Movie review

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I would like to share a review of movie I watched last night which was about a contemporary Buddhist monk. See attached review.

[clay dube]

Jack's review is greatly appreciated. I hope everyone else will start to view some films and post reviews.

Please post your film reviews in the Asia in My Classroom forum, in the Film Festival thread. This makes it easier for people to find info on movies.

[Anonymous]

The World of Suzi Wong. This was one of my first films introduced to me, with an Asian actress, Nancy Kwan. The film is done with the back drop of Hong Kong.
Unfortunately, this film depicts the Western culture's view of Asian women: submissive, seeking the comfort or security from Western men, uneducated, sensitive, pretty, petite, and vulnerable. In the classroom this would be a film to discuss expectations of a culture on a female to what they are truely capable of obtaining and how women can dispose of this myth or cultural perspective, as well as how global this belief is impose on different cultures; not just the Asian women.

[Anonymous]

I recently watch " The Last Samurai" with Tom Hanks and even though it was somewhat exaggerated, I did get a better sense of who the Samurai were and what their purposes were.
To me it portrayed another way in which western culture infiltrated foreign lands and how this, in most cases was not for the betterment of that land. I reflected on the class about the unification of Japan in the 1500's and how the Europeans brought guns to Japan. I would like to discuss with my students whether they think any other country has the right to go in and upset the balance of another country or if this too can be considered an invasion of privacy.[Edit by="wjkillian on Aug 10, 3:00:43 PM"]I meant Tom Cruise, not Tom Hanks.[/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I recently viewed a film called "Paper Clips" which was a lesson about prejudice presented in the form of a documentary in which students of Tennessee's Whitwell Middle School began studying the Holocaust as a way of learning about intolerance and diversity. This study lead to what became known as "The Paper Clip Project," a unique memorial to Holocaust survivors. This project touched the lives of countless communities.

Paper clips were chosen because the Norwegians invented the paper clip and used it as a symbol of solidarity against the Nazis. Students began collecting the paper clips to help visualize such vast numbers of victims. The students used the media and online resources to get the word out about their project. The resulting response was amazing.

I was thinking that this same concept could be applied when teaching students about Japanese Internment Camps, using not paper clips, but something that could somehow be connected to stuggles that were undergone in these particular camps. What a powerful lesson that would be.

[Anonymous]

I recently viewed a DVD entitled "Chance Pop Session." Apparently this is a three DVD series, but the ont that I viewed is the second of the series. The DVd is done in Japanese anime, which seems to be gaining increased popularity not only in Japan, but in other nations as well. The DVD is primarily musical with storylines in between. The songs are sung in Japanese with English subtitles. The storylines are in English. Powerful lessons are taught using this series about such concepts as family friendship, and competition. This series could be a welcome edition to the sometimes seemingly negative anime.

In an article entitled "Transnational Geekdom" in which Mitsuko Ito of USC's Annenberg Center for Communication explores anime culture in Japan and its popularitty abroad, attention was given to this animated comic book form. It was noted that anime producers have employed a successful formula of marketing coordinated merchandise such as card games, toys, and computer games to keep the young gripped in the series. But even in something as innocent as this, kids seem to be "brushing shoulders with adults." A group known as the Otaku in which some adult members make their living by seling these anime cards to kids, are said to "fetishize and drool" over the large eyed, infantilized girls in some popular anime. Whereas some westerners might equate or somehow connect this to some type of crime against childen, Ito believes that Japanese share little of Westeners' concerns about sexuality and violence in the media. Japanese parents do however seem to be concerned about the anti-social behavior exhibited in anime, not wanting kids to grow into the Otaku of the future.

Like parents around the world, teachers want to expose children to a variety of learnings, but we want to always be sure that the messages that we send are positve and can not easily be misconstrued as having some underlying negative intent.

.

[Anonymous]

I have just learned the movie called "Mardi Gras: Made in China." It is not rated, but the cast includes Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster. Director is David Redmon. It is playing at Laemmle Fairfax in LA. It is something to do with the colorful beaded necklaces that were made in China used in Mardi Gras. Sounds interesting to me, but I am still in a bad mood thinking about Chinese officials who killed 50,000 dogs for nothing. I know it's really nothing to do with the movie, but the horrible human behavior affects people's perceptions. I don't want much to do with China right now. I'm not goint to see it, even if it was a U.S made film!! So, please let me know if any one of you have viewed the movie to satisfy my curiousity. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I recently viewed an extremely moving film entitled "The Road Home" directed by Zhang Yimou and based on a book entitled "Remembrance" by Bao Shi. A young teacher in a remote village in China wins the heart of a village girl two years his younger, who had herself neglected school because of her lack of interest in it. She tries very hard to win his affection by inviting him over for meals and waiting by the road each day to catch a glimpse of him as he walked his students home. Soon after she musters up enough courage to hint to him about her feelings, he waas taken away from the village by political figures because of some trouble he was in. She again waited by the road each day for his return. When he didn't return as he had said he would, she sat out for the city to look for him, but passed out along the way due to illness. When the teacher received word of her illness, he left the city without permission to be with her. For this he was taken away again; this time for two years. His love again stood by the road each day awaiting his return. He eventually returned and they were married in a ceremony based on love, not by arrangement, the first of its kind to be held in this village. They had one son, who beautifully narrates this film, reflecting on the loving courtship between his parents.

The teacher taught his lessons from a book that he himself had written. Each day he began his lessons with the same call and response:
"One must learn to read and write"
"Keep a journal faithfully"
"Know the present, know the past"
"Spring,summer,fall,winter"
"east,west,south, north"
"In everything there is a purpose"
"know respect for your elders"

Many years later, the school teacher fell ill while venturing out to find funds to build a new school. This illness caused his death. Instead of having his body driven home, his wife wanted his body carried home by foot so that he could "find his way back home," in accordance with the old Chinese way. Though initially there was much opposition and many roadblocks to doing this, the response of former students of the teacher was remarkable indeed; returning even from far away to grant their master's final wish.

This just goes to show how important it is that teachers do their utmost to touch the lives of each of their students. Though not all will return to show their gratitude, you can rest assure that you have made an impression upon each of their minds in ways that no one else could.

[Author]

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