The Whistleblower
The Whistleblower, an accomplished feature debut by Larysa Kondracki, has polarized critics, though the divergent opinion is largely down to how much individual critics can tolerate the inevitable simplification and dramatization of complex political situations. For some, The Whistleblower is an unpardonable dumbing down of a truly appalling situation that implicated international organizations in the sex trade, while for others, the fact that the film brings this situation to public attention is sufficient to excuse the shrill editorializing and vagueness. As usual, the truth is somewhere in between, and even the fiercest critics acknowledge the strong presence of Rachael Weisz, who plays Kathryn Bolkovac, a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia, who brings to light the UN’s role in covering up sex scandals in the war-torn region.
The Ides of March
A political film from the hand of George Clooney, who has writer, director and actor credits. Despite its massively A-list cast, it is the ideas rather than the names that have grabbed the attention of the critics. It has been described as a darker, dirtier and more intense version of the TV series West Wing, and has cool man-of-the-moment Ryan Gosling as Stephen Meyers, a political consultant caught at the deep end of a life-or-death political struggle. Clooney is the presidential hopeful whose career will make or break the hopes and dreams not just of the American people, but the shadowy players in the corridors of power. The supporting cast includes the always unpredictable Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti. The abundance of talent, and the mix of mature political ideas, plus the mechanics of a gripping thriller, make The Ides of March a film of broad appeal.
Arthur Christmas 3D
Festive animations have been responsible for a number of truly dire attempts to keep the tots amused — remember Hop, this year’s big Easter movie? While Arthur Christmas 3D is unashamedly a Yuletide offering, there is just enough British cheek to set it apart from the conventional Hollywood dross. A great voice cast that includes James McAvoy as the title character, Santa’s son Arthur, with Jim Broadbent as Santa, Bill Nighy as grandpa Santa, and Hugh Laurie as Steve, the brains behind the North Pole’s annual logistical exercise to get presents to all the children in the world in a single night, with “no child left behind.” While the youngest kids might get left behind by the quite complicated story, the humor works at enough levels to appeal to kids and parents alike.
Guilty of Romance
While there are plenty of Japanese movies that revel in portraying various forms of unconventional erotic fetishes for the titillation of audiences, director Sion Sono is one who plunges into the problem of how to unnerve his audience with sexual perversion in a society in which pretty much everything has become acceptable fodder for cinematic entertainment. Sono’s style and interests share similarities with Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, but his approach is more humorous and enigmatic, and though there are scenes of deplorable sexual violence, all masked by the niceties of social convention, Guilty of Romance has plenty to offer as a serious exploration of the more extreme ends of the spectrum of sexual desire.
Perfect Sense
An interesting idea goes badly wrong in David Mackenzie’s Perfect Sense. Mackenzie is a filmmaker who is not afraid to go high concept on a small budget. Unfortunately, in a film in which the world is succumbing to an epidemic in which loss of sensory perception, most notably loss of smell and hearing, is accompanied by feelings of grief and paranoia, the concept fails to take flight. Of course, with leads Eva Green, an improbable research scientist, and Ewan McGregor, a chef, it is obvious that love will somehow save the day, or at least make the tragedy bearable.
Road Less Traveled (樂之路)
Yet another inspirational rock music fantasy about an unknown band making it into the big time, this time from Taiwanese director Seven Li (李劭尹) with a script from musician Jimmy Hung (洪天祥), a member of the local band Tension. Joe (played by writer Hung), comes back from the US with rock ’n’ roll dreams. He meets up with a bunch of young musicians, including Mike, played by local pop idol Vanness Wu (吳建豪), after which follows a predictable story of discovery, fame, love, betrayal and so on.
Small World (Je n’ai rien oublie)
Gerard Depardieu plays Konrad Lang, who has spent his life as friend, confidant and caretaker with the Senn family. As the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s emerge, Lang develops a close friendship with the wife of the heir. His reminiscences suggest that all is not as it seems in the family, and matriarch Elvira makes clear that she does not want the official family history messed with. Depardieu’s performance is a walking cliche, but the film is partially saved by fine acting from the female cast members, particularly Alexandra Maria Lara, Francoise Fabian and Nathalie Baye.
Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below (Hoshi o ou kodomo)
A new feature animation from the hand of Makoto Shinkai, whose Speed of 5 Centimeters per Second got him noticed as a possible successor to the great Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of Spirited Away and many other classics of the Japanese animation industry. Like Miyazaki, Shinkai proves that he is able to use animation to create a world that blurs the lines between the real and the imagined to achieve an emotional depth that rivals major live-action productions.
The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake (競雄女俠 — 秋瑾)
Chinese cinema has no shortage of martial arts heroes but to have a female lead is definitely worthy of note. The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake, directed by Herman Yau (邱禮濤), who made the outstanding Ip Man prequel A Legend Is Born (葉問前傳), suffers from an excess of patriotism, as many Chinese films set at the turn of last century, which saw the painful birth of China as a modern nation, tend to do. There is also a rather heavy dose of simple-minded feminism, as the heroine Qiu Jin (秋瑾), played by Chinese actress Crystal Huang (黃奕), tells all who will listen that women have a part to play in the making of a new China, and proving it with some nattily choreographed kicks and punches. The film suffers a little from its rather inappropriate combination of biopic and rather extravagant wirework fight scenes that might be better suited to a fantasy tale.
Near Equal (NEAR EQUAL 日本當代藝術家影展)
A series of documentaries brought together by distributor Joint Entertainment International focusing on some of the top talent working in Japan’s contemporary art scene. The people featured in the series include avant-garde icon Yayoi Kusama (Tokyo Decadence), photographer Daidou Moriyama, sculptor Katsura Funakoshi, enfant terrible Makoto Aida and fantasy artist Hisashi Tenmyouya. The mini festival opens today and runs until Dec. 9, with all screenings at Spot — Taipei Film House (光點 — 台北之家). More information about the films and their subjects can be found at www.j-ent.com.tw/movie_nearequal.htm.
Institutions signalling a fresh beginning and new spirit often adopt new slogans, symbols and marketing materials, and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is no exception. Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), soon after taking office as KMT chair, released a new slogan that plays on the party’s acronym: “Kind Mindfulness Team.” The party recently released a graphic prominently featuring the red, white and blue of the flag with a Chinese slogan “establishing peace, blessings and fortune marching forth” (締造和平,幸福前行). One part of the graphic also features two hands in blue and white grasping olive branches in a stylized shape of Taiwan. Bonus points for
Recently the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and its Mini-Me partner in the legislature, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), have been arguing that construction of chip fabs in the US by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is little more than stripping Taiwan of its assets. For example, KMT Deputy Secretary-General Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) in January said that “This is not ‘reciprocal cooperation’ ... but a substantial hollowing out of our country.” Similarly, former TPP Chair Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) contended it constitutes “selling Taiwan out to the United States.” The two pro-China parties are proposing a bill that would limit semiconductor
“M yeolgong jajangmyeon (anti-communism zhajiangmian, 滅共炸醬麵), let’s all shout together — myeolgong!” a chef at a Chinese restaurant in Dongtan, located about 35km south of Seoul, South Korea, calls out before serving a bowl of Korean-style zhajiangmian —black bean noodles. Diners repeat the phrase before tucking in. This political-themed restaurant, named Myeolgong Banjeom (滅共飯館, “anti-communism restaurant”), is operated by a single person and does not take reservations; therefore long queues form regularly outside, and most customers appear sympathetic to its political theme. Photos of conservative public figures hang on the walls, alongside political slogans and poems written in Chinese characters; South
March 9 to March 15 “This land produced no horses,” Qing Dynasty envoy Yu Yung-ho (郁永河) observed when he visited Taiwan in 1697. He didn’t mean that there were no horses at all; it was just difficult to transport them across the sea and raise them in the hot and humid climate. “Although 10,000 soldiers were stationed here, the camps had fewer than 1,000 horses,” Yu added. Starting from the Dutch in the 1600s, each foreign regime brought horses to Taiwan. But they remained rare animals, typically only owned by the government or
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