When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun
Documentary by Dirk Simon that takes a fresh look at the tensions between Tibet and China, reassessing the success of the 14th Dalai Lama and counting the cost of his pacifist stance, which clearly has done little to influence the way policymakers in Beijing view the issue of subjecting Tibet to their will. The film faces up to some of the fundamental contradictions of the current position of monks, who in many ways serve as a leadership for the resistance against China, but must also accommodate their religious vows, and considers the idea that the movement for autonomy has been weakened by the divide between the Dalai Lama and more radical elements. A fresh look at events and a re-evaluation of the future make this a thought-provoking film for anyone interested in the issue.
Pina
A must-see for dance lovers and 3D skeptics. Directed by Wim Wenders, this documentary is a homage to the great German choreographer Pina Bausch, featuring interviews, both with the star and her dancers. Bausch died soon after the film went into production, and the intensity of emotion, expressed in her creative work, is given a further twist as dancers recreate the power and mystery of her vision. Wenders allows the 3D format to bring audiences into greater intimacy with the dancers, without crowding them. There is so much in the great choreographer’s life that the film feels a little broken up, with no focus either on an individual work or dancer. For all that, the film manages to convey something important about one of the major figures of 20th-century dance.
Step Up to the Plate
Documentary by director Paul Lacoste provides a captivating look behind the scenes of Michel Bras’ legendary hotel-restaurant in the remote plains of Laguiole, France, which has held three Michelin star for many years. There is plenty of kitchen wizardry on display, but like the recent release Jiro: Dreams of Sushi, this film is as much about the philosophy of food, tradition, and at the very center, the transfer of these things from father to son. At the heart of Step Up to the Plate is Michel Bras, one of the great luminaries of the European culinary establishment, and his son Sebastien who is soon to take over his father’s mantle. A clever balancing act between a family drama and food porn, this is a must see for foodies.
Burma: A Human Tragedy
Narrated and produced by Anjelica Huston, this documentary provides savage testimony to the inequity perpetrated by the military junta in Burma and the terrible suffering of the Burmese people, especially the Karen, which the junta has targeted for ethnic cleansing. It is not a film for the fainthearted, and shows images of the bloody toll exacted by the brutal and incompetent regime. The film attempts to clarify the complex web of hostilities that ravage the land, and is an in-your-face indictment of a conflict that for the most part remains on the fringes of international consciousness.
First Time
Another local romantic drama featuring beautiful people suffering from incurable illness. Sometimes you just wish they would get on with it and just die — but that is a rather unsympathetic way to look at Angelababy (aka, Yang Ying 楊穎), who plays a sickly young girl who only has her dreams of romance to sustain her in her lonely life. Inevitably, she meets up with rock ’n’ roller Mark Chao (趙又廷), who encourages her to realize her dreams. Tragedy and spiritual uplift follow. It is not much of a surprise that the real marketing ploy of the film is theme music penned by the king of Taiwan’s contemporary music scene Jay Chou (周杰倫), and indie singer/songwriter Cindy Yen (袁詠琳).
A Few Best Men
Nobody has a good word to say about this gross-out Australian comedy that makes a host of talented people look bad. For starters, the film is directed by Stephan Elliott (Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Easy Virtue), but he is unable to make much of the brain numbingly stupid script by Dean Craig (Death at a Funeral), which is painfully derivative. It borrows shamelessly from his own Death at a Funeral, with plenty of echoes from the The Hangover. American Pie looks classy by comparison, and one cannot help feel sorry for Olivia Newton-John, who tries to vamp it up, but she is no match for Stifler’s Mom.
Last week saw the appearance of another odious screed full of lies from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian (肖千), in the Financial Review, a major Australian paper. Xiao’s piece was presented without challenge or caveat. His “Seven truths on why Taiwan always will be China’s” presented a “greatest hits” of the litany of PRC falsehoods. This includes: Taiwan’s indigenous peoples were descended from the people of China 30,000 years ago; a “Chinese” imperial government administrated Taiwan in the 14th century; Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), “recovered” Taiwan for China; the Qing owned
When 17-year-old Lin Shih (林石) crossed the Taiwan Strait in 1746 with a group of settlers, he could hardly have known the magnitude of wealth and influence his family would later amass on the island, or that one day tourists would be walking through the home of his descendants in central Taiwan. He might also have been surprised to see the family home located in Wufeng District (霧峰) of Taichung, as Lin initially settled further north in what is now Dali District (大里). However, after the Qing executed him for his alleged participation in the Lin Shuang-Wen Rebellion (林爽文事件), his grandsons were
I am kneeling quite awkwardly on a cushion in a yoga studio in London’s Shoreditch on an unseasonably chilly Wednesday and wondering when exactly will be the optimum time to rearrange my legs. I have an ice-cold mango and passion fruit kombucha beside me and an agonising case of pins and needles. The solution to pins and needles, I learned a few years ago, is to directly confront the agony: pull your legs out from underneath you, bend your toes up as high as they can reach, and yes, it will hurt far more initially, but then the pain subsides.
When Angelica Oung received the notification that her Xiaohongshu account had been blocked for violating the social media app’s code of conduct, her mind started racing. The only picture she had posted on her account, apart from her profile headshot, was of herself wearing an inflatable polar bear suit, holding a sign saying: “I love nuclear.” What could be the problem with that, wondered Oung, a clean energy activist in Taiwan. Was it because, at a glance, her picture looked like someone holding a placard at a protest? Was it because her costume looked a bit like the white hazmat suits worn
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