Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

I was introduced to this module by watching Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2010) during the third week of class since I enrolled in late...and for my last film diary entry, I shall do a response to this movie using my film photos I took in Chiang Mai, since this movie transported me back to the enjoyable relaxing holidays I had in Thailand before the hectic university life commenced.

Be White. Live White. Like this.

“Listen carefully. Everyone make mistakes. But if you committed a sin, you have to make an atonement for that sin. Atonement, do you know what that means? Big Atonement for big sins. Small Atonement for small sins.”

I caught Sympathy for Lady Vengeance by Park Chan-wook (2005) a few years back and this easily became one of my favourite films. Starring Lee Young Ae who is famous for her role in the popular Korean drama Dae Jang Geum, I watched the film out of pure interest for Lee Young Ae’s performance (my family and I were fans of that drama during then), and indeed, she delivered her role in the movie with such a powerful concoction of emotions, it totally knocked me over.

My Magic

My Magic by Eric Khoo (2006) is the third movie I have watched from this director and is by far, having the most amount of interactive dialogue as compared to Be With Me (there is only 3 minutes worth of dialogue) and 12 Storeys (well, the grandma rattled on quite a lot in movie but it is more of a monologue).

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

I have never ever been a fan of martial arts movie or dramas, but Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon by Ang Lee (2000) won me over with the lush sceneries and fluid camerawork. I especially loved the fighting scenes among the bamboo forests, the gentle sway of the bamboo shoots due to the moving breeze is similar to how Mu Bai and Jen “fly” and pit their skills against each other – it is graceful and with ease, yet definitely powerful.

To Live

“馒头长大就不骑牛了，坐火车，坐飞机，那时候，日子会越来越好。”

To Live by Zhang Yi Mou (1994) is a socially and politically aware film that was banned by the China government and the director himself was barred from filmmaking for two years. Out of the Zhang Yi Mou films that I have watched, To Live would be my favourite. Watching this film two years back in class, I barely had any interest in the movie when it started – I thought the movie would be grim, serious, tragic and too politically involved, yet my initial feelings were wrong, at the end of the movie, the plot left a lasting impression on me.

Days of Being Wild

For my response to Days of Being Wild by Wong Kar-wai (1990), I have created the following poster, using bold red as the background and the traditional Chinese characters of the movie title in the foreground.

Faith, have faith.

"I think we keep living with faith because we need it. Even atheists believe in something - in something else. Yet, I didn't want to make a movie about faith, really, but a reflection on what goes on inside us. Cinema is a great tool, a way to talk about the invisible through the visible." - Lee Chang Dong

Secret Sunshine by Lee Chang Dong (2007) chronicles a lady, Shin-ae, dealing with grief, anguish and her doubt of faith, the role being performed by one of my favourite Korean actress, Jeon Do-yeon. Life seems to be peaceful for Shin-ae after she moves to the town Miryang, but the kidnap and murder of her son plummeted her into depths of despair, agony, and even madness. To overcome her grief, she decides to pay a visit to the kidnapper with the intention to forgive him under the grace of God, yet feelings of betrayal overcame her when the kidnapper told her that God had already forgiven him.