The Image Poet
My eyes welled u
p as I was watching the tenacity of this girl, waiting for the love of her life in the freezing winter. Her unconditional love to a man she bearly knows by cooking the best food, following him around, fixing up the unkempt school and finding every opportunity to talk to the man she loves (the well sequence).
How simple the film is in its effortless storytelling. Where are the villains? (The invisible grip of Chairman Mao) Where are the conflicts? (Inner conflicts) Where are the huggings and kissings of a romantic film? (Do we need them?) Once we uncover the beauty of Zhang Yi-Mou's image storytelling, you are invited into a world where it seems so far yet you are able to identify with it. He draws you in as a part of the villagers with the usage of repetitive images of th
e school, the small bridge and the lone tree, the old well by the school and the images of the roads. I envied him the first time I saw the film and I don't think I can approach up to his genius in the ways he tells story but he is one of the benchmarks that I look up to.
Zhang Yi-Mou, the image poet of our generation. We have had our fair share of image poets of the past, Sayajit Ray, Yasujiro Ozu and John Ford. Zhang Yi-Mou is the heir to the greats of the past.
p as I was watching the tenacity of this girl, waiting for the love of her life in the freezing winter. Her unconditional love to a man she bearly knows by cooking the best food, following him around, fixing up the unkempt school and finding every opportunity to talk to the man she loves (the well sequence).How simple the film is in its effortless storytelling. Where are the villains? (The invisible grip of Chairman Mao) Where are the conflicts? (Inner conflicts) Where are the huggings and kissings of a romantic film? (Do we need them?) Once we uncover the beauty of Zhang Yi-Mou's image storytelling, you are invited into a world where it seems so far yet you are able to identify with it. He draws you in as a part of the villagers with the usage of repetitive images of th
e school, the small bridge and the lone tree, the old well by the school and the images of the roads. I envied him the first time I saw the film and I don't think I can approach up to his genius in the ways he tells story but he is one of the benchmarks that I look up to.Zhang Yi-Mou, the image poet of our generation. We have had our fair share of image poets of the past, Sayajit Ray, Yasujiro Ozu and John Ford. Zhang Yi-Mou is the heir to the greats of the past.
posted by Unknown @ 8:41 AM
8 Comments
8 Comments:
At the beginning, the son talked about his hometown, he mentioned 'my dad had just passed away and my mom is alone now'. Then the road started to get bumpy and the camera was moving a lil. Was it done on purpose? Because it kinda showed me the 'climax' moment.
yep, mr. patrick..i couldnt agree with you more about the director who directed this movie..his work is wonderful...the movie was so simple, yet it somehow connected its audience with it...the relationship btwn Zhao Di and Luo Chengyu was greatly felt...the strong feelings for each other... and i had tears welled up in my eyes as well...had it at the last part where they showed YuSheng, Ziyi's 'son' teaching and she went to listen...plus how the movie ended with the young her running...accompanied by the song.. it was very touching... and i liked the song very much...kudos Zhang Yimao.. ;)
yeah, i agree with you too mr.partick and jess as well..the show was pretty touching but it still doesnt reach the level of making me cry yet..perhaps im too tough, lol..i might cry if the ending ends as Zhao Di dies in the school at the end as Luo Chengyu carries her spirit away..
although the 2 characters don't really talk to each other, somehow Zhang Yimou still managed to make the feeling of love between them so obvious.i think he is a superb director...i was really touched by Di's courage to brave the storm to find her beloved...it showed how much he actually meant to her. well mr patrick,in case u r wonderin,i'm hwei ling by d way..
wow... victor's suggestion of the ending is sooo ironic! but i like it :p haha... yea.. it would be nice if the ending ended like what vic said!
Then Victor's suggestion would fall into the cliched tragic Asian films where someone has to die tragically at the end.... Enough of manipulated tears from Taiwanese or Korean style of story-tragic-telling... melodramas should evlove naturally on screen to create a genuine feeling from the audience rather than the director's hand manipulating tears' from the audience...it should be invisible...
i like da style where Zhang Yi Mou lets the character's nxt generation narrate the story of wat had happened between his mom n dad. honestly, i nvr knew much abt my parent's dating life and i think i m bent on NOT knowing either. being Asians, i m abit disturbed with the idea of kids knowing a little too much abt their parent's love story. but after this movie, it kinda gave me an impression tat a relationship can be as pure as it is portrayed in the movie. i had been used to promiscuity and unfaithfulness in life of married ppl and i hv met ppl who lived thru it. but den again, this movie showed NONE of these elements and could actually give us the exactly "overwhelming" kinda feelin tat a normal "ang moh" movie would gimme.
call me a pessimist, negative or anything u please, but i still wudn't change my stand regardin da "know abt ur parent's love life". although i pretty like the director's way of portrayin it in the eyes of their son.
sometimes, a simple story line can leave a deep impact in a person's mind. i still believe in "action speaks louder den words" and wen i saw da movie and also Zhang Ziyi's character who ran miles to juz send food over to her crush, it kinda made me feel tat ppl of the present time can say and utter words that they cant even keep nor make meaning of it but ppl of that "time" could do it with their actions, full of sincerity....
maybe life is supposed to be like this? getting more complicated as time passes by? but then again, this movie is great. especially the uses of colour and also the place they chose for this set of movie.
should take note of more chinese(ppl)-directed movies fr now on (admit i m kinda banana-ed but still can understand mandarin). thx for bringin in movies of such mentality into our "scope".... if not, we wud hv missed another good one...
this is NOT a semiotic movie :p
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