Oh, how I love puns.
This time: Taiwanese drama The Most Distant Course, Chinese/Japanese drama Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, and HK period drama Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon.
The Most Distant Course
Directed and Written by Lin Jing-Jie, starring Guey Lun-Mei, Mo Zi-Yi, and Jia Xiao-Guo.
Xiao Tang (Mo) is a young sound recordist whose life has become a stagnant haze following his sudden breakup with his girlfriend. Xiao Tang isn't sure what to do to cure his heartbreak, so he sets out to travel Taiwan recording unique sounds. Having actually hatched this plan with his girlfriend prior to their parting ways, he decides to send her the recordings as he wanders the country.
Cai (Jia) is a shrink facing an emotional crisis due to his impending divorce. Unable to handle the stress from that, he projects his problems onto his patients and tries his hand at sleeping with women of questionable constitution. He soon grows tired of the way his life is, and sets out on a journey to find himself. While on this journey, he meets and befriends Xiao Tang, and the two help each other find what they need to carry on.
Ruoyun (Guey) is in an almost constant state of depression. She is the third person in her lover's relationship, and his inattentive nature causes her to feel sorry for herself and drink. At her new apartment, she receives mail for the previous tenant, who hasn't left a forwarding address. Ruoyun decides to open the mail and finds they contain recordings of different sounds from across Taiwan, in which she finds solace. Ruoyun soon decides to change her life, and heads out to retrace Xiao Tang's steps by searching out the sounds on the tapes.
The personal natures of each character's journey is heartwrenching and emotional. The three leads bring understated performances to incredibly touching tales of heartbreak and loneliness. In addition to the performances, the locations and soundtrack are terrific. With The Most Distant Course, Director Lin Jing-Jie has crafted an excellent film that will give back to the viewer everything they put into it.
Films of note:
Guey Lun-Mei - Blue Gate Crossing, Sound of Colors, Secret
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Directed Zhang Yimou, starring Ken Takakura.
Many years ago, Takata (Takakura) had a falling out with his son Kenichi. Ever since that day, he has regretted the past, and hope for a reunion. Those hopes are raised when one day, Takata's daughter-in-law Rei requests that he visit Kenichi in Tokyo. Rei tells Takata that Kenichi is in the hospital for extreme stomach pains, and thinks it would be a good time for the two to patch things up.
When Takata arrives in Tokyo, Rei takes him to meet with Kenichi. Overhearing his son tell Rei that he won't see his father, Takata departs the hospital. Rei catches him as he is leaving, and gives him a video tape of a news report Kenichi made the previous year about Chinese opera. On the tape, Kenichi speaks to an opera singer who tells him to return in a year to film the famed opera Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles.
Realizing that Kenichi will not be able to make the trip, Mr. Takata decides to travel to China and tape it for his estranged son, in hopes of shortening the distance between them. However, when he arrives in China, he finds that his task will not be easy. Many obstacles threaten to curtail his efforts, but Takata's resolve will not be broken. As he tries to earn his son's love, he gains the love of countless others, and he himself learns the meaning of life.
Zhang Yimou's tale of redemption is nearly perfect. Takakura's performance as a lost father that is literally lost in a foreign speaking land is an honest one. Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles touches on all the right strings to reach deep within the heart, eliciting emotions in a way that is deliberate, but never feels manipulative. With superb directing, acting, and breathtaking scenery in remote regions of China, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles is an accomplished film. While many films possess great aspects, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles pulls the great parts together into an astoundingly great whole.
Films of note:
Zhang Yimou - Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower
Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon
Directed and Co-Written by Daniel Lee, starring Andy Lau, Sammon Hung, and Maggie Q.
In the era of the Three Kingdoms, one man puts the dream of a unified China above all else, including his own life. Early on in the Waring States Period, Zhao Zilong joins Lord Liu Bei's military in defending against the Warlord Cao Cao. Zilong quickly proves himself a talented and trustworthy warrior and steadily rises through the ranks, eventually becoming one of the Five Tiger Generals of the kingdom.
Years of warfare claims the lives of his fellow Tiger Generals, leaving Zilong an old man in a country that is still divided by war. Joining with the sons of two of his fallen comrades, an aged Zilong attempts a final quest for unification, as they face Cao Cao's brilliant and merciless granddaughter Cao Ying (Q).
Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon is quite a disappointment. A decades long story is told mostly via voice over and exposition, with very little occurring onscreen. The performances and action are fairly solid, but the focus on Zilong, and the lack of reasons for the audience to care about his fate due to the expository nature of the film, causes Three Kingdoms to suffer mightily.
Had more time been spent on characterization, or less time spent focusing on Zilong, Three Kingdoms may have been better. And with it's pedigree, it really should have been better. Neither Andy Lau or Sammo Hung is a stranger to period epics, and both give the proper weight to their roles. Also, Director Daniel Lee is no novice. Having directed several films, and a couple noteworthy ones, Lee is at the very least an able director. Unfortunately, the stars just didn't align for Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon to be any more than an okay way to kill a little over an hour and a half.
Films of note:
Daniel Lee - Black Mask, A Fighter's Blues, (writer) A Figher's Blues
Andy Lau - Tragic Hero, As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, A Fighter's Blues, Fulltime Killer, Infernal Affairs, A World Without Thieves, A Battle of Wits, The Warlords
Sammo Hung - Zu Warriors From the Magic Mountain, Paper Marriage, SPL Maggie Q - mostly crap
Next time: It's all HK films, with horror flick Ab-normal Beauty, cop dramas Breaking News, and Best of the Best, and sci-fi drama Chaos.
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