A rare beauty from the north

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Shi Mian Mai Fu/ House of Flying Daggers
Directed by Zhang Yimou
Written by Feng Li, Bin Wang, Yimou Zhang
Starring Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lao Tak Wah, Song Dandan
PG13 / 119 minutes
Edko Films/ Zhang Yimou Studio/ Beijing New Picture Film
Opens October 13
Sneak previews Oct 4 & 5

There's a beauty from land of north,
She stands alone in her sole beauty
With one look she can turn over a city
With another look she can turn over a country
Even with the knowledge about the city and states,
because true beauty is so hard to find.
- Ancient Chinese Poem

In the declining years of the Tang Dynasty, the largest and most secretive alliance of rebel forces known as the House of Flying Daggers plots to overthrow the corrupt empire. Two local police captains of the Feng Tian County (Captain Leo, played by Andy Lau and Captain Jin, played by Takeshi Kaneshiro) are ordered to capture the new leader of the rebel force. Suspecting that the new dancer at the Peony Pavilion brothel (Mei, played by Zhang Ziyi) is the daughter of the old leader, the two captains device a plan to capture Mei and bring the House out into the open. Complications arise when Captain Jin, disguised as the infidel Wind, finds himself falling for the beautiful blind dancer.

Director Zhang Yimou (Hero, Not One Less, Raise the Red Lantern) firmly establishes himself as the quintessential cinematic stylist with the visually resplendent and sonorous House of Flying Daggers. The film also boasts of the latest megastars of Asian cinema (Crouching Tiger’s Zhang Ziyi; the multitalented Andy Lau, and Taiwanese-Japanese superstar Takeshi Kaneshiro of Lavender and Chungking Express). Middle-earth may have its Legolas, but the Middle Kingdom has Wind.

Improving on the color themes of the Oscar-nominated Hero, Yimou composes painterly sequences of the Chinese countryside while also raising the bar in coordinating action choreography, camera movement and editing. His best improvement yet is the masterful sound design from effects to ambients to the musical scoring.

Yimou repeats a few themes from Hero that signify that Flying Daggers is a conceptual sequel to his first wuxia film. Both Hero and Flying Daggers operate on plot twists near the end, both have “curtain” scenes. Hero’s calligraphy theme is used in Flying Daggers’ title sequence. And while Crouching Tiger has Li Mu Bai and Jiao Long in a bamboo forest, Flying Daggers multiplies the excitement with its own ambush in a bamboo forest. Best of all is the prevalent theme of love caught in the midst of war, though this time the fight is political.

Which unfortunately underline a small but glaring weakness – Flying Daggers may be overwhelming for the eyes and ears, but the narrative fluctuates from poetic to pop and back. At some point, Mei’s fate borders on the comical. While the film soars two-thirds of the time, it nosedives needlessly in the final chapter.

Regardless of the narrative’s lack of sophistication unlike Crouching Tiger’s, everything else glides in sheer detail and splendor. Just watch those daggers fly and listen carefully as they sing through the air.

This film is a rare beauty from the north indeed.

Kiss the day goodbye

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Before Sunset
Directed by Richard Linklater
Written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Kim Krizan
Starring Julie Delpy, Etan Hawke
PG 13 / 80 minutes
Warner Independent Pictures/ Castle Rock Entertainment
Opens Oct. 27

“Love is never gone.
As we travel on,
Love's what we'll remember.”
- What I did for love, A Chorus Line

I love long walks. And long conversations that go with them. Except that you can’t do them so easily in the Metro, especially after dark. What do you do for romance in this city?

It was in 1995 when director Richard Linklater brought Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) together in the streets of Vienna for an unforgettable romantic night that ended abruptly Before Sunrise. Nine years later, Celine and Jesse meet again in Paris, and they spend a few moments Before Sunset figuring out if any magic remains between them.

Director Linklater, Delpy and Hawke developed this movie over time as a sequel to the successful 1995romance Before Sunrise. The idea was to bring the characters back together and let them see how things would have gone had they not separated at the train station in Vienna nine years before. Despite the sequel tag, Sunset can stand remarkably on its own.

Jesse is in Paris promoting his book when he chances upon Celine in a bookstore. Before his scheduled flight back to the US, Jesse and Celine take a stroll in the city of lights, using the little time that they have to catch up on things. The little time that they have is the entire movie. Before Sunset is one long magical heart-to-heart between Jesse and Celine, which happens in real time.

What a beautiful conversation it is. Celine and Jesse engage in warm (or should I say soulful? divine?) exchange the way long-lost close friends would normally catch up. The dialogue is full of life, of wit and passion, they way people truly engrossed in the moment would honestly and freely share themselves. It is short of amazing how spontaneous the conversation shifts from relationships to politics to society to lust, as if it wasn’t rehearsed or scripted, or how it sometimes would sound too real and “autobiographical” as Jesse put it in the beginning.

Linklater dispenses with the trappings of usual Hollywood romances, and presents minimalist setups designed to focus the viewers on the characters’ chitchat. Julie Delpy is simply mesmerizing, and as she sings towards the end, she takes your breath away. Ethan Hawke is an equally gifted actor.

If only one can record meaningful conversations all the time. Or if there’s a way to rewind and play back certain images in the brain – the things that make you feel alive or make you smile out of nothing. And then, just like everything else, they dissolve into molecules, as quickly as they emerged. Hold the thought while it lasts.

To infinity and beyond

Review by Vives Anunciacion

The Incredibles
Written and Directed by Brad Bird
Featuring the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson
GP / 115 minutes
Pixar Animations/ Walt Disney Pictures

“It’s incredible, unbelievable. But it’s wonderful to believe.”
- Incredible, Joseph the Dreamer

At a time when the public demands for the superlative in practically everything around it, here is a family punished for being so. The Incredibles is subversion against uniformity and forced grandeur.

The Incredibles is about a family of superheroes chained to middle-class suburban living by an ungrateful public. Angered by a series of accidents and burdened with the costs of maintaining them, the world’s citizens turn against the superheroes and strip them of their right to exercise their superpowers. Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) is reduced to Mr. Bob Parr the insurance agent. Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) becomes Mrs. Helen Parr, ordinary housewife. The superchildren Dash and Violet, like their parents, are forced to live normal lives even if they are dying not to.

Enter super villain Syndrome (Jason Lee) and his plan to rid the world of its superheroes by making everyone super. Syndrome is actually Buddy Pine, an ordinary guy with an extraordinary gift of invention, who in his earlier years worships his idol Mr. Incredible. Disappointed with his hero, he reappears one day as Syndrome, intending to supply every person on the planet with his gizmos that will make everyone super. And “when everyone is super, no one is.”

Director Brad Bird (The Iron Giant) and Pixar elevate the animation bar to unbelievable heights, quite like the way Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away did to popular animation. Buried within the simple story of superheroes and super villains and the jaw dropping computer effects is a quiet rage against the culture of conformity and the platitude of pragmatism. This isn’t your typical animation comedy, nor does this have your ultra electromagnetic, super-sayan superheroes. It is the story of a typical family torn apart because society forces them to live normal lives, even if they obviously, irrepressibly, aren’t. The Incredibles is a diatribe and almost not animation at all. Not conventionally, that is.

Just see how lifeless Bob Parr is as he works aimlessly inside his cubicle. How every atom in his body aches to be outside of his office doing good things and protecting people. He isn’t Mr. Ordinary Guy, he’s Mr. Incredible. He is idealism personified. And it is painful to see those ideals go away because society simply has lost its need for them. This is about the unfulfilled dreams of the working-class (because superheroes are workers for the world) as much as it is a rebellion against realism – hardly usual topics for family entertainment.

The Incredibles is about being great, and feeling great about it – no matter if the norm resists. Aim high, and let ideals soar.