Slovenian Girl ***
Drama, realism style
About a University student who prostitutes herself and using the small amount of money gathered attempts to buy an apartment to be free of her stagnant life situation. In the movie there is very few nudity sex scenes, just one. She seemed to be unafraid of the sordid side of her trade - all the "clients" are weird, overweight, sadistic, old looking. They need professional sex for whatever reason. However, the Slovenian girl at the same time maintains an innocent pure, daughterly love towards her father. The choice of actors - casting is very good. None of the characters are adorable apart from the girl and her classmate, the professor, and the father. Everybody else are ordinary people w damaged, dented appeal. Watching this movie makes me think, how does someone grow so fat? When the person is a child, he was not fat like this? How does a mean mouthed person become this way?
The father, ex-band local music group member, current taxi driver is a soft hearted nice man. He loves music, not exceptionally good at it to make it to the big times, but still maintains an interest enough to re-start an old band with other old friends. (Hes not professional because in reviving old equipments, he electrocutes his friend; not pro. The script is so good, the whole character scenes sets the situation in an efficient way.) These people are old rockers, all over weight, flabby, in some odd jobs. They will play in their small town, in their community. The mother, mean mouthed woman who remarried? She has a small boy w her obviously a half brother - much more well taken cared of looking kid. Just from the short dialogue we understand she must have left her soft hearted husband - girls father - for a better life. Very succint use of interchange to explain the girls background, why she is in her situation and what is the motivation of getting out and how impossible this task is.
The Slovenian Girl is a student who used this code name as call girl. She encounters riff raff - people who force independant prostitutes to be pimped by them for "protection". Often her service is not paid due to the hooligan nature of the clients. Is this true? Prostitutes are not allowed to work independantly? She ran away from these murky leeches - but I wonder from the story construction, if she is so strong willed, wouldnt she have prepared enough to protect herself in some way? The mix of naivete and danger, fear is not coherent. Either she has the guts to go through w it and smart enough to make sure it works or, she couldnt have come this far. The character of the girl is not convincing - but she is very likeable. The professor looks like a professor and is soft hearted. Coerced into giving her a passing grade.
The whole movie is stifling, sad and bleak. There were only two people in the projection room, me and another person sitting far behind on last row.
Good movie, I like to see scenarios backgrounds - the setting of stories. If the setting is not convincing, the rest of the story, prettiness of the actrice etc, will not help to make the film work. I like the way the father eats his eggs, carefully taking his time, lovingly sprinkled pepper evently on the sunnyside yolks. One yolk then the other. The camera lingers very long on the eggs - when you think for the duration of this movie - it is to show simple food pleasure - for people who has not much luxury, eating eggs in style is a kind of luxury. A thoughtful gift from the daughter to the father, an electric pepper grinder! All detail touches of this style are so fine.
Winnie the Pooh ***
Disney animation based on AA Milne Winnie the Pooh.
Very beautiful water color drawings, and contemporary art play of animation on fonts from the printed book.
The bear interacts with words on the page, falls on the letters, drops down, uses it as a ladder piled up to climb out of a hole etc. Tigger, Piglet, Owl, Jean-Christophe, Pooh, everybody has a clear character. Very soft and consistent reassuring players.
For young viewers from 4 onwards. At the end of the movie, the cinema gives out "diplomas" for kids - for having watched their first film in life!!
Will post the diploma here to show you.
So nice. Good preparation for positive experiences, lucky kids!
劍雨 Reign of Assassins**half
Kungfu /romance
A John Woo action flick with interesting storyline twists. Scenarios, in beautiful Chinese courtyard houses, w very beautiful literati furnitures (no real life cloth vendor lives in such a house!!) Girl fighters - all pretty from all ages - some in nudes, love story with an aging teacher/eunuch/master thief. Floppy twisting swords, handsome men. Magical doctor who could change face of patients and cure all blood lost fighting wounds. Special potion "turtle breath powder" - to feign death in order to escape dangerous situations, stops heart beat for a few hours. Magic formula to regrow organs, cure illness etc, the eunuch wants to grow himself a male member to be with his trainee loved one! Complicated plot, lots of fighting. But these moves are all choreographed with wires no one really has the real kungfu. We have seen all these dancing bodies before.
Outstanding point is the costumes and overall esthetics, very elegant colors and nice use of complementary colors for the entire sets.
Where to go next for kung fu films?
The romance motor of the film is not convincing. Could be convincing but didnt spend enough time to develop the love element. We cannot believe such a handsome man, and gd looking gal cant afford to buy a tofu roll? Somebody has to do more finer emotional story work in this area to match the level of eye candy costumes/sets.
Michelle Yeoh is the body movement professional here, but she is always a little cold in presentation. How to make a convincing romance with this character? Shes good in what she does. But needs a special script to highlight the "cold inner emotional" capacity of her persona if this is her new challenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment