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.

大鱼海棠 [Big Fish and Begonia] (2016)

《北冥有鱼，其名为鲲，鲲之大不知其几千里也 。》

Above is the opening line in this Chinese animated film that reeks of Studio Ghibli influences, most in particular my favorite SG movie Spirited Away. The first time I knew of this is through a song 《大鱼》performed by 周深 and 郭沁, both having such fine delicate voice quality, the kind that refreshes the soul. It is a coming-of-age story about a girl named Chun who follows the typical hero (or maybe we should create a new trope which is the heroine) journey which changes her life forever.

Chun is friends with Qiu and early on one can already sense that even these two have entangled fates, because well, homophones for 春秋 (Spring and Autumn). Both are part of a community of magical beings. For instance, Chun has powers to grow vines and trees pretty much like Kurama of Yuyu Hakusho and Ueki of Law of Ueki. Qiu has the power to control wind, like Airbender Aang and Fuu of Recca no Honoo. LOL I just can't help but compare. There is also a fire user who reminds me of 哪吒, for whom I have grown a big obsession because of his role in 《封神榜》. 

Chun participates in a ritual wherein youngsters visit the human world in the form of red dolphins for seven days. After that, they will come back to their community. Chun's mother is worried because previously a girl was not able to return and so she reminds Chun never to interact with human beings. Chun spends most days happily swimming with other red dolphins in the sea. One night she is caught by a net from a big ship and calls our for help to which a boy responds who set her free. The boy drowns in the process leaving his little sister crying in the storm. Chun becomes guilty and seeks of a way to restore the boy back to life. She visits the SoulKeeper and makes a pact with him that in exchange for the boy's soul, she will lose half of her life. She is given the responsibility to care for the fish, which reminds me of the animated movie 《哪吒之魔童降世》wherein the spirit ball is given to a master to cultivate and this spirit ball becomes the young fire warrior 哪吒. Qiu suggests the name Kun for the fish in reference to the big fish in Chinese mythology, and quoting 《北冥有鱼，其名为鲲，鲲之大不知其几千里也 。》For a while, Chun is happy with Kun until things get out of hand and a calamity is starting to be felt in the community which according to old folks, is caused by a violation of sorts to the natural order of things. Qiu helps Chun in every way possible even though at the start he also almost caused harm to Kun, but seeing Chun's determined efforts to bring Kun back to life in the human world, he helps him and sacrifices himself as well in the end, giving his own life in order that Chun will not die when she releases Kun in the human world. Qiu is also responsible for opening the portal to the human world so that the two can escape. In the destructive flood and chaos that ensue, the Mouse Keeper takes advantage of the open portal to go to the human world. Meanwhile, seeing her community in distress, Chun sacrifices her own life and merges herself with her grandfather who has now become a begonia tree "after death" to help the people to safety. After the chaos, Chun sets Kun free and at this moment, Qiu casts a spell given to him by the SoulKeeper so that he will burn away and in return, Chun will not die. He grabs Chun and they both jump off the cliff telling his friend that they will meet again (Spirited Away feels again). In the end, Kun is transformed back to his original form. He is seen washed ashore together with Chun. Qiu on the other hand, is revived to become the SoulKeeper's successor.

《上古有大椿者，以八千岁为春，八千岁为秋。》

Above confirms the relationship between Chun and Qiu, that they indeed have entangled fates.Why do I have the feeling that there will be a part 2 of this movie? 

In 1:00:30, Qiu tells a barman that he wants to forget something but can't seem to be successful in doing so. The barman tells him, it's no use to try to forget because to really forget something, one does not need to put in effort. 

Qiu: It's painful

Barman: Sometimes to feel pain is a good thing.

Qiu: Is there something I can take to ease the pain?

Barman: I have this what humans call 孟婆汤 which can make you forget all your painful and beautiful memories.

Qiu instead asks for a jar of wine.

Note: The 孟婆汤 in Chinese mythology allows one to forget everything when drunk. It can very well be the inspiration for Andy Lau's 忘情水. 

This is one animated film I will most probably watch over and over again. I wish China makes more animated movies of this kind. I've seen a few China-made animated films and so far everything has surprised me and exceeded my expectations, like the 2017 小门神 and last year's 哪吒之魔童降世. I am also looking forward to watching 白蛇缘起 next. Honestly, I want China to really develop an excellent animation industry because of the very very good materials that Chinese culture has. The four classics have been made into different film and TV series versions. And we're not yet talking about the ultra cool 封神榜 and 蒲松龄's 聊斋志异. As a huge fan of fantasy and having known some of these Chinese tales as a child, I have always relied on Japanese anime to adapt them and turn them into visual spectacles. Now is the time that finally China takes its soft power seriously and is paying attention to its creative industries which it should have done a long time ago. Western fantasy seems super boring compared to Eastern stuff, I must say. Just that to be honest there are a lot of crappy Chinese films and you really really have to sift through a lot of material to find gems.

中国加油！

紫禁城里的小食光 [Royal Kitchen in Qing Dynasty] (2020)

I once again let YT recommendations choose what to watch and this week as soon as I opened my YT app, 紫禁城里的小食光 is the first video I saw and since I like food-themed shows, I watched it and the opening scene of chefs cooking fish made me decide to watch until the end although honestly the movie's story is a big bore although the food featured throughout seemed delicious.

The movie tells the story of  a royal chef 张东官who through flashbacks we learn used to be a commoner who strove hard to get in the  royal kitchens just so he could see his former sweetheart who became a princess. The princess 景娴格格 luckily is married to a general 长叙 who agrees to their arrangement of being husband-and-wife in name only. The princess meets her former lover again and is baffled why the latter is always evading her. Now there is another princess 婉贞格格 who is very naive and who likes to eat. She has a huge crush on a prince and wants to slim down. In order to please her, she is fooled into thinking that the more she eats the more she loses weight. 景娴格格 discovers the trickery and 婉贞格格 is tricked into doing many activities like kite-flying and tug-of-war so she can indeed lose weight. After some time, she slims down but discovers through an army trainer who is her friend and who likes her that the prince she likes likes her only for her status and will use her to gain power. She eventually realizes that the army trainer is the one who cares for her sincerely and when she is with him she can be herself.

The movie covers other storylines as well such as how a maid named 敏慧 is implicated in a crime about stealing the empress' treasures. Later on it is revealed that the empress is always short of money and the maid is used as a pawn to be able to smuggle the treasure out in exchange for cash. 景娴格格 visits the place she and 东官 used to hang out and learns that 东官 does not want to alter anything in the place. Eventually the two becomes close again until the princess sees her husband who is thought of as having died in battle. 长叙 and 东官 meet and negotiate to complete a mission. It turns out that 长叙 's beloved 紫鹃 is the one killed in battle and not him. She has taken his place when he was heavily injured and unconscious. After that, he told the rest of the army to inform the palace of his death or else he will commit suicide. He wants 东官 to steal the weapon plans kept in the palace to destroy it and not cause any more human destruction in fulfillment of 紫鹃's will. 景娴格格 and 东官 enlist the help of their friends but they are caught. It is revealed why they did such things and the emperor forgives everyone and the two lovers can now be together with the emperor's permission because as he says, this kind of true love is very rare inside the palace.

It's a very simple story actually with not much room for character development and further struggles. It's like everything is resolved because of the generosity and benevolence of the rulers who "understand" why the people act and behave in such way. In reality though, you can never trick a Chinese emperor without being punished heavily or without being put to death since the emperor loses face. Even 还珠格格 and company were thrown into prison and were supposed to be executed had not the princes decided to take them away to safety. And the title itself is very misleading because there is not much food shown in the movie although at the latter part the iced dessert 冰碗莲子羹 is served to the emperor so that the moisture will wet the pages of the book and will be taken away. Through this, 张东官 intercepts the official and obtains the book. It is a case of perfect timing because the emperor needs to read the right book when the dessert is served. The movie could have used much more clever tricks and more mind-boggling stuff for that wow moment as I sometimes encounter in some Chinese drama series. Also, I don't see how the different subplots cohere. It's like some are just fillers which can be developed into another film on its own. The same with 敏慧's case which is very characteristic of the palace's political intrigues.

A Doll's House (Movie)

After watching some of Shakespeare's plays, I realize maybe I am doing myself a great disservice by trying to ignore Western cultural products. Last night I watched Love's Labour's Lost and I honestly found it challenging because of old puns and Latin stuff thrown in. I didn't know the Bard is such a wordsmith and I finally understand why his works are listed in the canon. I usually ignore famous works because people already pay them too much attention and so I focus on discovering stuff which for me are treasures known only to a few. One of my biggest projects this year is trying out new restaurants every other week after a very nice solo lunch at Fat Russel on V-Day, which I have yet to write about as I try to capture as much as I can on what happens or what occupies or preoccupies me during this lockdown.

Torvald Helmer: What do I call those little birds who squander all their money away?

Nora Helmer: Spend-swifts.

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Dr. Rank: I don't understand why people like that so often end up in a good position, while so  many honest and healthy men are just left out in the cold.

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Nils Krogstad: The law is not interested in motives.

Nora Helmer: Then the law is useless.

 (This echoes my belief that law, since it is man-made, may not be always moral. Believe me, just as when I was planning for my future as my highschool days are drawing to a close, I have considered studying law after getting a degree in Philosophy, but eventually changed my mind and put EL as my first choice instead. The reason is connected to my goal of traveling the world and getting to know cultures and listening to people's stories. Q and I usually talk about languages as he admires me for being a multilingual. I tell him I used to think that it's normal for people to quickly learn languages but eventually discovered that it's not easy for most people, as a very close highschool friend pointed out to me that I have a gift for languages. Nowadays, I ponder about what if I took up law instead of archaeology right after college? Oh, but I didn't have the financial capability then...)
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Nora: I have to stand on my own two feet if I'm ever to know myself and the things that are gong on around me. That's why I can't stay in your house any longer.

Torvald: (...) I forbid you to.

Nora: (...)

Torvald: You can't abandon your home, your husband, and your children. Have you thought what people will say?

Nora: I can't worry about that. All I know is it's something I have to do.

Torvald: It's outrageous. It's going back on your most sacred duties.

Nora: And what, in your opinion, are my most sacred duties?

Torvald: (...) I mean your duties to your husband and your children.

Nora: I have other duties which are just as sacred. (...) My duties to myself.

Torvald: Before anything else, you are a mother and a wife.

Nora: I don't believe that anymore. I believe that before anything else, I am a human being, just as much of one as you are. (...) What most people say and what's in the books just doesn't satisfy me anymore. I want to find things out for myself and make my own decisions.

Torvald: You don't seem to understand your position in your own house. There's an infallible guide in this sort of situation. It's your religion, what about that? (...) If you refuse to be guided by your religion, at least let me appeal to your conscience. I suppose you have some sort of a moral code, or perhaps you don't.

Nora: I don't know (...) The only thing I do know is tat my opinions about these things are quite different from yours. (...) I don't know which one of us is right, society or me.

(...)

Torvald: No man would sacrifice his honor even for love.

Nora: Millions of women have.

(This is the very heart of the story and I am happy that Nora finally comes to her senses after being hit by her husband after the latter learned of the debt made by Nora to fund her husband's health expenses. The husband is an asshole who is more concerned of appearances than having a loving relationship with his wife.)

御前侍卫 [Imperial Bodyguard] (2011)

Mainland China has produced a number of TV series on the Qing Dynasty, with Emperor Qianlong  (乾隆皇帝) as the favorite regime. The most memorable series is not from Mainland but from Taiwan, with its massively popular (还珠格格) which my family would watch every night. Or at least in my memory I would watch with my parents. In graduate school, I found out that it was such a big hit in Southeast Asia. In fact, in one Mainland drama series 翻译官(Les Interprètes), 还珠格格 was used for interpretation practice. At the onset of the lockdown, I came to know that one of my sisters has actually been watching 延禧攻略 (The Story of Yanxi Palace) which I do not watch. She first followed the dubbed version on ABS-CBN, and since the lockdown, have turned to online streaming to continue watching the series. After a quick Google search on 延禧攻略 and discovering it's set during Qianlong's rule, I pointed out to her that she might want revisit 还珠格格 as both figure the same emperor. I also gave her a brief history lecture on the 清 (Qing Dynasty). These days she alternates between the two, which gives a good balance as one is dark and serious, while the other is a light comedy.

The movie is set in the days of Emperor Qianlong when anti-Qing sentiments ran high, especially because of corrupt officials. Qianlong roams outside the palace to investigate the embezzlement of funds by an appointee magistrate named 李满仓 (Li Mancang). The funds are supposed to fix the river bank and to provide for the people as disaster relief. In those days, the popular slogan amongst the people is 反清复明 (Counter the Qing, Revive the Ming). The Ming Dynasty was the predecessor of the Qing and to cut a long story short, the Han people were not happy with barbarian rule. Anyone with basic knowledge of Chinese philosophy knows how strong sino-centrism is and how non-Chinese, or to be more specific non-Han, are thought of as barbarians. So anyway, there were also Japanese pirates already in Chinese society back then who seek to sow discord in order to allow Japanese forces to take control of China. These 倭寇 (wako pirates, literally "dwarf pirates") connive with local officials, and at least in the movie, with Li Mancang.

Now our main character 薛树英 (Xue Shuying) has many friends who are good at fighting. One of these is the cheerful thief 卓飞  (Zhuo Fei), also a ninja who spies on the Japanese and reports to our hero. An old brother, the 江香主 is anti-Qing and heads the 天地会 (Heaven Earth Association) which seeks to drive away the Manchus. All he wants  is to kill the emperor so he can go back to live with his wife and daughter peacefully. Jiang is ready to fight his friend for this mission but changes his mind eventually when Xue tells him the people will suffer more and chaos will ensue if the emperor is killed. That, plus when the Japanese killed his wife. Another is an old time friend 萧易明 (Xiao Yiming) whose wife died when he accidentally shoved her rather too hard while sparring with our hero. He blames his wife's death on Xue but in the end arrives in time to fight the Japanese big boss. There is also another swordsman whose entire family was killed by an imperial edict for writing a poem, thus all he wants is to avenge his family and kill the emperor. Eventually he becomes an ally when he learns that the imperial edict was actually forged and the emperor has already taken care of those involved in the forgery.

 The movie has many good action scenes but unfortunately, the story is too cliché, with the emperor running for his life and when almost cornered, heroes will turn up and sacrifice their lives to allow the emperor to flee. There is one burning question the whole time I was watching this film and that is, WHY ON EARTH DOES A PRINCESS WHO CANNOT FIGHT JOURNEY WITH HER FATHER??? A fat but loyal eunuch is also almost always a must in these types of movies so that's pardonable. But even when left to their own devices, it is the emperor who fights against ninja assassins. All throughout the movie, the princess' role is just to worry about Xue that those who watch this film understand why 春子 (Chunzi, the doctors's daughter) smiles rather too sweetly at the general who led the reinforcement at the end. It might be implied that the princess and Xue have something going on between them although at the start, it would seem that it will be Xue and Chunzi. To think Chunzi's father died for the emperor by pretending to be him so that the assassins will chase him instead of the real emperor. Also, I am curious as to what happened to the Lady Boss owner of  the restaurant. She is revealed to be such an awesome fighter who single-handedly dealt with the assassins while the royal company escape her restaurant, but her demise is implied. Chunzi herself is a courageous woman who offers to go out and bring the emperor's seal to the general for reinforcement, but which came late so the heroes mentioned earlier have mostly been killed already except for the cheerful thief whom I thought would be killed eventually as is common but who turns out to have survived and is bestowed the title of marquis afterwards. Awesome! I just love Robin Hood types because they are a rarity in this world full of sick people who are rude to the poor and the powerless yet treat those with money and influence very well. So disgusting.

Another salient characteristic of this movie which is also very common in Chinese films is its strong anti-Japanese sentiments. The Japanese are portrayed as brutal and bloodthirsty; they really need to slash Chinese people multiple times even though it is clear that the person is dead. They do not think twice about killing innocent people for their goals to destroy a country. And they are made to be foils to the Chinese (i.e. Xue) who fights for morality and justice. Japanese animé always emphasize that being good in the art of fighting is useless if it is employed for random violence. But in Chinese movies, this included, they are made to look evil, mayhaps as an extra effort to counter Japan's soft power. I wonder though why Japanese actors agree to be part of these kinds of movies, but I also am glad that they become part of Chinese film industry especially in atonement and acknowledgement of the Japanese nation's war crimes during World War 2. I hope the US and other Westerners produce films that speak truthfully of how they subjugated other peoples and created hell in this world.

第三只眼 [The Third Eye/ Peeping] (2019)

This Covid-19 lockdown is my chance to somehow escape from the outside world and watch some movies for leisure. The past few years have seen me consuming non-Western cultural products and I am not stopping anytime soon, although from time to time I will watch western-produced films if they intrigue me, like for instance Black Panther and Little Women are on my list. In fact I started to watch a few minutes of Black Panther last night.

Sometimes I let youtube do the picking for me. The past few weeks I have been looking up classical Chinese poetry and I was shocked when 第三只眼 was recommended for me. I was thinking maybe it was some kind of porn but then seeing that it was made in Mainland China, I knew then that porn fans will be very much disappointed. China has a super strict censorship system that filters out media with gore and violence, sex, and horror stuff (ghosts). The latter I do not understand since Chinese folklore and even mythology has many supernatural creatures which of course figure prominently also in its cultural products. For instance, there is the the White Snake who is actually a snake demon but who has been reinterpreted many times to be a benevolent spirit.

Curious, I watched it. Nice opening. The scenes are shot like in those slow Japanese films which capture everyday objects up close, that you get to see certain aesthetics that will otherwise go unnoticed if the focus is more on human actions. A young woman is about to eat bottled fruit preserves when suddenly her water breaks and she gives birth on her own inside her house while even managing to close the door using her foot. It is not shown how she managed but then fast forward to her now six year old son to whom she now gives the bottled fruit preserves. This son is the main character/ narrator of the film. He is an intelligent boy, very observant and is also blessed with artistic hands. He uses the used bottles as seeing lenses, watching nature around him. Because it's just him and his mother, his mother takes him to the women's public bath house and there sees a girl with a butterfly on her left bosom. From that day on, he obsessed about the girl and even in college, all he could draw are butterflies much to the dismay of his professor whom he spies to have sexual relations with a girl model in her car. As a grown up, the narrator admits to being obsessed about peeping, becoming a voyeur but mainly monitoring Xiaoqi, the girl model with butterfly tattoo, because he thinks that she is the girl he has been looking for. He steals his professor's list of student information to get Xiaoqi's number and address, and even rents a flat strategically located across Xiaoqi's so he can observe her at ease. He even goes as far as stealing some items in Xiaoqi's car, replacing them with other items. He also sneaks into her apartment and afraid of being caught, he instinctively kidnaps Xiaoqi's cat. He wonders why of all the men who had one night stand with Xiaoqi, only one man was allowed to enter her flat. This man turned out to be her ex-husband, a weak-looking guy who obviously is just a toy for Xiaoqi. 

When eventually the narrator confesses to his voyeurism to Xiaoqi the roles are reversed with Xiaoqi trying to seduce him in his flat while her ex-husband uses binoculars from her flat and sees the attempted seduction. She informs our peeping tom about the setup and he goes out running outside to be met by the ex-husband and the two trade punches. Then a host of realizations. Our narrator finally understands that Xiaoqi despises the ex-husband so much for his weakness that she deliberately lives a promiscuous life to maybe get a reaction from the husband but the latter has only been controlling without doing anything about their marital issues. In one of their attempted love-making, with Xiaoqi telling our narrator to watch, the husband is shown to have weak virility, and prefers to have the curtains closed. The film's message in the end "意识的表达态度在于燃烧自己的小宇宙时需谨慎面对， 切勿盲目。[The attitude to expressing our mind is that we need to be careful and clear-minded when we devote ourselves wholeheartedly.]" echoes the realization made by our main character who prefers to stalk and watch from afar in his comfort zone instead of making a move,  that Xiaoqi is not the girl he has been obsessing about. He suddenly remembers that when he watched the girl in the bathhouse, he was looking at the mirror, so the butterfly is supposed to be on the other side. He suddenly also becomes aware that Xiaoqi is like a cat, dominant, freedom-loving, and a queen in her own rights.

An art film, 第三只眼 pushes it viewers who are voyeurs themselves in the whole dramatic affair to pay attention to the minutest of details, giving voyeurs an idea even of the skin texture due to close up shots of the characters' faces. Zooming out, especially at the surprising end wherein we see Xiaoqi's friend sun-bathing seductively in her terrace as the guy (narrator's friend) who chases her watches using his friend's telescope. The girl's behavior is in stark contrast to her earlier behavior wherein she dismisses the playboy guy and is always seen as the more sensible prior. The whole film invites careful observation and reflection before setting out to do something which requires effort.

红高粱 (1988)

This week I continued to watch a Chinese action film about the poet 李白 who is made into a vigilant reminiscent of Batman, and yet still did not finish the film. Today instead of working on my thesis, I watched a movie I have always been curious about.  I finally found a copy in Youtube except it does not have English nor Chinese subtitles (save for some folk songs in the movie) which is fine since I leveled up a lot after I vowed to be better at Mandarin upon seeing my low score in HSK level 6 exam. I did pass, but my heart is not happy with what I achieved. 

The film is about a woman named 九儿 (九 is homophone of 酒 which is also central to the story) who is being sent off to be married to an old man. Along the way, the entourage was blocked by a bandit who almost raped 九儿 had it not been for a worker who is referred to by the Main Narrator as "My Grandpa". This grandpa pounced on the bandit and initiated the attack that was eventually joined by his coworkers leading to the bandit's death. Later  on, grandpa will himself rape 九儿 although it is more like carrying her off in the fields of sorghum and it seems that whatever happened between them is consensual. The old man died suddenly and 九儿 assumes the role of boss of  the wine distillery with the help of an old worker Luohan. The men had a feast and folk songs are shown alongside rituals expressing pride of their own made red sorghum wine. Later on, 九儿 is kidnapped by a man named Sanpao who owns a butcher shop. He demands ransom and when 九儿 is freed, grandpa goes to Sanpao seeking revenge and calms down when Sanpao tells him he did not touch 九儿.

For a while, the distillery people lived in peace and 九儿 is seen to be happy with her young son who plays among the wine jars. Luohan leaves the distillery without a word and disappears as 九儿 chases after him. It turns out that he joined an anti-Japanese resistance and is later revealed to be caught alongside the bandit Sanpao. The Japanese round up the people of the distillery and cause terror, bringing with them the two prisoners. A butcher who works for Sanpao is praised and given money for his good work on skinning an animal and is later ordered to skin Sanpao alive which he refused and stabbed Sanpao instead to give his boss a quick death. Luohan is not as lucky as the other skinner obeyed the Japanese order because his life is under threat. The skinning alive of Luohan is witnessed by 九儿 and everyone. They vowed to avenge his death and in the end everyone dies except for the narrator's father (九儿's son) and grandpa.

This movie by Zhang Yimou seems to me to be an allegory of the struggles of the Chinese people. First is the emancipation from capitalism (death of the old leper). Then, the internal conflict seen in the bandit kidnapping 九儿, as well as the narrator's grandpa raping 九儿 (Chinese victimizing fellow Chinese). Third, is the terror wrought by the Japanese which made some Chinese turn to their own kind, but which also shows the nobility of the Chinese spirit to rise against foreign aggression. In all three, it is interesting that the female is seen as the ultimate victim who can temporarily achieve success but who will still ultimately die. There are so many things one can discuss with regards to this movie and it pretty much reminds me of the Filipino classic Oro Plata Mata which is disturbing to say the least. It should also be noted that Zhang Yimou is also the one behind another favorite wartime movie of mine: The Flowers of War.

The Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

So I guess I am back to watching movies about the military by accident. Back in 2014 when The Edge of Tomorrow was showing in the theaters, an officemate invited me together with our common buddies to see it. That didn't materialize however, and I could still remember how they laughed at me when I heard "The Age of Tomorrow" which incidentally is also another 2014 movie. 

Yesterday while rummaging through my files, I found a copy of this film in my HD and decided again to watch as many movies as I can to delete files and give way to new ones since I am about to start another project to hopefully add another milestone in my life. There will be no stopping me now as I have lost everything and so I don't really care much about making mistakes and regrets coz okay, you just move forward because there is no other way. As I have posted a few days prior to my Spain trip, it's too bad life is not like in video games wherein you can save the game before you face big bosses and reload from that save point if ever you get killed fighting a boss. 

So anyway, The Edge of Tomorrow is pretty much like what I have thought at that time. William Cage was sent to the battlefield in the midst of war between humans and aliens known as mimics. There he acquired the unusual power of resetting time if he gets killed when he was exposed to an Alpha Mimic's blood and died. He woke up to find that time has been looping and then comes a point wherein he meets Rita Vrataski who's known as the Full Metal Bitch (a reference perhaps to the hit animé Full Metal Alchemist) or the Angel of Verdun. It turns out that Rita also had the same power before until she underwent blood transfusion and lost the ability to reset time. Rita trained Cage over and over for combat and eventually they searched for the location of the Omega, considered to be the cerebrum of the alien species. So in short they only need to destroy Omega and the mimics will be destroyed and humanity will be saved. But the two were able to do this with the J-Squad, a group of misfits but who eventually sacrificed their lives so Rita and Cage can finish the mission. Rita lures the alpha mimic away so Cage can blast the underwater Omega with an explosive and he did so successfully. The explosion that succeeded killed off all mimics and suddenly Cage woke up inside a helicopter. News about the Louvre explosion was being broadcast and Cage saw the J-squad members doing drills. He paid Rita a visit who seemed to have no recollection of everything that happened.

My comment: So whenever time resets, is this absolute time? What happens if two or more humans get the power and one of them dies? Will time reset? This is pretty weird since the other persons may have distorted notions of time. I just happened to think that when Cage dies in every loop, of course life goes on for other people as well, unless with every reset a new dimension is created that will accommodate the reset. Anyway, I am not too knowledgeable about physics and time warps but this is just a basic question I ask. It is unlike Source Code although the loops are similar in that these were key to resolving a problem. At least in Source Code, the reset duration is only 8 minutes except in the end when Colter Stevens was able to enter a whole new reality past the 8 minutes.

Another comment: This film is a film of the underdogs and the misfits who do all the dirty work but do not get recognized. It's pretty much in real life wherein those in position of power and authority are so detached from what's happening on the ground and so we get a world that's getting fucked up all the more by the day. I'm talking not just about government officials but also about "intellectuals" who can only sit in forums and conferences to discuss ideas when in fact these ideas are just theories and not even grounded in reality. And these people all talk high and mighty when they cannot even do simple tasks. I still hope that I will meet a real intellectual in this lifetime. I already met one but he passed away too soon.

畫皮 (I and II)

It was late in December last year when I watched 畫皮 the first movie. I remember being in my rented room near the office then and being depressed. When I watched the movie, I was deeply touched and tears fell in buckets because of many things I remember. While I cry for the betrayed women, I was equally disgusted by men giving in to temptations and by women who snatch men away from their wives/ girlfriends. 

畫皮 I and II pretty much has the same story but told in a different way. In the first movie, the fox spirit (小唯) is a really selfish and malevolent being who seduces a general. This general (王生) saves her from a band of barbarians and happens to already have a wife (佩蓉) who treats the fox spirit (they of course didn't know her true being) as a sister and yet the latter still betrays her all because she wants to get the husband's heart so she can be fully human. Now, she cannot just rip out his heart and eat it. The heart must be surrendered to her willingly.

What is supposed to be a simple story becomes complex when more characters turn up. For instance, there is 小唯's sidekick 小易 who will do anything for his lady love. Then there's 龐勇 who loves 佩 蓉 but eventually loses her to 王生. Despite this, his unconditional love for her will save her. Also, despite the seductions and temptations, 王生 is strong enough to remain loyal to her wife although he listen to her when she tells him that 小唯 is a demon, dismissing her fits as just jealousy. When he told 小唯, "我愛妳，可我已經有了佩蓉了。" I was speechless. Well, Chinese drama and movies often have characters who are neither purely good and purely evil. One even pities 小唯 in the end because it's not her fault she is born a demon and wants to be human. But then, one's aspirations and ambitions must not be such that they cause harm to other people. 小唯 has to eat human hearts to keep her beauty and youth.

畫皮 II is a bit tricky. Based on 小唯 telling 靖公主 about her past, 500 years has passed since the events of 畫皮 I. 小唯 is rescued from her frozen imprisonment by a a bird demon named 雀兒. She tries again to find a human who is willing to give her his heart so she can live as a human and experience the many different things only humans can get from life.

So 小唯 plots a scene wherein she is seen to be chased after by bandits. A knight with golden mask rescues her and it turns out that her rescuer is actually a woman, 靖公主! The princess took her to her fortress which is guarded by her beloved general named 霍心. These two were childhood friends and have fallen in love with each other. While 靖公主 tells 霍心 many times of her feelings, she always gets rejected because 霍心 thinks too much of their different status. 小唯 manipulates the princess to get what she wants, or rather what they both want. She exploits 靖's insecurities for having a scarred face which she got from a bear when she was outdoors on a winter day with 霍心.

I love strong independent women fighters like 靖公主. But then, deep inside sometimes strong independent women are insecure because they are not seen as feminine enough. HMPH! I can very well relate.

小唯 tells 靖公主 a harsh truth ”天下的男人眼睛里只有皮相“

 

The witch doctor and the wolf tribe who seem to speak some sort of Indian language because the doctor addresses the queen as "padme". But padme actually means "lotus" in Sanskrit... the symbol of enlightenment.

小唯 in 靖公主's body (background) because eventually the latter saw she can gain freedom to be with 霍心 using 小唯's form. But before she consumes her first human heart to transition to a demon forever, 霍心 intervenes and blames himself for being so stupid. That part when he confesses his feelings and admits his weakness for 小唯's beauty got me into tears. That part where he slashes his eyes so he can go blind and be freed from enchantment really got me sniffing. (I realize I only consume tissue when I watch movies like these. Ugh!!!) So in the end, I still like 霍心 for staying true to his lady love. And him making love to his sweetheart who's in a different body makes me uncomfortable but at least he does it because he somehow feels that it is his sweetheart he is making love to.  

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Watching the first movie made me ask, "真正愛妳的人會怎樣愛妳， 怎樣對待妳? 真正愛妳的人會為妳做什麼? " How does a real lover love and treat his/her partner? What can a real lover do for you? It's a difficult question that is explored in the first movie. 龐勇 can easily become a bitter person and leave the two on their own to solve their problems, but time and again he surfaces to remind 王生 that he is a threat to the couple, that he is there in case 王生 decides to betray 佩蓉. 王生  on the other hand, can be seen as a fool for choosing to side with a woman other than his wife and not to believe her. Yet in the end he redeems himself by stabbing 小唯 multiple times before killing his wife and himself.

On another note, I remember a male friend telling me that even though he has a girlfriend, he will still look at other girls. He says that it's when you act on your "desire" that it becomes wrong, but that it is not wrong to admire other girls. I wonder if there ever is a guy who tells that to his girlfriend and is not served a breakup notice.

Another takeaway: Maybe I ought to glam up and be more girly. It really is true that men do not care about good women if they don't make themselves beautiful. Such a shallow world we live in. But oh well, might as well enjoy life and enjoy getting attention from cute boys. LOL. Except it's a catch-22 coz I don't trust people who only sees the physical. Let's dig down deep, shall we???

Detroit Metal City (2008)

Detroit Metal City is the name of a death metal band that became famous in Japan, at least in the movie of the same name. It tells of the story of a shy and awkward but very talented musician named Soichi Negishi whose cheesy love songs are shunned by people when he performs in the streets. His big break came when he lands as the frontman of DMC as Krauser II. Onstage, he is a very different person, one who sings about raping one's mother and killing one''s father among many other profanities.

Negishi has wanted to quit many times but the band's manager has taken a strong hold on him. She knows what he is capable of and even comments that he is only oblivious to his genius. Meanwhile, Negishi sees an old friend again whom he likes. Yuri Aikawa looks up to Negishi for his "No Music No Dream" motto and even likes him for simply being a nice and gentle person. So just imagine her shock when she learns who Krauser II really is.

Krauser cheering up and encouraging his junior Saji who made it big in the pop industry

Krauser in one of his soliloquies 

Brokenhearted and feeling pretentious for being liked for what he is not, Negishi goes back to his family in the countryside and learns that even his younger brother has become a fan. The brother now sports long hair, talks rudely to their mother, and hasn't been helping around lately. So Negishi shows up as Krauser and lectures his younger brother and the latter sees the wisdom of studying hard and working in the farm. Negishi also has a heart-to-heart talk with his mother and discovers that his mother does not think Krauser is a bad person. On the contrary, she thinks he is great for keeping the dreams of many people alive. As to whether she knows the truth or not is not explicitly shown but then her giving Negishi a long life charm to give to Krauser in case they meet in Tokyo says a lot already.

Poor Krauser walking in the rain... (reminds me a lot of X-Japan's "Endles Rain")

Krauser plays guest in his family's home

 Negishi finally accepts his life mission and hurries back to Tokyo in a showdown with another death metal celebrity named Jack. The manager has always been a fan of him and sees the event as something that will boost the popularity and legitimacy of DMC. Amidst electrical short circuits and explosions in the middle of the showdown, the two fell down. Both still are able to stand up as the audience cheer them up. Aikawa is seen to also partake in shouting "Go to DMC!" Eventually, Jack gives his electric guitar to Krauser. Krauser takes the opportunity to sing his extra cheesy "Raspberry Kiss" much to the dismay of everyone, even his fans who think that it is the "love song from Hell". 

Krauser back to heavy rocking after being scorched by the manager's flying extra accurate cigarette.

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Key takeaways? Sometimes alter egos exist because what we're good at is different from the stereotype of our nature. Negishi acting as front singer of a death metal is very unthinkable because of his kind nature and his ambition to give hope for people's dreams through his lovey music. Then again, what the people accepted is his dark persona who utters profanities and who seems to encourage rape and murder and other dark stuff. He realized the importance of responsibly handling that influence when he encounters his brother who changed for the worse after becoming a fan and sought to make things right. I think having influence over others is a gift and also a big responsibility. You don't use it to further your interests, but to create a better world.

Dancer in the Dark (2000)

Immigrants will always be very vulnerable in their host countries, and this is clearly the message in Dancer in the Dark.

Selma Jezkova is an immigrant in the US working in the factory. During her free time, she goes to the theater with her friend Kathy and most times we see her rehearsing in a musical. Her life revolves around sounds--- dancing and singing, but above all else, her son Gene. She works real hard and secretly saves even harder so her son can have an eye operation because of a hereditary eye disease. Selma and Gene live in Bill and Linda Houston's property and as we see in the first part of the film, they enjoyed the two's hospitality and care. Bill would take care of Gene while Selma is away and Linda plays the generous neighbor when she gives the mother and son a tin of candies and would hear none of Selma's offer to pay higher rent when the latter learned of the Houston's financial problems.

But ironically, it is this American couple that will tear the mother and son apart when Bill steals Selma's savings to save himself. He also lies to Linda saying that Selma tries to seduce him. When Selma kills Bill upon the latter's insistence after being accidentally shot, she ends up in prison awaiting her death sentence. 

The mystery is that not once did Selma mention Bill's secret about his financial problems and Linda's consumerism in the court No, she just accepted whatever is said to her and even daydreams during the hearing when she hears the sound of the pencil's friction against paper as someone draws her and the courtroom scenario. While she is accused of betrayal, her stubbornness against revealing the whole truth (which only the audience knows) makes her the trustworthy one between her and Bill.

"The defendant not only perpetrated the most callous, well-planned homicide in recent memory. There's also a fundamentally selfish individual who cynically hides behind a handicap. (...) This woman found trust and friendship when she sought refuge in our country and the evidence will show that she has repaid such kindness with betrayal, robbery, and murder inflicted upon the very people who opened their homes and hearts to her. "

It is ironic that Selma whose happiness is for her son and not for herself is seen to be the selfish cynical one whereas, in the narratives (and who knows for sure also in the media) the Americans are portrayed as victims of immigrants' lack of gratitude. And it leads one to speculate that maybe the reason why Selma stayed quiet is because she knows how rotten the system is, that as immigrant, her words do not have the same weight as her host countries citizens, that it is useless to fight since her very position does not afford her equal treatment despite America's oft-proclaimed equality, but discrimination in fact runs high.

The last scene where Selma was executed in the middle of her singing

Moreover, another contrast between Selma and Bill is that we see the pureness in Selma who is known for her love for the performance arts and thus more attuned to humanity, whereas Bill, morally lacking and corrupt, is a police officer about to be promoted. The movie is an intelligent take on the American Dream, one that means different to different people. For Selma it means being able to provide for her son. For the Americans it is to be materially wealthy regardless of morality and we see this even more when Selma is accused as being "a communistic woman" vis a vis the capitalistic Americans. In the eyes of the Americans, being capitalistic is more important than having virtues. It should be noted however that whatever "greatness" America has, it owes to its immigrants because it is the immigrants who work hard, who study hard, and who are behind some of the world's greatest innovations. These are celebrated in the media with emphasis that they are Americans although ethnically they are not. But when these same immigrants commit crimes, the media would prey on them and emphasize their immigrant status. When they desire to "Make America great again", do they subconsciously admit that there is only rottenness and decadence?