At this point, I can probably stop saying "this is one of my favorites"... but this is one of my absolute favorite movies.
This movie is immensely rich on many levels, but let me start by saying something about foreign movies since this is the first foreign film I'm writing about. If you are a real movie buff, you probably don't have a problem with foreign movies. If you just really enjoy watching movies, you may avoid them since you don't like... subtitles (boo! hiss!).
A couple points:
1) It is arrogant to think that the only films worth watching happened to have been made in the United States (has anyone seen the 1998 version of "Godzilla"?)
2) To rule out an entire body of work produced by the other 80% of the world cheats you out of some wonderful direction, acting and cinematography.
3) Foreign films can often give you a perspective you would never get from a Hollywood movie.
Enough said. This movie is great, and I will make two points about it. First, it is remarkably beautiful. Director Zhang Yimou creates scenes that are completely dominated by one color or another, yet become stunning instead of boring. The colors are lush and engrossing where one might expect them to be distracting. It is stellar composition and cinematography.
Secondly, the movie understands itself. What I mean by that is everything in the movie points towards the moral it is trying to present. That there are things in life worth killing for and things worth dying for, and that many times these passions intersect. The way this all comes together in the end is beautiful and thought provoking. Many movies are wonderful throughout, yet fail in the final 15 minutes, leaving a sour taste in your mouth, but this movie ends exactly the way it should. I makes you wonder what drives you in your life and what you are willing to risk to advance towards that goal.
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I love movies and love to talk about them. I decided to write my thoughts down here for my own sake and to share with others. My observations come from a biblical worldview and a little bit of film study in college. I'm going to try to post at least bi-weekly if not more often and I'll write about any ol' movie I've seen. While I may or may not dwell on questionable content, I recommend checking out Christian Spotlight (link below) for information on content on any movie. Enjoy!
1 comment:
Well, that sounds like a cool movie. But I have to say that I'm in that percentage of people who doesn't watch movies with subtitles. But I have to say the reason I don't is because I'm so blind and I can't read the subtitles. They're too small for me to read without sitting face to face with the screen. So, hopefully this can count as a handicap from being arrogant. :)
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