Luckily, in this long list of name, I found two movies I have watched this year, and of course they are East Asia films. I am interested in the entries of Taiwan, Hong Kong, S.Korea, Japan and Mainland China. Actually, every year, the press in China always put a lot attention to the Oscar entries ambitiously, though never succeeded in the past. I watched the Nobody Watch Over Me from Japan and Forever Enthralled from China, and honestly, I dont think they have too much chance.
Forever Enthralled (China, Chen-Kaige)This is a story about the legendary Beijing Opera Artist Mei Lanfang, from his talented early years to the turbulent life during the 1930-1940s in Shanghai and Beijing, the Second-Sino Japanese War. This is not the first movie of director Chen-Kaige to depict an opera artist protagonist. In his well-known movie Farewell Concubine (1993), he successfully turned a novel about a gay opera artist's tragedy into a sensitive and touching movie, with Leslie Cheung's splendid performance. Though I know this time it is a autobiographic story, I cant help comparing two movies, and this new one is really disappointing. The story put to much emphasis on the patriotic side of the character stubbornly, which makes his life dull and rigid for a movie. Especially for audience in China, who have already read enough patriotic stories from the textbooks to newspapers to websites, why we have to pay another 5 dollars to see the similar story again? In terms of the cast, this movie invited internationally well-known actress Zhang ZiYi and also popular Beijing Born Hong Kong start Leon, but I did not see the sparks between them at all. Yet, I totally understand why China choose this one for Oscar, among limited Chinese movie last year, this one perfectly qualifies the propaganda theme.
Nobody to Watch Over Me (Japan, Ryoichi Kimizuka)This is the first movie I've watched that boldly addresses the consequence and the moral issue of Internet users' online discussion when involving curse, condemn and privacy toward other people. This has been a common phenomenon in HongKong, China and Japan, when someone suddenly becomes the target of all the Internet users when he/she probably did something ethically wrong and the legal system has not caught him/her. In this movie, the police believed the little girl's brother is liable for murdering two kids, so the whole family was exposed to the media unexpectedly. The girl has to suffer all the resents and curses, and no one can help her. The movie won the best screenplay at the Montreal Film Festival this year. For me, the theme is definitely very important and enlightening, but the story telling was not impressive enough for a movie.
Prince of Tears (Hong Kong, YonFan)This is a quite art-house movie, and the reviews I have read so far did not say too much good thing about it. Still, I would like to watch it since I like the director's previous movies Bishonen and Peony Pavilion. Interestingly, the director Yonfan is actually from Taiwan, and the story is about a unique situation in Taiwan; only the investors are from Hong Kong. This movie tells a love and betray story happened during the 1950s, a politically sensitive period of Taiwan, where the five people share some secrets in the past and are confronted with other secrets now. I watched the trailer on Youtube, the scenes are as beautiful as usual, but the actresses make the lines sound like reciting a childish poem.
No Puedo Vivir sin Ti (Taiwan, Leon Dai)Though with a Spanish title, it is a very local Taiwan Movie, based on a news story. The news that a father wanted to jump off a bridge with his beloved little daughter, triggered the interests of the director. The movie uses a documentary storytelling to record the injustice, the prejudice against the vulnerable group and the apathy of the society behind the accident. In the interview I read, the director says that he is not intended to draw sympathy toward the father-daughter but to raise the general awareness and concerns toward the issue in the society.
Mother (Korea, Joon-ho Bong)This is a very dramatic and bloody murder story like the director's previous movies Memories of Murder and The Host. It tells the estranged relationship between an over-protective mother and a mentally disabled son. I have not watched this one, and probably will not watch it according to my experience. The last Korean movie I watched is The Old Boy, for me, it is so depressing. Nevertheless, it seems some critical movie fans like the movie a lot.
Finally, hope some of these movies will find distributors in U.S.
