One Day (有一天)
A new Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) production, One Day, written and directed by Hou Chi-ran (侯季然), is described as “a visual love poem of magical realism” on the International Movie Database, and the trailer suggests that it is replete with all the excesses of Taiwanese art house aspirations. A great deal of labored emoting takes place between Nikki Hsieh (謝欣穎) and Bryan Chang (張書豪), both emerging but still minor talents in Chinese-language cinema. Although the film is being endorsed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, to get a real taste of Taiwanese cinema, it might be best to prime yourself for the 12-day Hou Hsiao-hsien Retrospective titled The Best of Times (最好的時光 — 侯孝賢電影經典重現), which is scheduled to open on Monday (see below).
Hou Hsiao-hsien Retrospective
The Best of Times
(最好的時光—侯孝賢電影經典重現)
The mini-festival presents 11 works by Taiwan’s preeminent cinematic auteur, to be screened at the Wonderful Theater (真善美戲院, formerly the Majestic) and the auditorium of the National Taiwan University of the Arts (國立台灣藝術大學). The lineup ranges from 1983’s Green, Green Grass of Home
(在那河畔青草青) through to Hou’s most recent major release, Flight of
the Red Balloon (紅氣球, 2007) and includes all his major works.
The festival runs from Monday until June 18. All screenings are
free. For more details visit the festival’s Web site at www.ntua.edu.tw/~film/houhsiao-hsien.html.
Director’s A-List Film Festival
(2010國民戲院 — 大導演的獨家片單)
Part of the POP Cinema series hosted by SPOT — Taipei Film House (光點台北電影院), the festival opens today and takes place at SPOT, Universal Cinema City (全球影城) in Taichung and the Kaohsiung Film Archive (高雄市電影圖書館). The festival focuses on the early works of a number of directors, and is a must for anyone interested in visiting renowned directors in their first flush of success. Films include Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane and Truffaut’s The Four Hundred Blows, Kevin Smith’s Clerks and Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Detailed schedule times for Taipei can be found at www.twfilm.org/a_list. The festival runs from today until June 18 in Taipei, June 18 to June 24 in Taichung and June 29 to July 4 in Kaohsiung. Tickets are NT$200 in Taipei and can be obtained online at www.artsticket.com.tw or at the venue.
Good Man Film Festival (好人影展)
Film distributor Serenity Entertainment International delved into its catalog of international art house films to put on this mini film festival. The title is self-explanatory in a vague sort of way. The program includes Away We Go, directed by Sam Mendes from a screenplay by David Eggers, the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man and Jessica Yu’s Ping Pong Playa. Screenings are at the Wonderful Theater and the Ambassador Changchun Cinema (國賓長春影城).
Earth
A feature-length compilation from the television series Planet Earth made by the BBC and Discovery Channel, the transition to big screen makes the most of high-definition images, producing a power and intimacy not possible in the living room. Startlingly beautiful shots show animals in the fullness of their strength, hunting, swimming and migrating. While Earth focuses mostly on the awesomeness of nature, the tragedy of animals trying to cope with changes resulting from global warming is also present. Identities and narratives have been given to many of Earth’s stars, making this ideal material for younger audiences.
Sex and the City 2
The sequel to the film of the long-running television series has by general consensus driven the franchise definitively into the ground. Critics have been scathing about most aspects of the film, from its cynical product placement, its squirm-inducing attempts to be sexy, the characters’ emptiness and script’s tedium. It has been described by one female critic as “essentially a home video of gay men playing with giant Barbie dolls,” and verges on the pornographic in its objectification of women — its stars, no less — as little more than, in the words of the Lily Allen song, “weapons of massive consumption.” Be warned.
I Just Didn’t Do It
(Soredemo Boku Wa Yattenai)
Veteran director Masayuki Suo’s film about the tragic absurdities of the Japanese justice system was first released in 2006 and won numerous awards in Japan for its biting social commentary and attention to detail. The story of a young man charged with molesting a 15-year-old girl on a crowded train plunges the protagonist into a system that is all about upholding the moral authority of the police. At 143 minutes, I Just Didn’t Do It, which follows the characters through the tortuous legal proceedings, drags at times, but as an introduction to how the courts operate, the film is superlative.
My Ex (Fan Kao)
Yet another film from the Thai horror factory, My Ex milks the Fatal Attraction theme for all it is worth. Not content with retribution in this life, My Ex takes vengeance into the next. In this film, we have playboy Ken swanning around with a bevy of lovelies, but who soon discovers that discarded lovers can come back to haunt him. A moralistic tone, repetitious use of scare tactics and a contempt for internal logic make My Ex second rate fare.
Higanjima
Japanese vampire flick by South Korean director Kim Tae-gyun that puts a bunch of young people on an island inhabited by fearsome vampires who relish torture, murder and general mayhem, all of which is inflicted at a breakneck pace to a thrash metal score. There are some clever ideas in the film, but this manga remake (based on the best-seller by Koji Matsumoto) has the story-telling subtlety of an arcade game. For action fans, there’s plenty to like, but Twilight fans will be disappointed.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located