How long ago was it when I went to the marathon screening of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Decalogue, the entire ten episodes shown in one full day? It must be more than 15 years ago. Kieslowski's films have a such important place in my memory, it is hard to imagine he has left more than 10 years ago.

This time I have as much time as I need to review each episodes on DVDs. The Decalogue One, "I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other gods before me" is a about a tragic accident. Against all the computer calculation and precaution before going on ice skating on the frozen lake, accident has befallen on the young Paweł. Daddy returns home to stare at the green glow of the screen of his trusted computer. Just yesterday it made the assurance on the ice strength. Now it displays a single message - "I am ready _" with a blinking cursor. The picture remains there silently. It is some of the most contemplative moment in the cinema.

I don't remember how I feel when I saw this the first time. The message is simple enough. It questions the primacy of science and structure in modern society and to reflect on the diminishing role of religion and spirituality.

Today I think I have resolved such conflict. It is a false dichotomy between science and religion. To me science is spiritual. The story implies a kind of scientific determinism. I think it is old school. Of course old school probably still describes the majority of people, both religious and non-religious. And also we have to take into account of Kieslowski's background working in the communist Poland in the 80s, where determinism is really the rule of the society and has far more relevance for him.

The flaw of Decalogue One is some may see it as an apology for scientists. Many people may simply conclude scientists are arrogant and ultimately hurt people. If so they are too affected by the accident. Kieslowski is a master to induce us into reflection of a moment. But we must not lose the bigger context to a single moment. Can religion or traditional knowledge make a better guideline regarding safety compare to science overall? I doubt it.

And this is only old school science. The "new" science of complexity sees the world as fundamentally nondeterministic. Many events are unpredictable. Accidents do happens. But this does not mean scientific prediction are not useful. They are useful in plenty of ways. The problem is those people who expect 100% certainty are not realistic of their expectation.

In the middle of the film the father was giving a lecture on language. Unlike other old school point of view, this lecture on the relationship of language and intelligence resonates deeply to me. He laments that computers, a machine that operates on 0 and 1, can somehow displays awareness. He was talking about emergence! It strikes me that human, an organism makes up of simple molecules and a lot of H₂O can display awareness. So a man made machine, despite its seeming simple logic structure, can conceivably display a consciousness on a high level someday by the similar principle.

I don't have a conflict between science and spirituality. Science is my new religion. This is of course the topic of another 100 blog posts.

2010.06.14 [movie, philosophy] - comments (0)

Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources (1986)
Director: Claude Berri

It was those tragedies, those tragedies so filled with sorrow and irredeemable regrets that it will wrench your heart. On the hills of Provence, where serene farms surround quaint hill town, where life is tranquil and air is fresh, this heartbreaking tale has unfolded.

Papet and Ugolin are the prominent Soubeyran family in the village. They plotted to take over the neighbor's farm in order to control a hidden spring in the property. The Soubeyrans were about to start a carnation planting venture. In this arid region, access to water is vital. This spring was critical for their carnation’s irrigation.

When the owner has died in an accident, they believe they can buy the land cheap. To their great astonishment, its heir did not sell out. Instead they have decided to move in themselves. Jean Cadoret, a tax collector from the city of Crespin, was the owner's nephew and the son of the Florette, who has left the village to marry to a blacksmith when she was young. Jean bring along his wife and young daughter Manon to fulfill the dream of his life, to start their new life in the country.

Jean has a great plan for the family farm. He brought along capital, tools and modern agriculture knowledge from the city. On top of that he toiled tireless with unwavering determination. But his crux is water. Once the drought has set in, he saw his hard work withering away. Ugolin has befriended Jean on his arrival but contrived to sabotage his effort. Above all, he has done everything to ensure Jean would not discover the hidden spring, those water under his feet that would have absolved all his problems. For all his passion and diligence he was undermined by the merciless nature, the devilish neighbors and his own faults. The pain ended in little Manon's unforgettable shriek.

The story continues in part 2. After losing the farm to Soubeyrans, Manon has run away and stayed in the hill. She made a living by herding sheep. The carnation planting has bought financial success. But Papet was worried that Ugolin has not fathered a descendant for the clan. When Ugolin finally did fall in love, by fate he falls madly in love to Manon, who has then grown up into a young beauty but an elusive spirit. Manon would become the avenging star to the Soubeyrans, making them pay for the crime they have committed. Once again water shortage has inflicted great distress on the farmers. This time it was the Soubeyrans on the edge. Their punishment has come down on them so hard that, by the end, I have grown compassion for the sinners.

2009.10.18 [movie] - comments (0)

Paris je t'aime (2006)
Director: 18 group of directors

Paris, je t'aime is 18 short stories set in Paris made by 18 different set of directors. Although each segment has only about 5 minutes, the good ones are fluid, affectionate and poetic, making the whole film a memorable experience. Here are the few ones I like,

I will start with the honorable mention, Place des fêtes by Oliver Schmitz. A Nigerian immigrant is dying on the street from stabbing wound. When the beautiful paramedic comes to help him, he feels as if he has known her.

Wes Craven's Père-Lachaise is a lighthearted story about a tourist couple visiting Oscar Wilde's grave and start having an argument there. Then it comes a moment of inspiration.

In Faubourg Saint-Denis, Tom Tykwer portrayed the yearlong love affair between a blind student and an aspiring actress in a fast paced sequence backed by techno music, mixed with happy, longing and sad emotions.

Isabel Coixet, who is fast becoming one of my most favorite directors, has made the Bastille segment. In this story the husband, who is about to leave his wife for another woman, decided to stay with her it when he learned she has terminal illness. It is a very loving piece. "By acting like a man in love, he became a man in love."

The best is saved for last. In Alexander Payne's 14e arrondissement, a middle-age woman recites her travel story in her French class in a rather flat tone. In her story we have learned she has a bland life and is somewhat lonely. But despite her seeming naiveté, it is those little things she has done to appreciate life that makes it a pleasantly uplifting story.

2009.05.21 [movie] - comments (0)

El Norte (1983)
Director: Gregory Nava

El Norte is a story about two indigenous Guatemalan brother and sister, fleeing from the civil strife from their village, embarked on a perilous journey for a new life in the United States, which is simply referred as El Norte (the north) by the people. As this title has suggested, it is a story seen entirely from the point of view of the immigrants. For them U.S. is the land of legendary riches. Immigration laws are really challenges they have to workaround. But when they have arrived, the reality is a lot harder than they have imagined. They find their prospect limited to menial labor, and a life under the shadow of illegal status with a constant threat of deportation.

This is the third time I have seen this movie over the course of 20 years. Each time it is an emotional experience. And each time I see something new. This first time was in Hong Kong when I was in school. I can quickly connect the film into the movement of illegal immigrants from China to Hong Kong that we have experienced first hand. The second time I become aware of the politics in Guatemala that made life so untenable in their villages, which I have managed to miss entirely in the first viewing. Also by that time I am living in US myself and I can see the depiction of their life is very realistic.

On my third viewing, it is the film's 25th anniversary already. Guatemala has become more peaceful since then. But the illegal immigration issue in the US is more intense than ever. Somehow I see something new this time, that El Norte is a so much better place!

Seriously, this may not be what the director has in mind when he made the film. But I see the people being so much nicer to each other. Enrique was a nobody. But when he poured coffee for the rich people, the rich people said "thank you" to him! Back home they are merely despised Indians. And the military men hunted them down like animals. Here they are actually getting some respect. When Rosa refused to go to the hospital because she said she is afraid of the government, it is not only because of her immigration status. Her reaction can only be understood because she came from a society where more often than not, the government is working against the people instead of working for the people. But here, despite of her legal status, she will receive treatment from the hospital.

By calling it better I don't mean this is a rich land with flush toilet and where even the poorest own a car, as it was alleged by some villagers. It is that I truly see it as a land of opportunities. I must have somehow enlightened by Jane Jacob's depiction on how a city works. I see vibrant economy, upward mobility and training freely available to help people succeed. When Enrique was promoted from busboy to waiter, we are so proud of him. It is not that waiter is a particularly promising career. We are proud of him because we see he has grown, because he has learned enough English in just a short time and because he was recognized for his merit. Make no mistake, they are living an unglamorous life at the bottom of the social ladder. But this is more of a problem only if we judge them by gringo standard. Should we consider where they have come from, a different picture will emerge. This is a society that provides them basic security, justice and endless opportunities. All these are lacking from their village.

My new realization makes me appreciate US more and perhaps diluted the film's tragic quality a bit. Nevertheless it is still an authentic and humanistic story. I am looking forward for my fourth viewing soon.

2009.03.20 [movie] - comments (0)

Ballad of Narayama (1983)
Director: Shohei Imamura

The Ballad of Narayama is set in a remote village in Japan. There was a tradition that before a parent reaches the age of 70, the son will bring her on the back to a remote mountain, where she will let die alone, so as not be become a burden to the family in this very deprived village. Orin was 69. She was preparing for her journey. She reminds her son Tatsuhei not to behave like his father, who 30 years ago has evaded the duty of carrying his own mother to the mountain and brought disgrace to the whole family.

20 years after my first viewing of this film I have come to know director Shohei Imamura a little better. I have also paid more attention to the social theme depicted. Besides this mountain ritual, the village also harbors a great deal of brutality, which are often codified into traditions. In this world they are all part of a population control scheme. Just being the second born son relegate one to an underclass who would lose the right to marriage and starting one's own family. The problem of second son is sometimes avoided at the start by infanticide. Far from an idyllic village, this can also be a very ugly place. Scarcity can bring out the worst in human.

The journey into the mountain was long and arduous. As dictated by tradition, mother and son spent the last hours together almost without a word. Still you can see the love between them. She refuse the rice ball offered and insist the son should have it, perhaps just like the old days. The mother settled in the valley with nothing but a straw mat. It was a gracious self-sacrifice that was so moving.

2008.08.15 [movie] - comments (0)

The Bridge (2006)
Director: Eric Steel

The Bridge is a controversial documentary about the people committing suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.

The first thing I notice about the film is that it is so beautiful. Even though Golden Gate Bridge has been photographed countless times, it never appears as attractive as in this film. The architecture, the geometry, the nature environment, the beautiful dance of light and fog. People walking on beaches, surfing, or sightseeing on gorgeously sunny days. It is just perfect. Perhaps just a perfect place to end it all?

The subject of this film is its dark side. People was seen jumping off the bridge in this film. When the friends and families of the victims are interviewed, you realized there was a tormented person behind each incident. Whether it is mental illness, financial or relationship issue or any combination of above, life has became unbearable for them. Yet it was never an end it all action. Their death often leave the friends and families agonizing over the whole matter.

The film is controversial because it has witnessed the entire action on film. It brings us down a slippery slope of voyeurism. I think this can be in part justified by forcing people to come face to face with it. I have lived in San Francisco for 8 years. The Golden Gate Bridge suicides only come across to me as some sort legend. When you visit the bridge, it is so beautiful you never believe someone will actually do it. Maybe we have some incidences in the past but not today? But no, it is real. It happens regularly, in broad daylight in front of many tourists. You will also see there are real people behind who are suffering from it.

This really leads to the perpetual discussion of building taller fences on the bridge as a suicide barrier. I am convinced that it will be effective. And that we have a moral obligation to do so.

2007.09.16 [movie] - comments (0)

Digital media and gadgets has definitely revived my interest in music and movies. I have since dusted off my CD collection and ripped a good portion of them into iTunes. This time round I have joined the DVD rental by mail company GreenCine. I am very excited in its movie treasure trove.

At the peak days around my final years in college, I watch about 60 movies in theatre a year and many more from rental and from TV. Now I go to a cinema perhaps two times a year. There are many reasons for this decline. But enough to say movies has always been a part of my cultural life and I look back fondly to those days. What online rental give me is access to virtually any movies I'm interested, whether they are new releases or years old. I no longer have to wait for the chancy encounter when the programmer decided to put something on a local cinema on a certain day.

How does GreenCine stack against the better known, original DVD by mail company Netflix? I check against their inventory and find little differences. Bear in mind my interest is mostly in artsy, relative little known flicks. If anything is unavailable it is more likely because they are not release in DVD yet (or not released for North America, darn regional code). Perhaps it is best to look at GreenCine's top 250 movies list. Dominated by decades old movies, it is nothing like you average movie rental shop. I received my first DVD about 24 hours after I joined. So you can say I am fairly satisfied. But then I am living in San Francisco, where the company is located.

So bye bye my local rental shop. I still love you, but you don't have what I'm looking for. And I still wish to go to cinema more. The sound of curtain rolling and light projected on screen still mean something to me.

2006.08.08 [movie] - comments (3)

Yesterday I have watched the documentary Guns, Germs and Steel based on Jared Diamond's book of the same name. I have not read the book. But with Jared Diamond being the host himself this should be a good representation of his book.

He started off in Papua New Guinea. Stuck by the islanders' deprivation, he tried to explain why do the West prosper and why do other cultures remain impoverished. His theory is that geography (environment), guns, germs and steel (technology) are the major factors that set them apart. The documentary followed the development of civilization from hunter-gatherers to farmers. It brought us back to the fateful battle between Francisco Pizarro and the Inca Empire. Finally it looked at the challenges in Africa, the land where the human race is believed to be originated from.

His book has won a Pulitzer Prize and his theory is called ground breaking. Flattery comments notwithstanding everything he said has been studied in anthropology. While all of them have some degree of truth, there are many other important factors he simply ignored, like culture, politics, religion and non-military technology. Also his emphasis on the environmental factor just sound too deterministic. Interesting this exact critique has voiced in the documentary.

I find two big faults in his thesis. First he like to insert simple answers for big questions. Why do our civilization developed in such way? Answer: geography, guns, germs and steel. But in fact he has only downplayed many other important factors. On the other hand there are plenty of counter examples for everything he has said. For example, which success factor did Mongolian possess when their conquered much of Europe and Asia? What geography advantages does England has that led them to become a global empire? Why does Arab and Chinese, with civilization in the similar stage with European, did not set off to conquer the world? His answer is really a weak answer at best.

Secondly he has a dichotomy view on cultures as winners and losers. Lots of focus are put on warfare and military technologies (i.e. guns, germs and steel) Other world shaping forces such as trading are entirely ignored. I doubt such winner and loser view can explain the complexity of civilization. For example, throughout its history China repeatedly fell to the nomadic invaders from the North. Jared's theory would have concluded the nomads the winner and possess some advantage over the Chinese loser (though non of his 4 factors can really count here). The interesting thing is over time many invaders adopted chinese culture and assimilated into the host country. Winner and loser cannot really describe what has happened.

Just curious. Jared is certainly not the first anthropologist to pose a big theory. What makes his work so popular?

2006.05.25 [movie] - comments (1)

My favorite actress director Sylvia Chang's new film "20 30 40" is a story about 3 women. Xiao Jie (Angelica Lee) of 20 ran off to Taipei by herself to pursuit her dream career in entertainment. Xiang Xiang (Rene Liu) is an air stewardess having affair with several lovers. Sylvia herself plays the 40 something Lily, who found herself divorced one day but were starting to find a new life. Together they echoed her previous film, the endearing "Tempting Heart", which traversed the life of a woman from teenager to into middle age. [more...]

2004.10.12 [movie] - comments (0)

Got to see two excellent movies in a row this week. I am excited to have written some reviews for Tagegukgi and 20-30-40. The front page is also getting crowded. It is also about time to reorganize it.

2004.10.12 [movie] - comments (0)

The epic war film opened in the happy days in 1950. Jin-tae and Jin-seok were close brothers. Jin-seok was a bright student and the hope of the family. Jin-tae worked hard so that his younger brother could go to school. Life is not easy, but with the family and his fiancee around, they could not be more contented. [more...]

2004.10.09 [movie] - comments (0)

Finally I have come up with my first movie review. I am delighted by Fong Yuk Ping's acclaimed 1983 movie "Ah Ying". I will probably put only good reviews here since good movies motivate me to write.

2003.11.29 [movie] - comments (0)

Hong Kong, 1983

首次看方育平的《半邊人》非常歡喜。電影由一群非專業演員演出，女主角許素瑩演替父母魚檔賣魚的女兒，跟眾兄弟姊妹共住一斗室。與男友曾有一段熱戀卻無疾而終，後因好奇參加了戲劇班。老師張松柏以探索和實集的方法啟發一群學生，一心為自己的電影編劇卻又遇到因難重重。他和阿瑩二人份外投契，但不知對大家的關係能有怎麼期望。[more...]

2003.11.27 [movie] - comments (0)