Infernal Affairs

Infernal Affairs is an awesome film. It is a very intense story that is a battle between good and evil. It involves the Mafia and the police force and how each of them use moles to track what the other is doing. There are many suspenceful moments in the film that press the issue of the mole being discovered. It is about 2 men Ming and Yan who start off in the police academy but are eventually drawn to become undercover. Yan is undercover for the superintendant while Ming is undercover for the mob boss Sam he is also working for superintendant Wong. This give the mob a man on the inside of police operations. The advantages of this are displayed in the scene where Ming is tipping the mob off on the actions the police are taking against them. This helps the mob escape a drug bust. They are both moles but are on different sides of the battle. The two are basically competing against one another the entire movie to expose the operations of the others group. Eventually though the two are fighting to expose the identity of one another in order to save themselves. Eventually the battle between the two groups becomes a war when Superintendant Wong is thrown from a window and killed. Later the mob boss is shot by Ming his inside man. This action had to do mostly with Ming feeling like he wants to correct himself from all that he has done wrong and wants to become good again. The movie ends in a twisted way with both men dying.

Overall I really enjoyed the film I felt it was the closest to an American film that I have seen so far this semester. I feel that the way in which the fast paced action and quick editing played a role in the suspecense and adrenaline of the film made it very similar to many Amnerican films about similar topics. I like how the men were able to have their secret undercover personality with out being know or exposed I think that is what impressed me most about the story. I would recommend this film for anyone who is looking for an action packed thriller to watch.

Flowers of Shanghai

Flowers of Shanghai places the viewer inside the lives of the Flower Girls of Shanghai in the later 19th century. The Flower girls live in a brothel each having their own house. They all are owned by the brothel, the girls are bought when they are very young around 7 years old. They are brought up in the brothel until they are old enough to work, then eventually their freedom is bought by one of their clients if all goes well. The brothel mainly is a place where men go to smoke opium and drink tea, it is not really like I had imagined it to be at first. I figured it would just be a place where men would go for prostitution other similar things. However there is much bonding and respect between the men themselves.

There is a lot of drama in the flower houses. Emerald is in the process of buying her freedom with help from her client Master Lou, Jade is being lead on by a client who tells her that she will be his first wife, only to later realize that he is currently engaged, and Master Wang has been seeing Crimson for a long time when he hears news that she is seeing another man he has a fit and trashes the room. He then marries Jasmine almost immediately. The story goes on and there are many parties with the men and the flower girls where the men play games and socialize while smoking opium and drinking.

Eventually, Emerald is able to buy her freedom with help from Master Lou. Master Wang ironically finds out that Jasmine has been unfaithful to him so he beats her and abandons her, putting him right back where he started. When Jade finds out the situation with the man who is promising her marriage, she goes overboard and tries to poison him along with herself. This plan however fails when he does not drink enough of the poison to die. The ironic thing about this is that earlier in their relationship when he has asked her to marry him he said "if we can not be together, we will die together." Realizing that them being together is no longer a possibility Jade goes for the death portion of his promise but does not succeed. A solution is met to help Jade by spending 5000 on her freedom and another 5000 on her dowry. At last the film closes with Master Wang and Crimson together and reunited.

The film seems very dark to me I understand that the film takes place mainly in one place, but the lighting looks very artificial almost as if the film is being shot in a dark room. Everything has a red glow to it. Visually this was a very boring film seeming like the entire film was just one giant scene. There was seldom a change in scenery and even when there was it was very similar to the previous scene. It was slow moving and very boring. This film may be a great film, but I just didn't see what was so great about it. I'm not trying to bash the film, I just didn't feel like i could really connect and get into the film like I was able to do with other films we have watched through out this course.

Farewell My Concubine

Farewell My Concubine tells the story of the lives of two boys who are disregarded by their families and given away to an acting troop. The acting troop leader is a cruel man who beats the children if he doesn't like the way they do things. Douzi and Shitou meet when Douzi's mother drops him off at the acting troop only after cutting off his extra finger. The two become best friends who often stand up for one another. Eventually as time passes the two are no longer part of the cruel acting troop but are famous opera singers.

The lives of the two are now consumed by their fame and the opera. As time goes on they meet many other people of high class and are living well. Until, Shitou meets a woman, Juxian. She is a prostitute who Shitou falls in love with and gets married to. This makes Douzi extremely jealous, he feels betrayed by Shitou and most of the story from here on revolves around Shitou's betrayal of Douzi. There are many historical events that take place as time passes in the story. Both men find themselves in trouble with the law at different points and somehow find their way out of it. With all of the changes in government and all the different audiences they have each time their country is in another powers hands.

There is one thing that does not change and that is the opera. Douzi does not care who is in the audience he is just there to give it his all each and every time he takes the stage at the opera. To him the opera is more than just an act like it is to Shitou. It has become his life, he is not happy unless he is on stage and he carries his character into his life offstage often. This causes problems for Douzi especially when he is not able to understand Shitou's feelings for Juxian. There are many points in the film when the two are at each others throats and seem to hate one another but eventually the film ends with the two of them now old rehearsing in costume. Douzi then grabs the sword out of Shitou's sheath and kills himself. The film then fades to black and it is over.

First off this film was very interesting, the story, the cinematography, the costumes, and most importantly the historical references. I found it very effective how the use of important historical events in the history of China were used to show the passing of time through the characters lives. This is something I have rarely seen in any film outside of documentaries. I feel that it was a very effective story not only because it was a good story but because it was a raw story. Everything was shown from the beatings to the hardships the film displayed everything so that the viewer could clearly see how it actually was. The way in which the characters are back and forth throughout the film adds to the drama that the story possesses.

The ending ultimately sums up the story with Douzi killing himself. There are many ways you can look at it. I personally fell that its not as much as him wanting to die as it was symbolic of his on stage life controlling his real life. He feels that Shitou is really his king and that he is really the Concubine. To see his King fall in love with a woman he feels betrayed and broken hearted and might not have wanted to continue on.

A Touch of Zen

A Touch of Zen is by far the longest film I have ever seen in my life. For some reason this film seemed like it took an eternity to get from beginning to end. The film takes place in a small village, where pretty much everyone knows one another. Ku, is a scholar who lives in the village who does paintings for people. One day a strange man comes and asks for a portrait of himself. This man roams around the town very suspiciously for a while until later in the story we learn that he is there to capture Yang, a woman who recently moved to the village. Yang's father apparently tried to show Eunuch Wei's corruption, and as a result he and the rest of his family were killed with the exception of Yang.

Wei then sent the strange man, Ou Yang Yin, to capture Yang so that she can be killed like the rest of her family. Ku's mother knows Yang and thinks that Ku and Yang would make a great couple so she tries setting them up with minimal success. Ku and Yang become friends however and he helps her defend herself from the men sent to capture her, at one point the two sleep together giving Ku confidence. Because Ku is a scholar he has read many books on military strategy and technique. He is a very intellectual man he comes up with a plan that uses the haunted myths of the city in their favor. He constructs devices to make the men think that the ghosts are coming after them. His strategy works and the win the battle. However after the battle Yang is missing. She leaves Ku and flees for a monastery where she becomes a nun. Ku tracks her down where he receives their baby. Ku then leaves and comes face to face with Hsu Hsien-Chen, a commander sent by Wei. Yang then comes to Ku's rescue however she is injured during the battle. The end scene shows Yang walking toward the settling sun towards a silhouetted figure with a halo.

I did enjoy some aspects of the film, such as the fight scenes and the way in which they were choreographed. It reminded me of the fight scenes in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The story was interesting however it was very hard for me to keep up with every event since the film moved so slowly. I feel that even though Chinese Cinema is much slower moving that American Cinema that this film was still drawn out and could have been tightened greatly through many scenes. The scenes themselves were too long they could have been shortened a bit in order to make the film flow more smoothly I feel that it often took a great deal of time to show the events of one scene. The ending however was pretty clever how there was a religious reference to close the film.

Lan Yu

Lan Yu is a love story that shows just how much someone can mean to another person. There film is about two gay men and the love the share for one another. Chen Handong is a business man who meets Lan Yu at gay establishment. He takes Lan Yu home where he just wants to have sexual relations with him. Lan Yu and Chen Handong see each other more and more and soon they develop feelings for one another. However Handong does not want a relationship with Lan Yu so he tells him, in a very important scene of the film, that when people get to know each other too well they split up. This upsets Lan Yu and he is afraid to love Handong in fear of losing him. But as the two get closer and the story goes on Chen Handong develops very strong feelings for Lan Yu.

There are points in the film where Handong is very careless with Lan Yu's feelings like when Lan Yu finds Handong with another man. This causes the two to separate briefly, until Handong find Lan Yu and takes him to the house he has bought for them to live in. They move in together and everything is going well. Until, Handong decides that he is going to marry a woman. He believes that once everyone matures it is their duty to marry a woman and raise a family. He leaves Lan Yu for the woman and they get married. He later gets divorced from his wife and randomly runs into Lan Yu at the airport one day. He asks Lan Yu to have dinner with him. The two meet for dinner and their relation is back on the right track again.

Suddenly Handong finds himself in trouble with his company and is at risk of going away to jail for a long time. Lan Yu comes through for Handong by selling the house and car that Handong had bought him in order to produce money to bail him out. The two are then back together and everything seems like it will end happily ever after until Handong receives a phone call. The next scene shows Handong in the morgue with Lan Yu's body. He had died in a construction accident that morning. The film ends with Handong driving past the spot where the accident occurred stopping briefly then continuing on.

This film shows the power of love, and how that sometimes love doesn't have to be present immediately but it can arrive when it is needed most. What started as a one night stand for Handong turned into the love of his life and though there were some bumps along the way everything ended up fine in the end. Yes, even with the death of Lan Yu I believe that Handong felt fulfillment in finding love and knowing that the love Lan Yu gave him will exist forever inside of him. Sure Lan Yu's death was a tragic even for Handong but at the same time I feel that Handong was satisfied in knowing that their love was powerful and that it was real.

Overall I feel that the film was a great story emphasised by the deep characters and acting that they put forth in creating the film. I feel that the story's tragic ending has a lot to do with the power of the message that the story is sending to the viewer.