Historical movies

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Is anyone aware of where I can rent the movie entitled: "In The Name of the Emperor"? I would like to use it for my lesson plan.

[clay dube]

Hi Darlene,

This is a good question to throw out in the film festival thread of the Asia in My Classroom forum. Here is some contact info for the film.

http://hrw.org/iff-97/filmae/choyname.html

Here's a rental source -- but it's pricey, about $75.
http://www.filmakers.com/indivs/InNameEmperor.htm

[Anonymous]

I am wondering not what to watch, but what do you think of what we watch? What is your opinion of "The Last Emperor", and what is your consideration in regards to "The Last Samurai"? Are you like me, in that you wish that it would be the last attempt of Whorelywood to render Asia upon the screen?

[Anonymous]

all high school teachers have to see "battle royale". it was a sensation in japan, because it involves a fight to the death among high school students. very violent, very j-pop cool. if you want to know what your students are into, see this, and you will get the culture...i have a boot tape for scholastic purposes, just e me, i will show it to you

peace[Edit by="kokoro on Nov 20, 4:27:18 PM"][/Edit]

[clay dube]

Michael,
Battle Royale is a legendary flick. Please consider writing a review on it for the Asia in My Classroom "film festival" thread.

[clay dube]

Hi Michael,

Roam about the film festival zone a bit (in Asia in My Classroom) for some discussion of the Last Samurai. Fred Notehelfer, the dean of Japanese historians in CA, found it atrocious and I'm inclined to agree with him. There's much to like about the movie, including some of the acting, but ultimately it's a Tom Cruise vehicle. Go to http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu and do a search to locate an interview we did with Cruise about the film.

[Anonymous]

The Sundance Film Festival takes place in my home town, so I usually like to make a trip to Park City at this time (especially as it's still ski season!). Last year, much of the buzz was about a documentary entitled "Born into Brothels". When we were told we needed to watch Asian films I was reminded that I had wanted to see this, so I finally rented it. It takes place in Calcutta, India, and although this is not East Asia, Clay said it would work as a film to watch. It was not as depressing as it sounded at first, fortunately, and the filmmaker/photographer actually had a very clever idea. After living among the brothels for a few years, she began to think about the children who were born into this life. She wanted to bring them some joy and decided to teach a class of photography to them. She gave them each an assignment and weekly lessons on composition, color, and a general eye for photos. They developed the photos and reviewed them together. It was brilliant to see their world through their--the children's-- eyes. While their living conditions are desperate and depressing, the children give you a new view of life. I highly recommend the film.

[Anonymous]

After my second day of turkey dinner, I lounged to watch another movie (this time on regular television) I had wanted to see for some time, "The King and I." I know many know this story, as it has been around for some time, but I was reminded while watching it of how different Western culture is to Eastern, particularly in respect to royalty, respect, and social strata. It also reminded me of my trip to Thailand. When the king is fighting off the imperialists, I remembered how proud the Thai (formerly Siamese) were that they were the only Asian nation never to have been colonized or even occupied: they have always maintained their indepedence. Did you know that? This really is quite significant considering all the countries around them were imperialized by the British, French, and others, thus melding their cultures.

[Anonymous]

Colonization is merely a word.

Thailand may not have been colonized by the Western powers (at least, not yet).

Thailand has been controlled by both East and West. Japan controlled it in '41, and set up a puppet regime for WWII purposes, but when the West prevailed in WWII, Japan had to liberate Thailand.

The Burmese also defeated the Thais and lay siege to Ayuttaya, when it was the capital.

If you do a bit of research, you will find that the rhetoric of Thailand is that they were never 'colonized', but in reality, they were under direct control of the British due to trade agreements with the neighbors of Thailand, and the Thais could not counter.

Britain occupied India, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore. France occupied Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Britain and France agreed that Britain would control trade in and out of Thailand.

[Edit by="kokoro on Nov 26, 12:04:23 PM"][/Edit]

[clay dube]

Shannon's turkey-fueled evaluation of The King and I and Michael's response reminds me to raise several topics that teachers and students might be interested in.

1. The interesting role played by Western tutors in Asia the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are books and films that might be drawn upon, not only The King and I, but also The Last Emperor for China (Reginald Johnston). Another interesting story is that of Elizabeth Gray Vining who died in 1999 at 97. She tutored the current emperor of Japan for 4 years and wrote Windows for the Crown Prince about it.

What does it mean that these countries imported teachers for future rulers? Of our own future presidents, what international training have they received? [Remember how Bill Clinton's time at Oxford actually made some suspicious of him -- in part because of his anti-war activities and in part because of his "not inhaling" while there. Clearly the candidate who speaks fluent Spanish will be attractive to a growing segment of the electorate. Some see Russian-speaking Condi Rice as a potential candidate, though only a few folks have been able to successfully run for the presidency without having been elected to others offices - think Hoover and Eisenhower, both wartime heroes.] In an increasingly global age, can we be content with monolingual and monocultural leaders? Or is it possible that only leaders such as those can be trusted to put American interests first?

2. The King and I offers cultural clash, gender issues, and the hint of romance. One might also compare the Yul Brenner/Deborah Kerr version (1956) with the more recent Chow Yun Fat/Jodie Foster version (Anna and the King of Siam (1999). One could also track down the Rex Harrison version (1946) and a Warner Brothers cartoon version.

Why has the story of Anna Leonowens so interested movie makers?

This is a discussion that should probably move to the film festival section of the Asia in My Classroom forum where other teachers can participate as well. I'll copy this post there as well.

[Anonymous]

I don't think any nation can say that they have never been "controlled" in one sense or another by other nations or governments. However, Thailand has never been officially occupied or usurped by another. I think they DO have something to be proud of.

[Anonymous]

Although not historical, I recently saw "The Promise" by Chinese director Chen Kaige, also director of "Farewell, My Concubine." This film is China's official entry for the Academy Awards, has already been nominated for the Golden Globes, and is a hopeful entry into the international market by China. It is a joint effort by China, Korea, and the US and the director was there for a question and answer session. This film, the most expensive film ever made in China, is the second biggest moneymaker to date and had the biggest opening ever in China. "The Promise" (or "Wu Ji" or "Master of the Crimson Armor") was visually stunning with all the wire gags and special effects that Chinese action films are known for. My daughter was so entranced she was able to talk the movie house out of a poster. I was more interested in what the director had to say.
"The Promise" is about a little girl whose village is decimated by barbarians. A goddess, Manshen, takes pity on the girl, offering her a gift of beauty and success if she will promise away love. In time, the girl, Qing Cheng, grows up to be the most beautiful woman in the land but she can never have love. Into this mix put a lying general, a loyal slave, and a vicious duke and you get the basis for this eye-popping movie. It is epic in its scope and has been called the "Asian Lord of the Rings." I was able to use my newly acquired knowlege about ancient China and viewed the "barbarians" with interest. Also notable was the idea that Qing Cheng, although the most beautiful woman in the nation, was still "only a woman." Obviously, the movie had much more depth when viewed with some cultural information.
Chen said that with this movie he wanted to get across three things: love, loyalty, and freedom and that the story was a gift from God. He talked about how the movie was really a international affair, with the German composer Klaus Badelt, stars Jang Dong-Kun (Korean,) Cecilia Cheung (Chinese) and Hiroyuki Sanada (Japanese), not to mention thousands of extras speaking Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, and Japanese.
The one thing he said that really got me thinking was that it was his opinion that China as a nation was very confused about who they were and where they were going. He said that as it's a time of great change, many conventional and traditional values were being lost and that this film was his gift to the Chinese people.

[Anonymous]

I'm not actually replying to myself, just commenting about another Chinese film. In the same Golden Globe film festival I also saw "Kung Fu Hustle." Now, don't say it -- but this was a surprisingly good parody of martial arts movies. The exectutive producer was there to say a few words and he (he was white and American) talked about working in the Chinese film industry. In China there are no such things as "meal penaltys" and all the other things that actors and technicians quibble over and he said the average time off is four days in twenty-four (?). If they want a day off -- say the weather was disagreeable -- they just take a day off. The schedule is not as tight as here in the US. When they shot some of the major fight scenes the temperatures ranged from 120 with 100 humidity (common, he said) to freezing. If you watch the film, the harp sequence was made in 120 degree heat -- 100 degrees at night -- and the last fight scene was made in very cold weather. The film was shot in Shanghai -- portrayed as Canton -- for $6 million dollars. It has since made over $100 million and that's without video sales. I want some of their stock! The special effects budget was about $2.5 - 3 million. The quote was made that this is the most popular and biggest grossing Chinese film ever. Steven Chow (director and star) started out studying with the same teacher as Bruce Lee and spent many years as an actor on a children's show. He wanted to showcase some of the real martial arts techniques in this film and everything you see in the movie is based on real "schools," including "the Bullfrog," "the Buddha's Palm," and "Stepping on the Eagle's Back." These would be considered "insider's jokes" for the Chinese audience and ones that other people (like me) would not know. They took ideas from just about everywhere and you can see nods to "The Shining" (blood pouring out of doors), the old Road Runner cartoons (the landlady zipping in and out of traffic while chasing an adversary), and "The Matrix" (wire gags and the Ax Gang executing slo-mo flips in the air.) Led by stunt coordinator Wo Ping, many of the actors are real martial arts stars, including the Beast and the Tailor, who were "street stars."
All in all, iit was a very interesting movie and if you want to see a really funny movie, this is it.

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