Director: Zhang Yimou
Country of Origin: China
Year of Release: 1992
Running time: 125 minutes
Language: Mandarin, with English subtitles
Raise the Red Lantern is a sumptuously photographed drama set in northern China in the 1920s. It stars the incomparable Gong Li as Songlian, a college student who is married off by her stepmother, becoming the fourth wife of a wealthy, elderly landlord. Songlian, who had hopes of using her education to broaden her horizons, now finds herself reduced to a small enclosure at the beck and call of her husband, who lights a lantern outside of the house of the wife with whom he intends to spend the night.
Songlian also finds herself having to negotiate her relationships with the three other wives. The first, almost as old as the landlord himself, ignores Songlian; the third, a beautiful ex-opera singer, is fiercely jealous of her; while the second wants to be her friend—or so it seems. Banned in China when it was first released—many see the film as a veiled critique of the country’s political system—Raise the Red Lantern is a moving exploration of power and intrigue in a suffocating world of ossified tradition and naked ambition.
(Some info taken from allmovie.com)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Screening for Tuesday 30 June: Grand Illusion
Director: Jean Renoir
Country of origin: France
Year of release: 1937
Run time: 114 minutes
Of the many great directors who have worked in film, only a handful can be truly counted among the masters of cinema. France's Jean Renoir is one such filmmaker, and Grand Illusion is one of his greatest cinematic achievements.
Grand Illusion is the story of three Frenchmen detained in a German prisoner of war camp during WWI. The film shows us how they manage to deal with their confinement, and allows us to watch their disappointments and their attempts to escape. The other main character is a German commander with whom the prisoners become friendly, raising complicated questions of loyalty and duty.
An anti-war film that escapes many of the conventions of the genre, Grand Illusion is as much about themes of class, nationality and religion, about humanity, relationships and identities, as it is about the horrors of war. (So potent was the film’s message when it was first released that it was banned in Nazi Germany, and by Mussolini in Italy.) Apart from the film’s timeless themes, however, it continues to stand up today as an example of great filmmaking because of its fine acting, deft pacing and fluid camera work.
(Some info from imdb.com)
Country of origin: France
Year of release: 1937
Run time: 114 minutes
Of the many great directors who have worked in film, only a handful can be truly counted among the masters of cinema. France's Jean Renoir is one such filmmaker, and Grand Illusion is one of his greatest cinematic achievements.
Grand Illusion is the story of three Frenchmen detained in a German prisoner of war camp during WWI. The film shows us how they manage to deal with their confinement, and allows us to watch their disappointments and their attempts to escape. The other main character is a German commander with whom the prisoners become friendly, raising complicated questions of loyalty and duty.
An anti-war film that escapes many of the conventions of the genre, Grand Illusion is as much about themes of class, nationality and religion, about humanity, relationships and identities, as it is about the horrors of war. (So potent was the film’s message when it was first released that it was banned in Nazi Germany, and by Mussolini in Italy.) Apart from the film’s timeless themes, however, it continues to stand up today as an example of great filmmaking because of its fine acting, deft pacing and fluid camera work.
(Some info from imdb.com)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Screening for Wednesday 24 June: Mandabi
Please note that this week's film will be held on Wednesday, not the usual Tuesday, at 5:30pm.
Director: Ousmane Sembene
Country of origin: Senegal
Year of release: 1968
Run time: 90 minutes
Mandabi is the story of Ibrahim, an illiterate Senegalese villager who tries to cash a money order sent to him by a relative working in Paris, and somehow finds himself pitted against overwhelming bureaucratic and societal forces. Ibrahim is a lazy and vain but fundamentally decent man, and his unexpected windfall becomes the catalyst of his downfall—the means by which this simple, more-or-less honest, foible-ridden individual comes face-to-face with the indifference, the corruption of the modern world.
Ibrahim’s story takes on the quality of a comic fable, and Ousmane Sembene, keeping his characters at arm’s length, is able to convey their basic equality as creatures trying to survive in a confusing, unfair world. This mid-range staging is also perfect for creating a deliberate, unobtrusive sense of comedy, of human folly gently revealed. At the same time, the film is a window upon the culture of post-colonial Senegal, a world that seems poised uneasily between tradition (village life, Islam) and modernity (bureaucracy, crime, money-grubbing).
(Some info from imdb.com)
Director: Ousmane Sembene
Country of origin: Senegal
Year of release: 1968
Run time: 90 minutes
Mandabi is the story of Ibrahim, an illiterate Senegalese villager who tries to cash a money order sent to him by a relative working in Paris, and somehow finds himself pitted against overwhelming bureaucratic and societal forces. Ibrahim is a lazy and vain but fundamentally decent man, and his unexpected windfall becomes the catalyst of his downfall—the means by which this simple, more-or-less honest, foible-ridden individual comes face-to-face with the indifference, the corruption of the modern world.
Ibrahim’s story takes on the quality of a comic fable, and Ousmane Sembene, keeping his characters at arm’s length, is able to convey their basic equality as creatures trying to survive in a confusing, unfair world. This mid-range staging is also perfect for creating a deliberate, unobtrusive sense of comedy, of human folly gently revealed. At the same time, the film is a window upon the culture of post-colonial Senegal, a world that seems poised uneasily between tradition (village life, Islam) and modernity (bureaucracy, crime, money-grubbing).
(Some info from imdb.com)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Screening for Tuesday 16 June: Seven Samurai
Please note that because of the lengthy running time, this week's film will start at 4:30pm.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Country of origin: Japan
Year of release: 1954
Run time: 204 minutes
Seven Samurai is an epic set in 16th century feudal Japan. It tells the story of a veteran samurai warrior who has fallen on hard times and answers a village’s request for protection from bandits. He recruits six other samurai, who together teach the villagers how to defend themselves. The film culminates with a giant battle against the bandits.
Directed by the great Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai is a cinematic masterpiece, weaving philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action into a rich, evocative, and unforgettable tale of courage and hope. It was remade as the Hollywood Western, The Magnificent Seven, in 1960.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Country of origin: Japan
Year of release: 1954
Run time: 204 minutes
Seven Samurai is an epic set in 16th century feudal Japan. It tells the story of a veteran samurai warrior who has fallen on hard times and answers a village’s request for protection from bandits. He recruits six other samurai, who together teach the villagers how to defend themselves. The film culminates with a giant battle against the bandits.
Directed by the great Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai is a cinematic masterpiece, weaving philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action into a rich, evocative, and unforgettable tale of courage and hope. It was remade as the Hollywood Western, The Magnificent Seven, in 1960.
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