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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 28, 2009 2:38:43 GMT
Thank you for that info, Jazz! I've never heard of the film, but have a major thing for anything about pre-war Shanghai.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2009 4:59:36 GMT
San Mao Little Vagabond is a Chinese movie set in Shanghai from 1949 about a little beggar boy who is adopted by a rich family. It is so strange to see the Chinese bourgeoisie from back then dressed exactly like people from the Hollywood movies, and pushing the mimetism so far as to speak English to each other, just like the Russian aristocracy spoke French at home. I remember one scene where they decided to keep him, and the elegant woman asks, "what is your name?" The little boy tells her and she just smirks and says "We'll call you Bobby" just like she were renaming a dog.
Filming was interrupted by the revolution, so a short revolutionary ending was tacked on, but the film is great.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2009 5:11:07 GMT
I should mention that Sanmao was originally a comic strip character from the Shanghai newspaper in the 1940's. His name means "Three Hairs". San Mao Arrives in Shanghai  |
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 28, 2009 14:16:48 GMT
Octuple wow!!! What an amazing strip! Do you have any more examples of this? (um, obviously I need to go look for myself). In your thread about comic book art I mentioned the best intro I know of to the newspaper strip genre. However, this is a major thrill, as it's the first time I've seen a vintage strip from a non English speaking country. Sorry! I realize this is the screening board & not the Museum, but I am bowled over by these drawings. And I will be on the hunt for the movie. Thanks! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2009 14:34:27 GMT
Sanmao and the Match This disconcertingly echos HW's tale of the slum burning in Phnom Penh. 
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Post by Jazz on May 1, 2009 22:09:58 GMT
Jasmine Women with Joan Chen. This is the story of three generations of women in Shanghai in the 30's, 50's and 80's. I enjoyed it very much and the scenes in pre WW2 Shanghai are beautifully art directed. Joan Chen ages throughout.
Shanghai Triad. This is directed by Zhang Yimou and stars Gong Li. He has done some sumptuous movies. The one I love the most is Raise the Red Lantern. Shanghai Triad takes place in 7 days in the 1930's. Part 1 is in Shanghai, Part 2 is on an island nearby. 'stylized but gripping portrait of mob power play and lifestlyles in 1930's Shanghai'.
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Post by auntieannie on May 2, 2009 16:09:46 GMT
We saw Female agents / Les femmes de l'ombre. About the women who gave their lives for the "resistance" in WW2.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2009 16:20:29 GMT
auntie,did you enjoy Female Agents?
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Post by auntieannie on May 2, 2009 16:28:49 GMT
I thought it was a good film. but it made me sad.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2009 16:43:46 GMT
It got absolutely crappy reviews when it came out in France, but I went to see it anyway and didn't find it all that bad, albeit quite unbelievable.
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Post by auntieannie on May 2, 2009 16:58:43 GMT
unbelieveable in what way, K? It is a romanticized version of Sophie Marceau's character's life. You mean about her being a sniper for the resistance?
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2009 17:14:19 GMT
Well, Sophie Marceau in the Resistance is unbelieveable in itself.  But just the fact that they were all more or less beautiful women without an ordinary looking one in the bunch did not enhance the credibility. Here is a French review from Ecran Large: Soyez en sûr "Les Femmes de l’Ombre" est le meilleur film de Jean-Paul Salomé. Mais soyez en certains "Les Femmes de l’Ombre" est un mauvais film. Rendre hommage à des femmes résistantes, quel beau sujet, plein de bons sentiments et qui ne pouvaient que réjouir les historiens et les JT. Car oui "Les Femmes de l’Ombre" n’est ni plus ni moins un ratage qui fera tout de même la fierté de TF1 en deuxième partie de soirée dans leur rubrique "film sérieux".
Précisons d’abord que le film contient tout les tics propres aux films de Jean-Paul Salomé, l’ensemble est haché, certaines scènes n’ont pas de fin d’autres (de nombreuses) sont ridicules et, cerise sur le gâteau, tous les acteurs sont mauvais. En fait "Les Femmes de l’Ombre" est clairement influencé par Melville et son "Armée des Ombres". Salomé voudrait retranscrire une ambiance clinique avec scène de torture à la clé. Sauf que Melville était le roi de l’épure et que (pas de bol) Melville fut résistant. Du coup, du Melville par le réalisateur de "Belphégor" et "Arsène Lupin" (soulignons-le), ça donne un condensé pas très bon de clichés sur la seconde guerre mondiale et une sorte de serial film d’aventure avec lot de rebondissements. Rien à voir donc.
Et les femmes là dedans ? Elles sont à l’image du film : insipides. On a rarement eu aussi peu d’empathie pour des personnages courageux censés être attachants. Même la toujours très juste Julie Depardieu ne tire pas son épingle du jeu tant son personnage frôle le grand n’importe quoi. On reste sur le cul face au premier film soi-disant adulte de Jean-Paul Salomé, décidément l’un des, voire le pire, metteurs en scène français en exercice actuellement. Parce que le véritable problème des "Femmes de l’Ombre" c’est que, contrairement aux deux précédents nanars de JP, c’est même pas drôle !
Mais ne partons pas sans citer ne serait-ce deux petites qualités à ce film, primo la scène du métro, efficace et surprenante, secondo la prestation de Moritz Bleibtreu qui, à l’inverse de Julien Boisselier, a l’étoffe d’un grand. |
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Post by auntieannie on May 2, 2009 18:05:37 GMT
ouch! I agree... it wasn't THAT bad! I mean, obviously not the best film I have ever seen... can we have a thread on ordinary looking women in cinema? one name per post, please... should be a verrrry verrrry short thread!
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2009 18:16:44 GMT
You mean you have never seen a film starring Yolande Moreau, who has won a César (French Academy Award) twice for best actress?  She is magnificent. (She played the concierge whose husband ran off in Amélie, in case you saw that.) |
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Post by auntieannie on May 2, 2009 18:24:03 GMT
as you say, she is magnificent! look at her eyes!
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Post by Jazz on May 4, 2009 19:50:44 GMT
I finally saw Walk the Line. It is one of the great bio films and I have always liked Johnny Cash. Joaquin Phoenix is brilliant and he did an excellent job with his own singing and learning to play the guitar for this.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 29, 2009 3:03:32 GMT
I saw Walk the Line the other night based on your recommendation. Although I'd heard good things about it, for some reason I thought it wouldn't interest me. Absolutely agree about Joaquin Phoenix -- he really became Johnny Cash. One side note, not really pertinent to the movie itself -- didn't Reese Witherspoon look awfully thin in that movie?
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Post by auntieannie on Jun 30, 2009 18:15:32 GMT
We watched Kung-Fu Panda yesterday. suitably silly. But I didn't find it as good as some of the publicity led me to believe.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 30, 2009 18:21:53 GMT
I had the opposite experience, Annie. I hadn't seen any publicity & turned it on for a few minutes thinking I'd not be able to bear (ahem) it. It was thoroughly enjoyable!
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Post by auntieannie on Jun 30, 2009 18:24:58 GMT
oh, yes, bixie... totally enjoyable. I only expected even better... ! (you're definitely not a fan of Mr Black, are you? ;-)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 30, 2009 18:32:36 GMT
Yeah -- it was better with no expectations.
You must have been reading further back. No, I really don't care for him. However, I'm going to re-watch one of his movies, Nacho Libre. The first time I viewed a really bad pirated video, but still thought the movie was adorable. Also, I love seeing places I know in movies.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 2, 2009 1:46:45 GMT
Whew! I am totally knocked out! If you have never seen the movie "The Lives of Others", stop what you are doing right now and watch in. What an incredible piece of movie making, acting, etc. I watched it here: www.watch-movies-links.net/movies/the_lives_of_others/, the first one. If you don't have Veoh, install it -- much better quality than any other online viewer. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2009 8:37:32 GMT
Strangely enough, that movie left me cold even though everybody else seems to have loved it. I do agree that the acting was excellent, but I felt absolutely no empathy for any of the characters.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 2, 2009 15:22:31 GMT
Sometimes I think I wind up enjoying these movies more once they're old and the original furor has died down. When they first come out they can be so over-sold that one is bound to be disappointed.
However I do understand what you mean about having empathy for the characters. At the same time, my take was that the individual characters were there as representatives of human reactions to given situations. I think that was the purpose of very peripheral figures such as the students in Weisler's classroom or the soldiers in the cafeteria, as much as that of the central figures.
(trying not to put any spoilers here)
Thus, towards the end of the movie I was extremely moved by the unfolding of the plot, even though I was not deeply attached to any one character. Actually, that's not totally true, as I'm convinced there is one character in the movie with whom we're all meant to identify.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 5, 2009 4:24:08 GMT
Again following a recommendation from The Screening Room, I watched "Goodbye, Lenin" tonight.
Wow ~~ I can certainly see why you all recommended it. If ever a movie could be said to be wistfully funny, it was this one -- a totally charming movie.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2009 4:36:50 GMT
Now Goodbye, Lenin is one of my all time favorite movies. It was the biggest German that German cinema had in France after a long dry spell, and Daniel Brühl ended up in a number of French movies like Joyeux Noël and 2 Days in Paris.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 5, 2009 4:46:56 GMT
*puzzle*
Daniel Brühl is in 2 Days in Paris?
I don't remember him at all in that. I will have to watch 2 Days again. It was a really good movie except I didn't care for the boyfriend, who I believe is her boyfriend in real life.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2009 5:17:38 GMT
You can see him at 1:42 on the time meter.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 5, 2009 5:32:27 GMT
Ah ~~ thanks. That reaffirmed my resolve to see the movie again.
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Post by tillystar on Jul 9, 2009 14:44:13 GMT
Just added "Goodbye, Lenin" to my lovefilm list - thanks!
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But just the fact that they were all more or less beautiful women without an ordinary looking one in the bunch did not enhance the credibility.