Revolutionary Road

It's good to watch a colour film again. I sometimes wonder why such a dreadful feeling when I watch black and white films, and I've seemed to figure out that it's because the setting of the period, the way the people talk, can't connect to me too much.

And watching a colour film like "Revolutionary Road" is more than just good. Both Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Carpio are at their best! Recently, I've just heard about a comment that says Leonardo is only good in Titanic, but this isn't the case. To see how they work and affect each other in this piece of film is simply amazing and of course for me, a wonderful experience to see how these actors act. They're focused, attentive to the partner, and it makes me believe that each time they do a take, it is not the same, and it must be the case. At times, the camera work just flow uninterruptedly when they're having a fight, and it works brilliantly without any cut (whether it is done purposefully or not during the shoot) because it delivers a more realistic and believable scene to the audience. What's more, both performances are too good to be watched. The scenes of them shouting at each other are so furious and frequent that any 2nd class actors would make it over-the-top and irritating to watch.

This film would probably look like an ordinary dull story on the screenwriter's papers, yet it makes you think almost every second on the screen, now this is what ya call film-making. Each characters have their own needs but they have to learn how to also accommodate the other person's needs since they are couple, and this is very true in all love relationships. As the saying goes, real people do not say explicitly what they think, because words uttered are rationalized. It is why we have to keep thinking and exploring what the characters really need or lack of. April loves her husband, she wants to make him happy, she takes care of him, but what is it that she's unhappy about? She wants a change - Paris, a fantasy that believed to be a paradise, but throughout the story, her conscious intent was to make her husband happy. Subconsciously, she's probably not. On the other hand, Frank seemed to buy the idea of relocating for a new life, but he is certainly unease with the change itself. The higher pay and promotion had challenged his decision, and as most of us will do, no matter how bored the job is, to accept this irresistible offer. Most of the people do not know what they want, but money is something that they absolutely know that they wouldn't not want. Despite Frank shows his sincere love and care to keep the baby, and I believe he didn't wittingly make his wife pregnant to cover his weakness of not going for a change, in a way he must have felt that the fact of the pregnancy is a more logical and solid reason to support his needs. The ironic thing about couple living together is that they want to please each other, and they make themselves in believing that making the partner happy means making they themselves happy. A long suppression of own need, probably unconsciously, makes something go wrong underneath each word and each action. Kate and Leonardo have brought out the essence of acting, where we observed that something is happening "in between" their words, and not "on" their words itself.

The movie is a tragedy. It seems there is no way out for both of them, which is pessimistic to think of. And the movie ends with the scene of the old couple talking in the living room, which gives an interesting hint.

The days go on

The study of "The Writer's Journey" is interesting, because it is also a study of one's life journey. They are your threshold guardians, so don't be angry, treat them nicely. If you know your end, you can work out the beginning.

It is heart warming to receive a message from a special friend (the wise old woman/ wise old man). Your magic words shall help me to stay true and stay firm.

This is the first time I am experiencing seasonal change, from winter to spring. For tropical habitant like us, our mind and mood stay still all the time, because the time doesn't seem to change. Now it is moving from cold towards warm, the change is somehow unbelievable. The simple fact that you are at the same location, but the weather is changing, is simply unbelievable. And I'm in the awkward position, uncertain as to whether I am missing the winter, or I am looking forward to the spring. The most important of all, is that I'm suddenly aware that time is passing swiftly, time is not enough, so I must learn to appreciate "now".

Life is a treasure, don't stop exploring. :)

Schindler's List vs The Pianist

I watched the Schindler's List sometime ago, and just watched The Pianist. Both films are made with the background of Germans exterminating the Jews during the World War II.

I remembered Schindler's List was good, but there was a moment I tried to recall what the story was. The Pianist was great too, in a way, you find it elegant, probably partly because of the music, but it doesn't give you the usual "sensational enjoyment" that you normally get from watching a film.

Schindler's List has a vivid hero, whose fate is to rescue as many people as he can, by recruiting them under his company. This hero is an unwilling hero, where he, not only once blamed his assistant for bringing in incompetent people to work. He is detached with the favour and the charity he is doing for his staff. However there is a scene where he is about to flee, and he suddenly breaks into tears, bragging about he hasn't done enough for the people. It is moving, yet the intention of the scene is too obvious. Schindler, breaking into tears and kneeling down, doesn't seem like the tough guy he used to be previously. Nevertheless, overall, the hero in the Schindler's List is someone we look up onto, and on the other hand, the protagonist in The Pianist is someone we identify with.

The Pianist has a protagonist, who is not set to go out and fight his enemies, but he has one simple objective - to live. He is a character, whom we, as the normal people, would identify with. He lost his career, his family, he lost everything. What would you do, if you were him, a powerless citizen? You'd probably do the same. On the day he is separated from his family, knowing that they would die, and he wanders back to the house, I felt a total lost, just like him. What is life? What is hope? How do you live on?

Schindler's List describes brutality in large scale - the mass showering of a group of naked women, citizens losing all their properties at the railway station, etc. The overall emotion evoked was sympathy. In The Pianist, we were brought into that realistic experience as if we were there. The Germans are so absurd, and the Jewish not fighting back, evoked an emotion of utter rage in me.

In The Pianist, the brutality portrayed is much more subjective, coming from the point of view of the protagonist, hence more raw and realistic. Perhaps the fact that the director himself, Roman Polanski has been through the experience, he tends to present these ruthless incidents as they were, without trying to give a reason. One German comes, picks some Jewish out, and starts shooting. That's it. At night, they rush into the house, throw somebody out of the window. That's it. We never understand why. Thus, many times, we feel shocked, like the protagonist, because they were unpredictable, unreasonable. Whereas in the Schindler's List, the German General guy often talks to Schindler, and sometimes his weakness is shown. It seemed to have some moral justification there, or the attempt to make him more humanised, or trying to ingest certain reasons behind all these insanity. It makes him a complicated character, but at the same time, it takes too much for us to try to understand him, or even pity him.

In The Pianist, time passes, he wakes up, he sleeps, he tries to find food. This routine is torturous, restless and hopeless (like in the "Cast Away"). We follow him all the way through, because we want to see the day he is reborn. The drama was heighten when he was almost dead - he was beaten until fainted, he was almost killed by the Russian because of the German coat he was wearing. These are the ordeals in the principles of mythology, and we find it utmost rejoicing to see him survive, and reborn again. At last, he is back at the radio station where he used to be.

All in all, the Schindler's List provides a more informative view. It motivates me to find out more about the racism and the war after watching the film. The Pianist initiates more psychological and philosophical thinking about human survival in individual and in groups. (Maybe there were no belief, or seemingly plausible way, or set of rules for each races to live harmoniously together, and so one must demonstrate his power or guarantee his survival by imposing fear onto another.)

Watching Films, Again

Everyday, I hear everybody telling me that X or Y is a must-see movie. People get shocked with my ignorance about those films. And there are tons of movies mentioned in the books that I'll have to see. I wonder anybody would ever know all of these movies.

An award-winning film doesn't always impress you immensely. A classic film like Godfather can draw me to sleep. An experienced director may not have watched all of the Haneke's films. I discovered that the choice of viewing can rely heavily on our cultural background, taste and preference of purpose.

Life is so short, and it just no make no sense to me to try to be "clever" in watching films. Moreover, to score 100% in the knowledge of all films doesn't assure a perfect score in the profession of directing anyway.

I'm tired watching too many head-cracking films recently. I just want to watch a "normal" film, a film that allows me to sit back, relax and enjoy. The first 2 minute of VO in "All about Lily Chou-chou" had urged me to press the eject button on my computer. Next is the "The Birth of a Nation". Oopss.. didn't realised it's a silent film. Sorry, but not today please. I then inserted the "Kes" - one of the best films of the British director Ken Loach but it cannot be played!

Freaked out.

I searched "best romance comedy" on the website and surprisingly found the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", a film some friend mentioned to me the other day, on the top of the list.

After downloading the movie and fixing the subtitle for some time, I finally... Finally! get to watch a movie. Starred by Kate Winslet and Jim Carey, this is a very rare and refreshing piece. The story is based on the outstanding idea of using surreal setup of "erasing memory" to explore love relationship (it won the Best Screenplay in Oscars 2005) - an ideal model of surreal intertwining with realism. The emotional journey is distinctively portrayed in visuals, coupled with solemn music. The story kept me engaged throughout and gave me the impression of a short film. The part that I appreciate most of all, is the truthful treatment towards the change of the relationship - passionate yet dysfunctional, as most of us experienced.

TOKYO STORY

最近看的影片，至少有一半是黑白电影。其中大部分是因为电影教材书里提到，所以拿来看看。这步日本电影，和 The Departed 一样，谈家庭、生命。50年前50年后两部力作，再再地证明日本在这方面哲理之深厚。

一部典型的亚洲电影，描述的是一种意味，而不是故事。看前半段，只告诉你一对老人家到东京都市里探孩子们。家常便饭，柴油米盐这种琐碎的事，徐徐登场。所以我每看完。到今天，或许也是自己情绪对了，很快便投入，而且细细地品尝了这部坦荡、清澈的故事。

看日本人对自家人必恭必敬的说话，是很有趣的。那种含蓄、不外露的作风，几近虚假，但却又令人相信(convincing enough)。老妈子总是附和老头子说的话，然后跟着后面行走，老头子时而唬笑老伴爱睡觉，都真实地反应两个老人的相处之道。像很多老人家，就算对孩子不满，也不好意思让孩子知道，然后俩人在夜深难眠的时候，感慨而谈。另外，老头子也有几个好友，虽是随便地聊聊，却也道尽了人生。

母亲忽然病逝的时候，一切也是那么地诚实。老头子虽有伤痛，但不会表露，自己一个人去看日出，孩子会顾虑工作，有些会带着丧衣，有的抵达老家的时候母亲已过世所以没什么感觉，直到举行丧礼才有感觉。丧礼一举行完毕，各自的情绪也马上恢复，然后紧接投入生命的下一环。戏末两个女孩的谈话颇引人深思，一个认为孩子们自私无情，另一个说，“人们总是必须先照顾好自己的生活... ” 让我联想我家老人家过世前那段病重的日子，一般没几个孩子在身边。

最后，老头子一个人坐在客厅里，邻居又来打招呼。一切和他们出发到东京前的情景一样，只是这时候只剩下老头子，孤身单影地望着窗外船只游来游去，多么富有寓意和诗意。不煽情，不做作，不点缀，只是诚实地看待人生。

我那中国的朋友常和我聊亚洲电影。也许我们不曾发现，但我们的电影里总默默地隐藏着东方人独有的含蓄、细腻、暧昧（王家卫）。我两次功课的导师，巧合地都是同一位。而他是一个超级商业的导演，常硬把我隐藏的东西挖到地面。但我相信，他的道理是对的，首先你必须清楚的表达，因为这个过程迫使你清楚的知道自己其实想讲的是什么，然后再把它软化。可能很多初学导演忽略这个过程，所以才会有很多片子让你自己去猜它讲的是什么，这样导演的工作也未免太简单了。

最重要的是，不管是东方还是西方电影，皆各具特色而被对方接受。所以我相信，拍什么电影都不应该和自己的背景脐带完全切割，事实上也可能无法做到，就像生自己的孩子，不可能完全没有自己的特征。

久违了

今天晚上赛城多媒体大学辩论队，正式打2010全辩复赛。这个历史性的一刻，决定我们能否再回到全辩最好的成绩－进入半决赛。远在伦敦的我，时间是下午1.30pm左右，很替他们紧张，就打了电话给KS，可是成绩未出炉。过了一会儿，KS来简讯说，第一轮投票5－0，情况非常乐观。

下午2点，我回到课室里，和同学们继续进行拍摄彩排，可是那几分几秒，实在难熬。我回想毕业以前以后，足足7年左右，我和辩论队难舍难割。以为已经慢慢离开，但细数起来，却又几乎每个term break的训练营，我都准时报到。在多少个大赛之前反复来回赛城，甚至到马六甲急进冲刺，然后又失望而归。痛心而训，细心地劝，眼看辩论班经历低潮，总让我们几个老而不死的，无限感慨。

下午2.15pm左右，KS再次来简讯，说15－0，赢了。我会心一笑，或许这次感动比激动还要多吧。你们终于做到了。

过去有阵子，放羊的时候，却是你们表现最好的时候，在世辩和各国队伍交战，重振赛城名威。这一次，也正是我不在的时候，你们做到了。莫非，确是要我不闻不问之时，才能有意外的惊喜？

你们做到了，勇闯半决赛，阔别7年，重新成为种子队。希望下一届的选手们明白，这个种子队，得来有多么不容易。所谓，寒窗十年，也莫过于此了。

以为ZW你不会参加的，但是知道你答应回来参加的时候，我就感觉到，你会回来，弥补过去的那个遗憾。我曾经问过你，你从什么时候开始辩论，你说，从中学开始。那么，就望着全辩初赛而却步，你不难过吗？你甘心吗？我知道，你回来了，这次全辩队伍就有了希望。

ZL的self-concious很高，所以容易对自己在队伍里的位置感到敏感。因为对自己期望很高而达不到的时候，人容易感到气馁，所以就想放弃。但在辩论队里硬着头皮持续下去的人，才会明白有一天跨越心理障碍的那份珍贵，和体会最苦过后成就的愉悦。我相信现在你已能明白我说什么了。

还好HL一个够“稳重”，一个TG够乐观，才能平衡一下气氛。:p

同样是你们四个，但和两年前的那四个，你们已经不一样了。其他的不说，就那次败北的经验，我想，对你们全部而言，都是一个极大的推动力。比赛嘛，士气高昂，就赢了一半。

胜利的滋味，久违了。我很高兴，你们尝到了。:)