China Film Journal

剛看了一個豆瓣上對《圍城》的影評。。。其實筆者談的不是電影而是自己的跟電影情節相似·的經歷。看來
這部電影能引起的共鳴不限于香港人而是所有目睹過青少年對彼此的殘酷。

I surfed across this randomly when looking for stuff relating to the film Besieged City. I thought this person would write about film, but it was more like the film inspired him to write some of his thoughts relating to violence among students (the movie is about gangs of kids in a Hong Kong New Territories housing project).
看了电影，我只想说，他哥太软弱了。
我也是做哥哥的人，自己的兄弟被欺负冷眼旁观简直不可容忍。
本来生在那样的家庭里，还有个那样的父亲。两兄弟就已经很可怜了，然而却不知道相濡以沫，更是可悲。
纵观全剧，只要前期有一个人能站出来帮助弟弟，可能就没有这部电影了。
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We came across some interesting tidbits in the news today. First off, Yu Lik-wai (余力為) the Hong Kong director/cinematographer that lensed most of Jia Zhangke’s movies, will be starting principal shooting on his new film Plastic City 《塑料城市》. This film is a 2006 Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum alumni, and will begin shooting in Sao Paolo, Brazil — a location which intrigues us very , very much. We didn’t find out what the movie was about, but it’s been said that it will involve actors Anthong Wong (黄秋生) and Huang Yi (黄奕), and Japanese actor Joe Odagiri (小田切讓) — reports say that the film is a Chinese/Japanese co-production.

The other piece of news that we found interesting was that another HAF alum, the Taiwanese actor/director Lee Kangsheng (李康生), is screening his movie at the film festival in Hong Kong. The movie is called Help Me Eros (幫幫我愛神), was directed by and stars Lee Kangsheng, and was produced and art directed by his long-time collaborator and mentor, Tsai Mingliang (蔡明亮). They say the film features a lot of brooding, melancholy, alienation, and graphic sex — which is not surprising, given the two guys behind it. Should be a good one. We’ll be looking out for it on the DVD shelves in Shanghai soon.

The idea is simple: get five internationally reknowned directors to make short, impressionistic films about Beijing, showing the people of Beijing in their everyday lives and as they prepare for the Olympics—and in the kindest light possible. The five filmmakers were: Patrice Leconte (France), Andrew Lau (Hong Kong/China), Majid Majidi (Iran), Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy), and Daryl Goodrich (UK). You can find a rundown of each film’s style and content as well as a link to each one.Whatever their differences in style and subject matter, they are all undeniably and unforgivably cheesy, like postcards of moving images. They remind us of those insipid China Eastern Airlines commercials—except worse—because you have to take into account that these were made by men (not a woman in the bunch) that have, at some point in their lives, made films that were actually fit for human consumption.There’s a little voice inside our head that tells us that no one likes the guy that takes things a bit too seriously and can’t see the light-hearted side of things—it’s the Olympics for chrissakes, Pollyannish is to be expected, Olympic-colored balloons can and should rise and form the Olympic rings in the azure sky. At the same time, there was another little voice in our head that it’s also okay for us to slightly downgrade our respect for directors, renowned or not, that strew this kind of filmic excrement over our collective sidewalk. These artists are kinda sucking CCP cock, aren’t they? Okay, we know this ain’t Cannes, and that it might be considered an honor by some to be allowed to make promotional films for the Olympic Games. But seriously, is banality the new language of ideology? Please, show us more people striking on drums and practicing tai-chi in the park. And throw in some cute little Chinese kids while you’re at it. Sorry, </end_rant_here>. We’ll start taking our meds again, we promise.