My blog
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Nagisa Oshima retrospective at PFA
Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009 3:38AM / Standard Entry
Pacific Film Archive in
For those who have no idea, Nagisa Oshima is one of the most influential and controversial Japanese directors from the 60s to 80s. He is known for his radical view and outspoken criticism of his own country. Some of his most well known films include "The Ceremony", "In the Realm of the Senses", "Night and Fog in Japan", "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence"... He last made Gohatto in 2000, before he suffered from a stroke that prevented him from working on any new project.
I have seen quite some Oshima's films before the retrospective. The most unforgettable one is probably "Death by Hanging", which I saw in my Japanese cinema class at
Another important film is probably "Night and Fog in
"In the Realm of the Senses", his most controversial film, is actually my least favorite. In terms of visual, it is perhaps the most stunning one, with real sex scenes of the lead female performing fellatio and also being put an egg into her vagina, but somehow I just feel it is more an attitude that shows how far an artist can go, than something concrete and meaningful.
Since I have seen quite some of his films before, and also because I have been busy with some other projects, I didn't spend too much time at PFA this time, but then I certainly didn't miss "The Ceremony" last week, a film that is said to be the summation of his early career, and also one that represents his philosophy and style the best. While many of his films are already on DVD, "The Ceremony" is one that is hard to find, and since PFA is also showing a new print, it just gave me no excuse to skip it.
"The Ceremony" is an epic scale family drama that chronicles the life of a big family from 1946 to the 70s when the film was made. Through the story of this family, which consists of series of ceremonies, Oshima harshly criticizes his country, from the patriarchal family structure to the government, and from tradition to the postwar mindset of the people. One of the most remarkable scenes is probably the wedding ceremony without the bride. Due to saving the face for the family and also to preserve the tradition, the protagonist is forced to carry on his wedding ceremony even though his bride has already run away. It reflects the absurdity of traditional practice at times and how it is so difficult for one to get away from social and traditional codes.
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A meeting with Kit Hung
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 8:56AM / Standard Entry
I just had a meeting with another fellow AND artist Kit Hung last week. Kit was here for the screening of his film "Soundless Wind Chime" (premiered at Berlin Film Festival earlier this year) in San Francisco.
We had lunch in Japan town and shared quite some filmmaking experience. The market of independent film is so small in HK, so it is especially encouraging to see films like his getting made.
I also managed to do an interview with him for Cinespot. It'll be up later next month, hopefully sometimes before his film comes out in HK. Kit talked a lot about the production of SWC, which took him five years to complete. It's really very good reference for those who are also going the indie path.
Thanks Kit for inviting me to the screening as well, the film is very nice and I strongly recommend it! This is real indie film that is worth our support! Go see it when it opens in HK in late July!
p.s. another proof that AND works for artists, if we're not on AND, I probably wouldn't know Kit will be coming to SF...
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祝你愉快﹐家駒!
Sunday, Jun 28, 2009 12:27PM / Standard Entry
1993年6月30日
不經不覺已經16年了﹐還記得當年正在上中學﹐大概是暑假剛剛開始﹐某天晚上看電視新聞﹐聽到家駒的死訊。然後﹐在電視上看到他的葬禮。
說起來好像是很久以前的事了﹐但是想起來又好像是昨天的事。或許﹐4人時期的Beyond是從來沒有離開。在過去16年的歲月﹐每隔一段時間﹐家駒的歌聲就在我的音響組合出現﹐他彈結他的影像﹐也常常透過我修藏的LD影碟再次活靈活現。有很多朋友笑我為什麼到了現在還不把LD影碟機丟掉﹐仍能運作如常的的幾張Beyond LD﹐相信是其中一個原因。
回想起來﹐由中學開始成為Beyond的歌迷﹐相信不是最早的一批﹐但也趕上尾班車。
當時年紀少﹐只覺得他的歌曲很好聽﹐歌詞很特別﹐唱功很獨特。唱卡啦OK時喜歡點Beyond的歌﹐但自問歌喉麻麻﹐總覺得唱起來很困難...最喜歡的歌曲實在太多﹐灰色軌跡﹑誰伴我闖蕩﹑喜歡你﹑遙望﹑長城﹑過去與今天... 太多了﹐數之不盡。
隨著時間的流逝﹐現在聽他的歌曲﹐感覺驟然不同。當年無憂無慮的學生﹐現在擠身社會﹐在現實和理想之間掙扎﹐對於家駒的歌曲﹐感觸特別深刻﹐共鳴不斷。
聽《再見理想》﹐"看似與別人築起隔膜"...
聽《誰伴我闖蕩》﹐"幾多天真的理想﹐幾多找到是頹喪﹔沉默去迎失望﹐幾多心中創傷"...
聽《不可一世》﹐"誰願壓抑心中怒憤衝動﹐去咒罵這虛與偽與假"...
聽《歲月無聲》﹐"千杯酒已喝下去﹐都不醉﹐何況秋風秋雨"...
聽《灰色軌跡》﹐"這個世界已不知不覺的空虛..."
聽《光輝歲月》﹐"人生經過傍徨的掙扎﹐自信可改變未來"...
聽《舊日的足跡》﹐"已過去的不可在﹐今天只可憶起"...
聽《遙望》﹐"問蒼天﹐可會知﹐心裡的感覺"...
聽《過去與今天》﹐"可知我已放棄舊日的理想﹐知否我也有個夢"...
聽《午夜怨曲》﹐"勉強去掩飾失意的感覺﹐再次聽到昨日的冷嘲﹔每次去擔當失意的主角﹐冷笑變作故事的作者"...
聽《海闊天空》﹐"背棄了理想﹐誰人都可以﹐那會怕有一天只你共我"!
家駒﹐你為我們這些永無止境地去追逐夢想的人﹐說盡心底裡想說的話﹐謝謝你!
祝你愉快!
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Ee8zpIej8
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYGxfstn-x8
(with english subs)
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guuxBYEAXO0
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MJ, the end of an era...
Friday, Jun 26, 2009 3:20PM / Standard Entry
It's really shocking to hear that MJ is dead. Honestly, I am not really his fan, but I agree that his song and his performance are really powerful and succeed in drawing your attention.
when you realize that a kid growing up in hk in the 80s who didn't listen to english pop songs at all but could still recognise MJ and could even sing a bit of his popular songs like beat it, billie jean, smooth crinimal, bad, you know the definition of "king of pop" and you could feel the influence....
RIP, Michael Jackson!
btw, also wanna pay tribute to actress Farrah Fawcett and Shek Kin.
tags: Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Thriller, Death, Mysterious Death, Tigers, Elephant Man, Hair Caught Fire, Horrifying Horrifying Experience, Macaulay Culkin, Sexual Battery, Prince Michael, Devilsh Sony Music, baby dangling, moon walk, king of pop, 米高積遜, 麥可傑克森, 死訊, 邁克爾, 杰克遜, beat it, bad, moonwalk, smooth criminal, billie jean, michael jackson public memorial service, ticket, staples center, charlies angels
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Make a guess, tell me what this is
Friday, Jun 19, 2009 3:04AM / Standard Entry
Do you know what this is? haha...i guess girls probably know the answer better..
Stats
- "A writer, film reviewer, independent filmmaker, struggling artist..."...
- Occupation: Director , Film/TV Producer , Screenwriter
- Gender: Male
- Total visits: 246,085
