Menu
close
Home › Forums › Teaching About Asia Forums › Film Festival › Film Festival
Anonymous.
AnonymousIsn't that interesting, how far they have come into the technological age and away from the normal subsistence that humans have dealt with for hundreds of thousands of years? When we look into the gatherer-hunter lifestyle we see that it was the main pattern of living for so long, why? Because it worked!
I think that your idea for an exercise into the average American/industrialized dependence upon technology would be a great adventure into the depths of the human spirit and the capacity of our creativity. What are you going to do with yourself when you can not escape into the digital realm or the attention of another person? You have to find happiness within yourself and try to practice self-actualization, what is that? It must be some foreign eastern concept....
Speaking of foreign eastern concepts...not at all related to the Film Festival, but to print media, is an article I read and found exceptionally useful into an introduction of the Buddhist philosophy was the article published by the SPICE digest in fall of 2007 entitled, "An Introduction to Buddhism".
That was out of left wing, but important and purposeful. The article is attached.
AnonymousNOTE: I also posted this address under the "Movies and Books" thread but wated more people to gain access to it, so I posted it here, too...
To the asianfims.org poster...your web address did not work. I did a little research ad founf the same name at the following link: http://www.asianfilms.org/. Hopefully this will work for everyone. If you try to google or internet search the website, type in iFilm Connections: Asia and Pacific and it should lead you right to the link.
As they say on their website:
"iFilm Connections: Asia & Pacific seeks to create a deeper awareness and understanding of Asian and Pacific Island film cultures by providing immediate and comprehensive information about contemporary feature films from these areas.
Building upon the success of http://www.asianfilms.org, our team of film scholars, critics, and curators promise to revolutionize access and understanding of culturally significant independent films from Asia and the Pacific Islands. We offer faculty, students, film leaders, and the interested public a way to stream a selection of carefully selected feature films that can be used with original materials on this site to intelligently analyze the impact of globalization on the diverse cultures of Asia and the Pacific."
The website is designed to highlight and encourage the film makers and film productions of the Asian and Pacific cultures. some of the films now playing include:
Nostalgia for the Countryland
Thuong nho dong que, Vietnam (1995)
Death on a Full Moon Day
Pura Handa Kaluwara, Sri Lanka (1997)
Dark Night of the Soul
Anantha Rathriya, Sri Lanka (1996)
Sandy Lives
Doi Cat, Vietnam (1999)
Girl from Hunan, A
Xiangnu xiaoxiao, China (1986)
Black Snow
Ben ming nian, China (1990)
Song of Tibet, The
Yeshe Dolma, China (2000)
Land Has Eyes, The
Pear ta ma 'on maf, Fiji (Rotuma) (2004)
Check it out!!
AnonymousOk, now many of our students have a serious love affair with anime. To deny it would eb wrong and to ignore it would be fatal. I say, look on and let the animation and cartoon fcator guide you into a slight inderstanding of the eastern cultures. Does the program serve as an educational resource? No! Couls yo use it in the classroom?No! But you can watch it at home and/or provide the information online on a teacher webiste or blog!
Follow the link to gain access to awesome anime and many full episodes at that!http://beta.vreel.net/watch_18512.html
AnonymousI enjoyed the movie and greatly appreciated the messages contained within, however it did move a bit slow and I'm sure some people might have to be in the right frame of mind before they can fully appreciate such a film. I'm not sure how I could use such a film with my 7th and 8th graders, but I like the idea that someone mentioned about challenging the kids to do without some device for a week. Maybe just showing the clip where the kid's video game dies and have them write about what they would do in such a circumstance. Also many kids do experience going without these tech devices when the go to Camp KEEP and other places. They usually have fun and don't complain. Unfortunately those experiences usually don't continue for many of them, however at least they know it can be done and it can also be fun.
Does anyone know an easy way to put together a DVD with only video clips?
Anonymous"To Live,"directed by Zhang YiMo, is a great film about how Cultural Revolution's impact on ordinary people in China. I found the film at Thousand Oaks Public Library. Professor Ye also mentioned about it yesterday.
For teaching ideas on this film, there are plenty of satires and ironies. This film also covered a great spectrum of other events, such as the Great Leap Forward, along with Cultural Revolution.
AnonymousI liked the movie. I grew up in Korea, and I was fully aware how much tension the North and the South holds. My parents lived through the Korean War. I appreciate the brotherhood the movie portrays. I also sympathizes how much guilt the South soldier suffered which eventually caused his suicide. I am not sure how much possibility the same kind of incident could occur, but non the less it is possible to build some kind of relationship over the long term if they have the chance to encounter each other face-to-face.
AnonymousThe Los Angeles Times said, "One of the most beautiful films imaginable." It was also nominated for a 2005 Golden Globe for best foreign film. I also read that it was the largest budget film in China at the time. My expectations and hopes were pretty high when I started the film. All in all it seemed like a hokey "B" movie, and I do not understand why it was nominated. Many other Chinese films I have seen are far better. The movie itself seems to be based upon Chinese mythology, and not any particular historical event, not that that is bad. I did a little googling about Chinese mythology and I didn't seem to find a goddess that fit the goddess in the movie. The action scenes were not up to par with that of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon," "House of Flying Daggers," or "Hero." There appears to be some symbolism in the movie, many images of cherry blossoms or peach blossom trees. I have a feeling that this movie might have been better fit for a Chinese audience and the mythological and symbolism is missed from the Western perspective. [Edit by="mburditt on Aug 6, 9:59:34 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousAn effective movie leaves its audience puzzling out apparent inconsistencies or narrative holes. The Way Home incites such questions. Where is the (grand)father? Why is the daughter so different from her selfless mother?
In a movie of 88 minutes, the first question could easily have been answered in one comment by the daughter; therefore, the filmmaker has deliberately left it unanswered, and left the audience to wonder. Perhaps this ambiguity is of great importance in understanding this movie, especially in Korea’s patriarchal, hierarchical culture. In fact, I suspect that the crux of this movie is that when the pinnacle of society has been upended, deposed, replaced by a child, the culture suffers.
The grandmother is the living image of an ancestor – so old she walks with her torso horizontal to the ground, so weathered her face is brown and furrowed, so removed from modern technology that she beats clothes with a stick to wash them, carries water from the stream with two buckets suspended upon a yoke, and defecates into a porcelain pot. And, most significantly, she is silent. In this tale, the ancestors and their traditional wisdom are mute.
If children could learn wholly by example, then the daughter would possess the wisdom of her mother. But, as Dr. Dube commented, “It must have skipped a generation.” The daughter looks ridiculous in her urban sheath and high heels as she stumbles along the dusty, rocky path to her mother’s rustic hut, especially when juxtaposed to the grandmother simple grace as she slowly climbs the same path. The daughter’s gifts of underwear and “nourishing food for old age” have little practical value; although, the grandmother treasures them as if they were thoughtful symbols of honor. The daughter has no patience with her bratty child, alternately ignoring him, then ineffectively slapping at him. She has not learned wisdom from the example of her mother.
Children are the embodiment of potential, and the boy, Sang-Woo, does show that potential. He tries to teach his grandmother to write so that he can come to her if she is sick – the traditional duty of the devoted child. He seems to long for the grounding that, literally, comes from a strong foundation, a foundation that modern society has upended. Sang-Woo has begun to hear the silent messages of past generations, but his education is interrupted by the return of his mother. As he leaves his grandmother, this child who whines and cries at the slightest discomfort, shows little emotion or gratitude until the last moment when he hands her a treasured card with a message she cannot read. The chasm between the generations remains unbridged, with only a tenuous thread between them.
Reviewers proclaim, “…after seeing all the sacrifices the gentle old woman makes for him, he [Sang-Woo] soon learns some important lessons about love, kindness, selflessness and humility” (http://www.seoulstyle.com/). But perhaps this movie is more about the consequences of the silencing of those traditional lessons. Sang-Woo’s journey towards wisdom is interrupted; he is returning to the isolating environment that spawned his unbearable narcissism. Perhaps, instead, as Anthony Leong suggests, "The Way Home could also be considered an examination of the gap between South Korea's older generation, which has witnessed the painful emergence of the country's democracy, and its youth, who have grown up in a world of cell phones, Internet access, and music videos. Like Sang-woo, it is sometimes easy to forget that today's Take Care of My Cat generation owes much of their liberties and luxuries to the sacrifices made by their Peppermint Candy predecessors” (Korean Cinema Edition http://www.cinekorea.com/). Rather than reducing this movie to a tear-jerking tribute to the selfless kindness of grandmothers, perhaps we need to examine the society that produces arm-jerking parents of selfish brats.
AnonymousSo, if you accept my previous proposition that The Way Home represents the potential for disorder when the young are left without wise guidance and can only learn civilized behavior by attending to their progenitors, then the grandson's behavior mirrors that of the boys stranded on a Pacific island during WWII. Without the strong hand of a wise sage, disrespect and chaos prevail.[Edit by="skelly on Aug 4, 8:34:51 AM"][/Edit]
AnonymousI will start by saying I loved this movie. My impression from the title and the picture on the cover of the DVD was that there was going to be a lot more action. This movie was a pleasing surprise, since it showed the subtle side to how the samurai lived. One part love story and another part showing the decline of the samurai and the code of Bushido. This film could be used to show the decline of the warrior class along with the honor that the leading character shows at being a samurai, even though others clearly do not. It also shows how the Japanese felt about marrying into different classes. [Edit by="mburditt on Aug 5, 10:33:18 PM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="mburditt on Aug 6, 10:02:17 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousThis movie came out last year, it starred Edward Norton, and was a sort of dry little story about a missionary to China who took his wife, who cheated on him with a cad, then he died, (the missionary, not the cad) but not before he and the wife have a reconciliation, whereupon she returns to England and bears his child, conceived during said reconciliation.
That being said, the acting was pretty good. The real value of the film, to me, included the shots of China, the depictions of the activities and the settings. It is like a travelog for China. The set director was so good, in the scenes during the summer, you almost sweat watching the humidity. If you rent it, you can ff through most of the people scenes because it's pretty predictable, but the shots of China are incredible.
Anonymous" Journey to the West" produced by Steven Harding, and directed by Peter MacDonald, is a full of humor and is just the movie to show kids in a classroom environment. When teaching how one philosophy can undermine the other so that the new one can be accepted, "Journey to the West" is the film that does that. It undermines Confucianism by making Confucius look like the bad guy. The plot is about restoring Chinese traditions and values and not allowing outside influence. Its characters, Nick (protagonist) is convinced to save an ancient book , Journey to the West, written by Master Wu. Piggsy, Friar Sand, and Monkey help Nick fight off the evil Master Shu Chung Tzu and the other 4 traditional masters. Kwan Ying is the Buddhist goddess of mercy who intervenes so that Nick is able to save the manuscript. This movie not only emphasizes Buddhist teachings and about ancient manuscripts being scensored. This movie is clean from bloody violence of traditional Kung fu movies. Kids will love the humor displayed throughout the movie and will captivate their attention.[Edit by="rosanna_elgohary on Aug 4, 9:30:56 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousThe Legend 2, a Corey Yuen Film, produced by Jet Li, David Lai, and Chu Po Chu, starring Jet Li is set in the background of Han Mei village. The movie opens with poetry about the longing of coming home- remembering the good things of the past. Sai Yuk (Jet Li) is the protagonist and is protected by his uncle, Master Chan who is really the emperor. Assassination attempts are made on Master Chan, but Sai Yuk helps fight the assassins off. Master Chan is leader of the Flower Society but Master Yun wants that position; he is behind the assassination attempts. There is humor throughout the movie and will hold the attention of those watching. Sai Yuk's mother keeps you rolling on the floor scene after scene. when teaching about overthrowing the Manchus to establish a new Ming Dynasty this helps put things into focus. Chinese culture is seen throughout the movie in the caligraphy, lanterns adorning the courtyard, mother's devotion to her son, subject's loyalty to the emperor, and other unspoken things like drinking. The Legend 2 can be revisited over and over because of the humor of the women characters. It shows the love of one wife and the fighting ability of all the women involved.[Edit by="rosanna_elgohary on Aug 4, 10:02:28 PM"][/Edit]
Anonymous"Iron Monkey," a Miramax & Quentin Tarantino film, by Yuen Wo Ping. Iron Monkey finds himself in a land of corruption in 1858. The scene is set in the countryside that was ravaged by warlords and terrible flooding. Peasants flock to cities to find protection and food but instead find greedy corrupt officals and merchants eager to prey on them. In the village of Chekiang a hero rises to defend the people. Caligraphy and a drawn picture of the Iron Monkey is the sign he leaves when he robs from the rich. This movie is like a Chinese Robin Hood story. Iron Monkey (really Dr. Yang-Rongguang Yu) steals from the rich and gives to the poor and refugees. The young actor is quite a martial artist, his witty and quick responses to those opposing him are funny. The PG-13 movie is suitable for kids.
Anonymous"The Postman Fights Back," is a Golden Harvest Presentation A Raymond Chow Production, and directed by Ronny Yu is about how western war machinery made its way into the Zhou Dynasty; a machine gun. A man named Hu (Eddy Ko Hung) requires a special mission to deliver boxes to Zhao Long, a bandit that controls a very strategic area. When money alone doesn't work, Hu holds Yao Jin's sisters hostage. Yao Jin outs together a team to take the boxes which he is told are gifts for Zhao's birthday. This team comprises a courier named Ma (Leung Kar Yan), and explosives expert (Fan Mei Sheng), and a con man gambler, Fu Jun (Chow Yun Fat). The relatively simple task is not so simple as the group is attacked by various groups on the way. Unbeknownst to the team, Hu is using them to draw out his enemies.
Poverty and jobs being deleted because of technology force the people to take unwanted jobs.