鸡毛飞上天: First Impressions

 So at the moment I am watching episode 2 of 鸡毛飞上天. This is a very interesting TV drama because of the trade in 义乌, 浙江 known as 鸡毛换糖. I feel the need to know more about the economy in different parts of China and today I chanced upon this on Youtube. 

Episode 1 is about the young 鸡毛 who as a baby was found by a head of the 陈 clan in 义乌. Because during Mao's time peddling sugar is seen as capitalist in nature and therefore forbidden by CCP's Marxist doctrine, and the main livelihood of 义乌' s residents lies in selling candies, the men are rounded up and taken into custody. They are saved by 鸡毛 together with his young friend by causing a fire. 鸡毛 is considered a hero and is given the proper name 陈江河 but soon after the officers suspected that the fire was a deliberate to free the men, and have caused unease among the villagers until they find the culprit. 鸡毛 owns up and is taken into custody but is saved by his friend. Before leaving they found a butchered pig hanging and cut it up to pieces to gift the villagers. 鸡毛 is sent away in order to save him, and his foster father 金水 owns up to all that happened. 鸡毛  meets a youngster who lives under a bridge. This youngster turns out to be a girl named 小骆 whose mother passed away and whose stepmother arranged for her to be married off except she is actually sold off to traffickers and she escaped from them. The two bickered a lot but eventually learned to trust each other after running away from officers who crack down on candy-peddling. 

In episode 2, 鸡毛 leaves 小骆 (骆玉珠) and the latter comes to the former's village where the rattledrum left by 鸡毛 is almost broken by 陈金水 who had already prohibited anyone in the village to go out and peddle candy. The rattledrum is actually the signal for the candy peddlers in pretty much the same way that in PH, we know the dirty ice cream man is near when we hear bells. Meanwhile, 鸡毛 meets a university student named 英杰 on the train bound for Beijing. This person becomes interested in 鸡毛 for the latter's innate economic skills and he shared more about economic principles to 鸡毛. Before they part ways and promise to meet in 义乌 after three years, he tells 鸡毛: "义乌之外有中国， 中国之外还有世界。只有借着太平洋，大西洋的风，鸡毛才能真的飞上天。" In the next days he writes to his village and tells them about his trips but mainly focusing on information his village will need. He provides them with things that places in China lack, as well as places that produce excellent goods like 西北's wool and beef but needs toothpaste and soap as well as porcelain bowls and glass cups. 英杰 returns to 义乌 and is close to 谢书记. By this time, 陈金水 has taken 180 degree change and is totally against marketing efforts. In one meeting, 英杰 shares his many learnings from meeting 鸡毛/陈江河. 谢书记 expresses his wish to break the generational poverty in 义乌 by reviving its traditions. 

In episode 3, 鸡毛 finally returns to his village and meets 骆玉珠 again. He starts a company with fellow young adult villagers to gather cloth scraps from a company and to turn these into mops to be sold cheaply for steady income.

This drama is something that is perfect for the Holy Week. The acting is excellent. The cinematography is excellent. There is something in the characters that say that the storyline will never be boring. It tells the story of a process and this process spans 30 years, turning a poor village's simple way of life and leveraging it to enter the global market. I should have watched this along with so many TV dramas and movies that capture the impact of China's market reforms to the lives of ordinary citizens.

海大鱼 [Enormous Legendary Fish] (2020)

 Last year I was able to watch one of China's best animated films 大鱼海棠 which is based on the classic 山海经. A few weeks ago I chanced upon 海大鱼 on Youtube and I don't know if I should be happy because I am at least not disturbed, unlike after watching 大鱼海棠. Anyway these days I watch light movies to relax because work has become too much and I have to divide my time well between my full time job and chores, and also my me time playing one of the hottest otome games on Google Play... in four servers! 

I'll make this brief so I can watch an interesting online lecture I found earlier. 海大鱼 has the folk belief or story 海神娶亲 (sea god gets a wife) as main backdrop. Ali is an orphan whose friend is an official. One day she is named as the next lady to be sent out to the sea as offering to the sea god. Her official friend betrays her but eventually tries to search for her. When Ali came to the sea palace, she sees her husband who has green hideous face, but keeps calm. They are suddenly attacked and Ali helps her husband remove one of the darts. (At this point I was thinking if this is Chinese version of Beauty and the Beast...) She eventually rescues a small fish who turns out to be a sea spirit. This sea spirit rescues Ali from drowning when she is attacked while taking a bath. (At this point, viewer should have the suspicion that sea spirit and husband is one and the same, or maybe I have been watching too many movies that surprises are very rare.) So to cut a long story short, husband and sea spirit turn out to be the same person. Ali's male friend dies. Husband has a super jealous wife who pretends to be Ali's servant and who is actually the one behind the attack on their wedding night. She also tries to kill Ali after realizing her husband is already in love with her rival. Basically the wife and husband's stepmother are in connivance and are the ones who fabricated the idea that ladies should be sent to the sea god so that these wives can bear an heir and the two can dispose of the ladies. 

So while the movie ends happily with Ali preferring to stay in the sea palace with her love, there are unanswered questions. Why doesn't sea spirit love his wife? In ancient Chinese belief system, although men are allowed to have more than one wife, he is still expected to at least show respect to his wife. If sea spirit is a virtuous person he should never allow his wife to serve a new wife as that is humiliating her. And there is also the double persona question although I know I shouldn't be making a big deal out of it, but Ali is voluntarily in an extramarital affair with sea spirit. She is technically married to her hideous husband but she becomes pregnant with whom she thought is another man. So... morality wise, this movie seem  to deviate from the norms.

伏魔济公 (2020)

I recently watched a Chinese movie about Luohan (罗汉) or arhats following YT recommendations. These days YT recommends a lot of Chinese folklore inspired movies, especially tales about local/ lesser known immortals. 济公 is someone I know of since my childhood days. Because I was first educated in a Protestant school, and have been immersed in Christian traditions, I find 济公 a rather weird god because as my parents explain, he likes alcohol and meat despite being Buddhist and despite Buddhism's advocacy to not consume these two. But anyway, Chinese pantheon of gods is quite different from western traditions where there is very good boundaries between good and evil. In eastern beliefs, these two spheres are blurred and many gods, like Greek ones, cause harm to humans every now and then. They possess humanlike characteristics and behave pretty much like the humans who fabricated them.

伏魔济公 is about 降龙罗汉 who descends to the mortal realm and becomes a normal human being whose name is 李修缘, a happy go lucky guy from a well-to-do family who meets 柳絮, a female demon-slayer. He is destined to defeat the evil lord/ prevent the revival of 蟠螭 when the seven stars align so before his real powers awaken, the evil lord and his minions plan to take his life. During this time, 李修缘 meets friends and allies like 土地公, also a very familiar deity especially for Southern Chinese since we offer food to him every lunar month. One critical role is another Luohan's whose name is 伏虎. Now 伏虎 is much more popularly known as Maitreya Buddha, at least based on my experience, Maitreya seems to be the most well known of the arhats. (While watching this movie I think of my trip to a big temple in Ipoh, Malaysia where the 18 arhats are found. At that time I couldn't appreciate them because I know so little about Buddhist mythology, it being like the inspiration for the super confusing Marvel Universe IMHO lol). Back to the story: 伏虎 collects  降龙罗汉's power items, the calabash bottle, the fan, and his kasaya (袈裟) from three other deities who protect them, and even gets attacked by friends when he is mistaken for an impostor by 柳絮 and company. The kasaya, just to explain to those who do not know anything about the rich cultures of Asia, are Buddhist robes. 

When at first 李修缘 accepts his destiny as 降龙罗汉, self-doubts set in when 柳絮 gives her life to save him from the evil lord. 李修缘 cries in remorse saying he is just a normal person, that it is because of him being the 降龙罗汉 that his parents, villagers, and 柳絮 died. He runs away and comes back to the village he saved before, only without his power items. The village is attacked by demons and one woman is burned at the stakes because the villagers would not bring 李修缘 out after hiding him in one of the houses. The little girl cries for her burning mother and this triggers 降龙罗汉's memories of drinking tea with an old man. 降龙罗汉 comments on the tea being too strong and the old man replies that what you see/feel may not be real, a very Buddhist way of discerning truth and illusions. He comes to his senses and fights off the demons, then proceeds to stop the evil lord from reviving 蟠螭. It turns out that 柳絮 still lives and the evil lord holds her hostage to use her blood for the revival ritual.

Would I recommend this movie? Truth be told, this is poorly made. When villagers hear of impending demon attack, they "hurry" to leave but they are not scrambling. It's actually funny to see them move like there is no sense of urgency. The plot is very very cliche, a seemingly mortal man finding himself to be the savior against his wishes, and with a love interest to boot. The first part of the movie offers a lot of slapstick comedy with 李修缘 and his page out to get 柳絮, and also with 伏虎 negotiating with other deities to have the three power items. In particular, I like the exchange between 伏虎 and the wealth god who demands safekeeping fees in exchange for the kasaya because he is both a wealth god and a money-grubber. On the other hand, I like movies based on mythology stuff so this is one of those movies that can be a good introduction to Chinese folk beliefs.

Would I still watch movies of this kind? Hell yes, they will not be my priority. I still go for more meaningful and substantial movies, the kind with good cinematography, good story line, and very good acting,

武动乾坤：涅槃神石 [The Immortal Stone of Nirvana] (2020)

A week ago, a friend recommended an onmyouji film 晴雅集 starring Deng Lun. I knew Deng Lun from the latest remake of my favorite Chinese story 封神榜 although I decided to drop it because of bad acting on the part of other actors. Also, the actress who played Daji is not even pretty.

This week after doing a chain of chores, Youtube recommended 武动乾坤 and I followed. China has been making a lot of nice movies based on games and this one is not an exception. It tells the story of 林动 who as a child, saw how his father is done injustice by the reigning 雷 clan which holds a tournament (狩猎大会) and whoever wins is granted an audience to 雷豹. At that time, 林啸 and his partner 罗成 from 狂刀武馆 win the tournament but the partner is killed whereas 林啸 is greatly incapacitated and lost his powers after meeting 雷豹. 

Eight years passed and 林动 grows up. His family is ridiculed in his clan especially by his paternal uncle, for "betraying" 罗成. He meets a member of 狂刀武馆 named 吴云 who later on becomes his partner in the tournament alongside a female archer whose master 古影 serves in the court of 雷豹. But before that, 雷豹' son 雷霹, attacks 林动 and 罗成, telling them to fight each other and that whoever wins shall get the bag of 阳元石. 林动 tells 吴云 that his father is innocent and that the real enemy is the 雷 clan. After saying so, he jumps off the cliff and is presumed to be dead. He is miraculously saved by the stone he earlier mined and he is able to quickly learn martial arts to save the village from the tyranny of the 雷 clan and to clear his father's name. He reappears just when his younger sister 青檀 is attacking 吴云 and blaming him for her brother's death. 

林动 wins the tournament and kicks 吴云 aside in order to protect him from entering 雷豹's court. But what happened to his father almost happened to 林动  were it not for 古影 and 雷霹s betrayal. 雷霹 killed his father 雷豹 and assumes the throne. Meanwhile, his brother 雷力 is smitten by 青檀 and plans to take her as his wife. During the wedding ceremony, 雷霹 reveals his intention to absorb 青檀s ice power. 雷力 blocks the attack meant for 青檀 and it is such a big waste to not see his character develop further. It would have been nice if he will join forces with 林动 and 吴云, with he and 吴云 becoming rivals for 青檀's affection since there seems to be a part 2 of this movie. After 林动 beats 雷霹, that's it. We don't even know what happens to 古影 and his apprentice 

Above image reminds me of Naruto's Kurama, and he does look like a nine-tailed fox although 林动 calls him a rat (老鼠). He functions in pretty much the same way as Kurama and is the source of 林动 advanced power.

Might be watching more of these kind of movies.

(2001) باران

 Iran, although considered a US enemy and on the receiving end of US sanctions, is known for its film exports. It has been compared to China for producing films with social realist and/or neorealist touches. I have watched one when, surprisingly, UP hosted Iranian Film Festival, even though UP is largely very American despite denials from its students who come from elite families. Back then I was more into commercial films and just watched out of curiosity so one can definitely say that I didn't have a real appreciation of cinema as an art. I only remember the bleak atmosphere throughout the film and feeling depressed as I walked out of UPFI. Or maybe it was because of my lack of knowledge of West Asia and its affairs. Like, I know many people who don't appreciate Chinese films because they cannot understand the nuances, the puns, the language plays, and how everything fits into the whole film work. I think it was something like that for me with regards to West Asian cultural products.

So yesterday was my grandmother's birthday, coinciding with Mid-Autumn Festival. I initially planned to work on my thesis which I haven't touched for a month, momentum just died, or rather I am not feeling super excited to write the next few parts which have been playing in my head for months already. After migrating my draft to MS Word 365 which I got for free thanks to UP, I just fixed layout and didn't add anything substantial to the whole body of text. Imagine that, I even dug out my reference books. But you know, as has become customary, I would search for new stuff on YT and decided I wanted to watch a non-English or non-Chinese film.

Rain caught my eye, and it does not disappoint. It tells the story of a young Iranian named Lateef who is a troublemaker at a construction site where his only job is to prepare food and tea for the workers. Most of the workers are Afghans and are employed by Memar the site manager out of sympathy for these refugees. In truth, Afghans are not allowed to work in construction sites and a quick Google search will tell you that Afghan refugees entered Iran and Pakistan to escape their chaotic homeland which is left desolate starting from the 1979 Soviet invasion up to the present mainly due to the 2001 US invasion which also gave rise to many terrorist groups in the country. Now these Afghan workers must hide whenever inspectors visit the site or else they will be caught and Memar will be fined. We cannot exactly say that Memar exploits the refugees as these refugees also need to survive and in this world many people actually want honest work to survive. It is when there are no opportunities that desperate people turn to unlawful activities. Memar is actually in a difficult position of ensuring that he seemingly complies with the law and balancing that with providing a source of livelihood for the Afghans. I think this is the beautiful part in many Asian cultures, we have an innate sense of humanity and justice, unlike the western people (especially Americans) who are mostly soulless people who prefer laws to prevail without seeing the world's multifarious shades of gray.

Persian flatbread... looks yummy especially with spice-laden sauce.

Lateef's life is changed when the newcomer Rahmat is deemed physically unfit for the hard manual labor and they are made to exchange roles. Rahmat is the son of Najaf who earlier falls from the building and gets a tremendous injury. Lateef makes life hard for Rahmat until one day he discovers that Rahmat is actually a girl. Since then, his treatment of Rahmat changes and he keeps silent over his discovery. One day, Rahmat is chased down by inspectors and Lateef fights with the inspectors telling Rahmat to run. Rahmat loses her job at the construction site and shifts to working at a dam where other young girls (probably Afghanis also) transfer boulders to the river bank. We see Rahmat's hardships through Lateef's eyes who in turn becomes a changed man. He borrows money from Memar to give to Soltan who in turn is to give to Najar. In this particular scene, we can see that Lateef must really have felt Rahmat's hard life when he tears up and turns emotional while talking to Memar. But Soltan escapes to Afghanistan himself as relayed by his messenger to Lateef. The messenger says that Soltan has had a hard life and he needs the money and leaves a note to Lateef saying he will pay him back. Lateef tries to borrow money from Memar again but his request is denied. He sells his Iranian ID for a sum and gives to Najar, learning that the family will leave for Afghanistan the next day. 

Shoe fixer to Lateef: From the hot fire of being apart comes the flame that burns the heart.

Lateef sees Rahmat off, whose real name is Baran (Rain). As Baran heads to the truck, her shoe slips in the mud and Lateef picks it up and puts her foot in it, a very telling gesture of courtship. Lateef smiles as the rain starts to pour filling the footprint with rainwater. And this is how we understand Baran's role in Lateef's life, her existence fills the void in his life and changes him. And it is also a good symbolism, a mark indeed that she left on him forever.

Rainwater fills Baran's deep footprint

Wild Child (2008)

After watching some serious stuff non-stop, my brain is screaming for some time out and what fun way to relax than to watch a sill movie. At first I wanted to watch some good old 50s film but unfortunately am not able to successfully find a full version on YT. It recommended Wild Child instead and I took the bait. The film's got no subtitles so it's a struggle to understand what they're saying. I'm not so accustomed to British English after all, even after all the Harry Potter stuff.

Emma Roberts stars in this film about Poppy who ruins her dad's girlfriend's stuff by inviting her friends to take whatever they can of the woman's things when they got delivered to their big house. She is sent to Abbey Mount school where her misbehavior and rudeness annoy her roommates. (In hindsight, I've never met a decent American in my life and especially young American  women--- they're bitches who think like they are above everyone else. Poppy is pretty much like this.) When Katie, one of the roommates, learn of her mother's passing years ago in a car crash, she sympathizes with Poppy and eventually the other roommates become accepting of her. The girls decide to help her get expelled so she can go back to her life in the US.

Poppy: You think I'm an asshole.

Katie: No. But you behave like an asshole. There's a difference.

Now Abbey Mount has to have a dashing boy in the person of Freddie, son of the headmistress, whom the girls in the school crush on but who is not allowed to "fraternize" with girls. And there should be a rival in the person of Harriet who obsesses over Freddie but the latter does not return the affection as he does to Poppy especially during a party and when the two go out on a date after that. At first, Poppy plans to use Freddie as her ticket to freedom but has come to really like him eventually. When Poppy's roommates get hold of an email saying the people at school are losers, she is isolated once again. Freddie also receives a copy of an email revealing that he is just part of a plan. While emoing alone and toying with her lighter, Poppy accidentally sets fire to the curtain but puts it out before she runs away. Later on, she sees from her window that the place catches fire and alerts everyone to get out of the building. One of her roommates Jennifer is not present on roll call and Poppy rushes to the refrigeration room as she has seen the girl sneak in there one night to eat ice cream. She helps save her friend and later confesses to the crime although she insists that it is an accident.

The roommates discover that the one who sent the email is none other than Harriet and during Poppy's hearing, Harriet accuses her of the crime by providing details nobody actually knows about which implicates her instead. Harriet is found guilty and is expelled from school. In the end, Poppy and her Abbey Mount friends, plus Freddie, are seen relaxing in her house's pool in California.

So may one key takeaway from this movie is to learn how to be fashionable and trendy because manners and simply being a good person is not enough to win people's hearts. Maybe I am just being old-fashioned that way, preferring to build my inner strength mostly skills, instead of spending time to appear cool and beautiful outside. I mean, I know I am already pretty just the way I am and many people say the same. It's just that people also lament about how I don't dress up often and that maybe I should learn how to put on makeup regularly. Maybe then maybe real men will enter my life. haha (Except that after that brief encounter with Q I think I will just die an old maid, seeing this world has a serious shortage of good men. I'd rather keep my peace.)

28岁未成年 [Suddenly 17] (2016)

 So I guess I hit jackpot again after watching some crappy Chinese movies. 28岁未成年 does not have that typical Mainland China feel. It feels very modern, very trendy, and for a film about creativity, creative. The story is about a 28 year old woman who lives with her partner. She does everything for 茅亮 and he seems to have been taking her for granted, prioritizing work over 涼夏. While it is not 100% shown in the movie, it is hinted that there is something going on between him and his secretary. 涼夏 sees a commercial about chocolates and orders online.

涼夏 attends her best friend's wedding and she is given the bouquet of flowers intentionally to get her boyfriend to also propose to her. 茅亮 is surprised as he is put on the spot and right then and there announces that he is breaking up with her. 涼夏 runs away and drives off, the box of chocolates in her car and so she eats one piece. After some time, she turns into a different person. She realizes that when she eats the chocolates she goes back to her 17 year old self. 

涼夏's 17 year old self once takes the train and while in there sees a beautiful boy who attracts her attention that she draws him in her notebook using makeup. But suddenly the effect of the chocolate wears off and the present 涼夏 takes over again, leaving quickly because of her appearance. (17 year old her prefers short hair so she wears a wig, wears sexy outfit and tights, pretty much like goth girl style.) She accidentally leaves behind her notebook and it is picked up by the beautiful boy who posts about it on the internet with the intention of meeting the mysterious creative girl who drew him. This post becomes viral and attracts the attention of 茅亮's client. 茅亮 discovers that the artist is none other than his own girlfriend so he requests her to create designs for him. Desperate to bring back her boyfriend's love and attention, 涼夏 decides to bring back her 17 year old self to create the designs as the present she no longer practices her craft. The problem is that 17 year old her is not interested in going back because she wants to be with the cute boy after meeting up with him. She is eventually rejected because the boy wants to have sex with her and she is not yet ready. 

Eventually the two 涼夏 reconcile with each other and help each other achieve what the other desires. 涼夏 gains back her confidence when she suddenly becomes popular thanks to her 17 year old self's help. The 17 year old on the other hand, is so heartbroken that after chasing the cute boy before he travels off, she falls down and faints, and relinquishes control over 28 year old her. For the ending, 茅亮 is shown running naked in the streets and proposing to 涼夏, somewhat similar to what he did a decade ago to make 涼夏 agree to become his girlfriend.

This is a refreshing Chinese movie that talks about trendy and modern Chinese people's dreams and aspirations. We see here tall buildings, beautiful cars, party people, and gadgets. We also see the creativity that China somehow lacks in comparison to other advanced countries. It seems to offer an allegorical message to go back in time and find inspiration in China's very rich cultural traditions. Compared to PH, of course China has gone a long long way in just a short period of time whereas, hello PH, we've had the first LRT in Southeast Asia and now look how far we have fallen behind our neighbors. It's so heartbreaking.

And I discovered that 28岁未成年 actually has a TV series. Hmmmm.