in novels or in movies. Well at least the beginning of the movie is interesting. There's about 10 minutes without any words. Only full of noise. If the director can tell the whole story without any speaking parts the movie will be a master piece I think.

Brides (2004)

The worst movie I'v ever seen

[1/10 · 19 June 2006]

I saw this movie on the 9th Shanghai International Film Festival. It's such an awful one I can hardly bear it. The story begins quite beautifully, but as it goes on it's getting worse and worse. The history part is no problem. These brides are truly poor and unlucky. But the question is the plot doesn't focus on the feeling of the women. It goes for beautiful landscape and badly made computer tech of the ship. The photographer lost his head strangely when facing the unattracting but typical Greek woman. She looks better when her hair turned into fully white. Turning one's hair into white is not fresh in Chinese history. But the general Wu Zixu had greater reason to do so, not like the woman in the movie which seems quite no reason. The other brides on board are also strange when throwing themselves into the arms of the buyers. The only good part is the girl playing Lute and keep singing Greek songs. Others are totally out of reason. When the pimp saying that: I must be punished. The tragedy finally turned into a joke. I don't know what happened to the whole crew. Can't they make anything better?

The Blue Kite (1993)

I can't stop thinking it might not be true, but...

[11 April 2003]

According to some sort of reason, I didn't know this movie until these days. After watching it, I cannot stop thinking this might not be true, but I know it is a real story. Or I'd rather say "they are real" because this kind of story almost happened in every Chinese family.It might be fortunate that I'v got a complete family, but I can imagine what would happen if they, my parents, were not so lucky.

Everything in the story are as real as they might be. To stigmatize and to be stigmatized, to live and to die, to resist and to be resisted, to beat and to be beaten while life was still going on. Attacking the rightists, perish the four vermins, big lunge, making steel, disasters of 3 years... all these things were filled in the daily conversations of Chinese nowadays.

but I don't think we'v paid enough attention to this period of Chinese history. Especially young people do not even know it. This movie is still forbidden in China. Willing to see its public show.