Film Festival

[Anonymous]

Yikes...where to begin. Well first off i'm not a big Tom Cruise fan. In fact, aside from Top Gun and Days of Thunder I dont really follow his films too much. By recommendation of a friend I decided to check this movie with much doubt in my mind. Here goes:

The Plot.
Pre Civil War era Tom Cruise plays a Army captain is haunted by his past in the military killing innocent civilians in battle. He is depressed and also finished with his tour of duty. He is approached with an offer to work in Japan to put down some enemy army and train the Japanese. He has nothing else going on and decides to go. When he get to Japan, obviously life is very different. In fact, Japan is going through quite a significant change. Westernization is fast becoming the norm, everything from clothing to military tactics is changing rapidly. Cruise must train an army that has never used "modern" weapons to put down a rebel faction still following the code of the samurai. Cruise/Cap. Aldrens is injured in battle and is taken in with a family in a village where he adopts the ways of the "traditional" japan including sword fights. A battle ensues with the "new army" and the old samurai soldiers, which are all defeated and Cap Aldren is left to live a quite life in the mountains.
From a teachers point of view, there are a lot of inaccuracies that need to be cleared up, BUT there were a couple of things that I did appreciate about the film. First off, much like any big budget Hollywood blockbuster, the scenery and clothing was fantastic. It was almost like walking into the past and seeing how military officers dressed and how normal civilians at a convention might behave in the 1800's. Perhaps most dramatic was the scenery in Japan. It was great seeing how a port city may have looked back then. It was clear that something drastic was occurring. As Cruise is walking down a busy street, some people are wearing traditional kimonos and other wears, while others are sporting western style clothes like suits and pants with hats. The early scenes alone are well worth a shot in the classroom to show the changing landscape and lifestyle after Japan is forced to open its gates by Admiral Perry.
The other thing that I really appreciated about this film was the 'innocence' of the Japanese military. The very awkwardness of wearing the western style uniforms and using weapons they had never dealt with before was apparent. The most dramatic part is when they are confronted by the "old army" or samurai which makes them panic. They have superior weapons, but years of conditioning from youth until adulthood prove to be hard to undo.
Conclusion, yes this film can use some improvement, but the visuals make it worth while especially in the classroom. I don't recommend showing the entire film btw! Cheers!

8)

[Anonymous]

Wow!!! Could this movie be any sadder. I wanted to see it since Prof. Yang introduced us to it. I was interested in seeing more about the Chinese Opera, however, this movie was very odd and very sad. The main character has such a dramatic tortured existence from day 1, born to a prostitute and then abandoned around age 9 left him to the devices of his elders. Only to throw himself into his craft, and to be later despised for it. The movie gave an overall view of what was going on politically and how that affected the opera and the actors. They went from being revered to being hated and despised. When the cultural revolution hit, every past transgression was brought up and the characters were made to pay the price for them. It showed life long friends turn on each other to save their own necks and to have it all end in tragedy and loss. Do I recommend it? I guess I do, because it's interesting to see how the Chinese depict their own society and culture. This film could be used in the classroom in clips only...there are to many inappropriate scenes. This film could be used to show Japanese Opera and the costumes. It has great scenes about the political unrest and how that affects "life" as they had known it to be. [Edit by="abergman on Jun 26, 9:36:38 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

During the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, a lot of political movements had happened. For examples, Civil War between Nationalist Party and Communist Party, the Cultural Revolution, Red Guard Movement, and the Cult of Mao. These movements changed peoples’ lives a great deal. The film To Live showed how the poor struggled with these movements.

My thoughts after watching To Live:

Before any political events happened, Most of the Chinese would like to get rich.
But after the movements started practicing, people knew that being wealthy is not a good thing anymore because they might get in trouble. For instance, the gambler who won Fugui’s house and money, he got shot because he did not want to share the money with the Communist Party. And Fugui was thankful that he and his family became poor because he knew if he still owned the house, the person who got shot would have been himself. Although people kind of knew what was going on, but I do not think they actually understand the meanings of the movements. They just wanted to be like everyone else, so they would not get in trouble. For instance, Youqing was very tired and did not want to go school. However, Fugui forced him to go because he thought a representative of the party was going to come, and it was the best if his son showed up. In result, the son died because the representative had hit Youqing with the truck. That is why I think at these periods of times, if the poor wanted to stay survived, then they must flutter from one direction to another depending who has more power.

I want a find a film about the Nationalist party to compare with To Live. I want the students to compare and contrast both parties, and create a debate which party they would like to support and provided evidence to support their reasons.

[Anonymous]

In traditional Chinese culture the women were very unimportant. They were so inferior that they were sometimes thought of as less useful than farm animals. Most of the people had believed that a woman without talent was a woman of virtue, and women were honored if they committed suicide after their husband’s deaths. There even existed a code which controlled the behaviors and instructions of women. This code consisted of three obedience and four virtues. The three obedience were to obey her father before marriage, her husband after marriage, and her son after her husband’s death. These three obedience showed that the men were head of the families and the women had no say or whatsoever. In addition, the four virtues were the women needed to be chaste, her conversion courteous and not gossipy, her deportment graceful but not extravagant, her leisure spent in perfecting needlework and tapestry for beautifying the home. In the two films Red Sorghum and To Live, the two female main characters Jiuer and Jiazhen had some similarities and differences of the three obediences and four virtues.

I think these two films are very good examples. If any teachers would like to do a comparsions on traditional and modern women, these films are definitely helpful.

[Anonymous]

I know this is not an East Asia film persay BUT I thought I would share my two cents to see if I got any feedback from my East Asia buddies. Anyways, I saw "The Hangover," last weekend which is a story about 4 friends that take a roadtrip to Las Vegas for a bachelors party. Obviously, on the way there and while there, lots of mischeif ensues! It's a really funny film and I would recommend it***.
Now the Asia part. There is a scene in the film where "Mr. Chow," played by Ken Jeong jumps out a cars trunk naked and begins yelling about like some evil wong foo character from the 1960's cinema. He is stereotypically short and acts quite girlish. In addition to his un-masculine behavior, he throws a little "kung fu" stance in for good measure. I realize that this is all for fun and its a comedy, but to emasculate the Asian male to such a degree is ridiculous. When is the last time you ever saw an Asian male star kiss a girl? Notice how they always play kung fu maters (jackie chan) or "Smart People" (e.g. Garret Wang= Engineer Harry Kim: Star Trek)? I felt like this film put Asian men back 40 years. To top it off, I'm surprised they didn't have some Asian woman in a school girl outfit or skin tight 'femme fetale' getup to complete the image of women being fetish idols for White Men.

For further information on this topic I would recommend this film:

The Slanted Screen

Directed by: Ken Adachi

Rent it or buy it...heck if want I'll lend you my copy. Sums it up quite well.
Perhaps a film review of the slanted screen?? Why Not! :@

[Anonymous]

I am getting hooked on modern Asian comedies. I picked a little film called "Mack the Knife" which is actually a Hong Kong movie. The star of the film is a doctor by the name of Mac Lau, however, his license is from Africa because he was kicked out of medical school in Hong Kong. Since Hong Knog is no longer under British rule, they do not recognize his license. Turns out our star is a caring doctor who sets up shop to help people who live in the slums, and takes no credit for his good deeds. Instead his nemesis takes all the credit for great medical procedures that Dr. Lau does. This movie turned out to have a "happy" ending, which I was beginning to think didn't happen in Asian movies. What I noticed the most was the western influence in this film, unlike the modern Chinese comedy "Hooked on you" that I had watched previously. I think the western influence was due to it being a Hong Knog movie. There was a definiate difference between this movie and Chinese movies I have been watching. I don't really see how it can be used in the classroom, maybe to show clips of similarities between our culture and theirs. However, if you're interested in a cute comedy I highly recommend it.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to respond to this because I kind of came across the same thing in the new Transformers movie (which was horrible, by the way) Anyway two of the transformers were supposed to be comic relief, and these two were supposedly two Asian guys with buck teeth and strong accents (a very old stereotype). Honestly it reminded me of how Asians used to be portrayed in the old Bob Hope movies. I agree that it really seems to be a step back, and done in very bad taste.

[Anonymous]

I just watched the National Geographic film, China's Lost Girls, and I recently read the book The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans. While I learned more about the one child policy in China and its effects on women and girls from the book, the movie really helped clarify a number of issues for me.
This film does an excellent job discussing how multifaceted this issue has become in China. While the film definitely acknowledged that there is a need to try to control China's population, it did a fantastic job discussing the unanticipated results of the one-child policy. One aspect that I found particularly fascinating is the fact that by the year 2020 there will be 10 percent more adult men than adult women; officials have already acknowledged that this could lead to violence, prostitution, and abduction of women (which the film shows is already happening).
I also really enjoyed the personal touches of the film. One memorable scene shows Chinese people talking with an American woman about their feelings of "disgrace" over this issue. There is also a discussion with a woman who decided (against the wishes of her husband) to keep her second child, a daughter, and had to pay thousands of dollars to keep her. This interview demonstrated to me, in ways that a book never could, that women must be incredibly strong to keep a girl, especially if it is their second child. This interview really helped me begin to understand the difficulty women must face if they have a second child in China.
In addition to these highlights, the film goes into a variety of other pieces of this issue, and I really enjoyed watching it. The film is 43 minutes long and very informative-- I would highly recommend watching it! While I'm not sure I'll use it in my classroom, it does a great job bringing out the personal side to this issue, and I'm sure it would help students relate to this issue if you are discussing the one child policy or the treatment of women in your classroom.
-Karen[Edit by="kringewald on Jun 28, 10:35:17 AM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I have recently watched the film called Red Cliff. This movie has two versions, the version which released in Asia has two parts (total of 4 hours) , and the version released outside of Asia is just a two and a half hour movie. ( I don't think they have released in the United States). I have watched the Asia version.

Some background information about the movie:
Director: John Woo (also a director of Mission Impossible II)
Main Characters:Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Zhou Yu
Takeshi Kaneshiro as Zhuge Liang
Zhang Fengyi as CaoCao
Chang Chen as Sun Quan
You Yong as Liu Bei
Ba Sen Zha Bu as Guan Yu
Zang Jingsheng as Zhang Fei

This movie is based on the Battle of Red Cliff and events during the end of the Han dynasty and the period of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty in AD 208, the imperial army led by CaoCao set up a ampaign to eliminate the southern warlord Sun Quan and Liu Bei in the name of eliminating rebels. Since CaoCao's army is huge, Liu Bei and Sun Quan started to look for alliance.

One of the famous scene was that Zhuge Liang came up with a plan to get 10,000 arrows from Cao Cao's army. Zhuge Liang put the human-like figures made of straw and hey onto twenty boats and sent them to Cao Cao's camp. CaoCao's army thought that there were incoming fleet and started firing arrows at the figures, so now the arrows were stuck to the figures. Since it was early morning and the fleets were in fog and haze, it was difficult for CaoCao's troop to distinguish. So CaoCao just lost 10,000 arrows.

I believe this movie can be shown to students in smaller clips, and at the same time students will be able to experience how the Chinese battle back in the days.

[Anonymous]

I recently viewed the film Siworae AKA Il Mare. It is a South Korean film released in 2000 that was the basis for the later American film called The Lake House starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. The basic premise is that a woman and man living in the same house in different years are linked by a sort of "magical" mailbox. That description definitely doesn't do a good job to sell the film.... and I admit the premise was a bit difficult for me to buy into. At the same time, however, there is a whimsical sort of loveliness to the film that I enjoyed. Other teachers at my school had strongly recommended this film, claiming that students always really enjoy it. While it was beautiful, I found it to be much too slow-moving to really capture my attention at points. If using the film for school, it could be helpful when teaching about plot development.

[Anonymous]

This movie surprised me in ways I had not expected. The scenes shot in the slums did their part to make this comfortable American uncomfortable. There were many times I needed to turn away, but how much more do we need to see the reality of life outside our tiny bubble. It is so easy to pass judgement on other cultures based on our standards without really knowing the struggles and hardships they endure on a daily basis. More films like these need to be made to shock us out of our complacency.

I only wish there were scenes I thought appropriate to show to my 6th grade students.

[Anonymous]

I watched Tuya's Marriage, a Chinese film from director Quanan Wang. The film is set in Mongolia, and centers around Tuya, a poor farmer. She gets injured working on her farm, and finds herself unable to care for her children and her husband, Bater. Bater was disabled while trying to dig a well for their farm three years prior. With Bater's consent, Tuya divorces him and with his consent, embarks on a journey to find herself a new husband willing to take on the responsibility of a wife, her children, and her disabled ex-husband. At times humorours, the movie takes a look at the difficulty of life in Mongolia, and the dearth of resources for its inhabitants. The director uses many long shots of the desolate landscape, which is both chilling and beautiful in its starkness, to underline Tuya's predicament. After many trials in her quest for a worthy spouse, the movie ends during her marriage ceremony. What I liked best about the movie is the ending: no Hollywood-style tying of loose ends, and happy-ever-afters for everyone. The movie ends with the heroine in tears of frustration/sadness/relief? It is up to the viewer to decide her emotions. This would be a great movie to use in a classroom as a stand alone, or as part of a larger unit. What should Tuya do? Leave Bater and start fresh? Accept Baolier or Shenge? The scenes in the state-run nursing home were particularly interesting as a commentary on access to care in China. A wonderful film I would see again, and would use in a classroom setting. I think it is acceptable for grades 9-12 since there really isn't anything objectionable or offensive in it.

[Anonymous]

I watched this movie as well and found it both humorous and touching. The father carries the film; his body language conveys so much in the movie. There is also an American remake called Tortilla Soup. It follows the plot lines almost verbatim, but it is set in the United States with a Hispanic-American family. Both are entertaining, but I still prefer the original Chinese version.

[Anonymous]

This is an excellent movie about Genghis Khan's life. Even though it only depicts only a few fight/battle scenes (you would think there would be more-these are the Mongols...they once controlled an empire larger than the Romans), it tells a great story on Genghis.

From his youth to the power struggle over his clan, it tells the story on his perserverance and rise to power. It depicts his brilliance as a military general. THe movie is produced I believe by mainly a Russian company (this was strange to me, but a pleasant surprise). Great film to pull clips from to incorporate in Mongol/Chinese history!

[Anonymous]

It is a good movie and the irony is that it has a plausible story line. Just one of innumerable similar stories coming out of India.

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