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Wo hu cang long (2000)
Classic........
According to the hype around Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, its creators have produced a miracle: a kung fu crossover hit, simultaneously a substantial foreign language drama for discerning art house audiences and the greatest martial arts movie of all time. Although Crouching Tiger falls short of such (probably unattainable) perfection, it is enormously fun, and manages to be one of the more interesting films of recent years. Whatever its flaws, it is also a rare example of fearless yet thoughtful experimentation by veteran filmmakers, in this case Ang Lee and James Schamus, who have previously collaborated on films in both Taiwan and the United States, including Eat Drink Man Woman and The Ice Storm.
Though nominally set in the Qing dynasty, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is loosely based in a Chinese martial arts movie tradition that pits outlaws against heroes in a timeless "long ago" analogous to the American cinematic Old West. The Wuxia, warrior figures who embody honor, loyalty, and an individual sense of justice, can be compared to the white-hat guys; Wuxia stories gave rise to what Ang Lee has called "a mythical, larger-than-life hero in the Chinese imagination," and an equally powerful myth of the Giang Hu world, an imagined "Wild West" underworld or outland, inhabited by the Wuxia and governed primarily by their noble ideals, with little regard for conventional mores.).
Basing the screenplay on a series of novels by early 20th century novelist Wang Du Lu, Lee and co-writer Schamus people the simplistic Giang Hu world with complex characters whose actions result from a murky grapple with the tension between their needs as human beings and the demands that the Giang Hu world, as lived or imagined, place upon them. As the film opens, Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat), the greatest swordsman in China and famed disciple of the Wudan martial arts system, has realized that the years spent fighting outlaws and striving for enlightenment have left him lonely and unhappy. He is on the verge of renouncing his life as a warrior to try to find happiness with his beloved friend and former comrade-in-arms Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh). As the film opens, he commits to the custody of longtime friend Sir Te his legendary sword, the beautiful, invincible Green Destiny, and is on the point of proposing to Shu Lien, who clearly shares his feelings, that they make a life together.
His plans are interrupted by the reappearance of old foe Jade Fox (Cheng Pei Pei), who betrayed and murdered Mu Bai's master and stole the secret manual of Wudan's techniques. Resurfacing in Beijing, Jade Fox has become the governess of Yu Jen (Zhang Zi Yi), the daughter of a prominent government official. Slated for a loveless political marriage, Jen longs for any escape-into the remote deserts of her former home province; into an imagined world based on adventure tales, drawn from the real lives of warriors like Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien; into the arms of her secret love, a dashing barbarian bandit named Lo (Chang Chen).
Her secret restlessness makes her vulnerable to manipulation by Jade Fox, but what makes her dangerous is her other secret: she is a martial arts prodigy of enormous potential. Half-trained by Jade Fox using the stolen Wudan manual, Jen has much of the technique but none of the Taoist philosophy; but even in this state she is a match for our heroes. Fascinated by the Giang Hu world (and her taste of it in her interlude with Lo), inspired by meeting Shu Lien, tempted by the now-idle Green Destiny, and poisoned by the influence of Jade Fox, Jen is a loose cannon, a menace to all those around her.
Li Mu Bai, the embodiment of the Wuxia ideal, naturally wants revenge upon Jade Fox for her crimes against his master and his school; more than this, though, he wishes to take Jen as disciple to be Wudan's first female student - largely because without Wudan discipline she will surely become a villain far worse than her mistress. Shu Lien also comes to feel a sisterly affection for the young prodigy. Setting aside their personal needs, Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien take on Jade Fox in a struggle over the girl's fate, as the chaos swirling around her threatens to ensnare them all.
True to its title, which names the animal pair most commonly representative of the contradictory and complementary principles of yin and yang in Taoist and Buddhist symbolism, the movie concentrates on the interaction of opposing forces. The consequences of impetuously pursuing one's desires contrast with the loss and regret that are the reverse of restraint and duty. The naive certainty of youth is weighed against the ambiguities of maturity. Jen's coming of age is juxtaposed against the mid-life conflict within Li Mu Bai. All of the main characters much decide when to fight to control their lives and when to acquiesce before forces that cannot be altered.
The actors are well cast, and director Ang Lee coaxes great performances from most of them. As Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien, Chow and Yeoh smolder with their characters' repressed passions. The actors incorporate the spirit of swordplay in their performances and alternate between slow, taut exchanges and lightning flashes of intense emotion. They likewise maintain character through their fighting sequences, in which Yeoh's Shu Lien moves with confident virtuosity, and Chow's Li Mu Bai, the accomplished master, needs to use only the sparest, most efficient techniques. These megastar veterans of Hong Kong and Hollywood fearlessly play up their maturity, imbuing their performances with an exquisite sense of loss; the curious result is that they have never seemed sexier.
The Notebook (2004)
Sentimental Journey
Shamelessly sentimental, The Notebook is as predictable as a dimestore romance novel—it is based on the bestseller by Nicholas Sparks—but director Nick Cassavetes pulls it off.
The story of enduring love is told in evocative sequences set to Billie Holliday's and Chopin's music. The effect offers something for anyone who has ever been in love, yearned for love or, through the movie's tear-jerking narrative involving an old couple (James Garner and Gena Rowlands), watched loving parents grow wrinkled and gray.
After a carnival courtship that's so corny you expect the cast to break into a show tune, mill worker Noah (Ryan Gosling) and aristocratic Allie (Rachel McAdams) spend their pre-World War II summer days in Technicolor, skipping through small town streets, dancing with Negroes on the back porch and vowing undying devotion under the stars. Though modern sensibilities creep in, the design, the score and especially Karyn Wagner's costumes keep The Notebook in its 1940s Southern setting.
Cassavetes tenderly recreates romantic moments, letting still waters, creaky houses and booming thunderstorms set the tone, and The Notebook works best when indulging its sense of suspended time. The lovers are separated as implausibly as they were enjoined—through the clichéd rich parents—and the story follows their lives through war, work and maturity.
Sparks' lovers are intended as the warm-up for something more resonant than a youthful romance, and The Notebook's couple is too plain to be fully engaging, despite an outstanding performance by Gosling, who's as sincere as a wide-eyed prom date fixing his lady's corsage.
It's the older players, particularly Gena Rowlands, under direction by her son, Cassavetes, who breathe life into the Hallmarkish saga. Transitions between present-day narrative and the past are tenuous, but the hokey lovers envelop the audience in their gauzy world long enough to build momentum for The Notebook's climax—a formulaic manipulation that Miss Rowlands, Mr. Garner and a fond performance by Jennifer Echols as a nurse play to the hilt.
The script is more romantic than real and consequently less dramatic than it might have been. Friends, fathers and fallen soldiers are forgotten, dialog is stilted and characters are riddled with inconsistencies, especially young Noah and Allie, whose tribulations ring false. Several cast members stand out, including James Marsden (Cyclops in X-Men), wasted as Allie's rich suitor in a role that deserves more screen time, Joan Allen as Allie's mother, and Jamie Brown, who delivers a memorable scene as a war widow.
This sweet Southern romance, ripped from Jimmy Durante's schmaltzy "I'll Be Seeing You" and anchored by Ryan Gosling and Gena Rowlands, plays its love story straight and Nick Cassavetes, cast and crew and New Line Cinema have created a poignant if sappy movie about two people in love for a lifetime. In an age of death, doom and destruction—on and off screen—that's worth something to talk about
Sadma (1983)
A young woman who regresses to childhood after suffering a head injury in a car crash.
Sadma, directed by Balu Mahendra, is perhaps the film that best captures the tragedy of loving unconditionally and losing everything in the end. Sadma means trauma in Hindi, and the film is about Nehalata (Sridevi), who has suffered a head injury in a car crash. As a result of this, she loses her memory and regresses to childhood. She is trapped in a brothel, and is rescued by K Somprakash (Kamal Haasan). K Somprakash is a lonely schoolteacher who is not interested in getting emotionally or physically involved even with a sexually frustrated woman called Soni (Silk Smitha), who attempts to seduce Somprakash at every opportunity. Somprakash lives in a small hill-town, and his life is very monotonous. He decides to take care of Nehalata, who no longer remembers her identity or her past and needs to be taken care of like a child. Somprakash, at first, gets easily irritated by Nehalata's behavior, but gradually starts getting used to it. His intentions noble, he starts 'raising' Nehalata. He feeds her, bathes her, sings to her and monkey-dances for her. Somprakash knows he must do everything for Nehalata till she regains her memory, and only till then. But despite himself, he falls in love with her. He names her Reshmi, and she calls him Somu
Balu Mahendra has extracted above-par performances from Kamal Haasan and Sridevi. Kamal Haasan is perfect as K Somprakash, the lonely schoolteacher whose dull life is lit up and filled with colors by the child-woman's presence. Somprakash is a mild-mannered, docile fellow, but displays a rare streak of anger when saving Reshmi/ Nehalata from the clutches of Balua (Gulshan Grover). Kamal Haasan perfected the role of a simple man who falls for the beautiful Sridevi, more through expressions than by way of words. Sridevi's performance in Sadma is easily one of her finest. As Nehalata/ Reshmi, Sridevi portrays the character of a child-woman suffering from memory loss with stupefying brilliance. Reshmi is the portrait of innocence – watch how she welcomes a stray dog into their fold and christens him Hari Prasad. The childlike manner in which she calls Somprakash 'Somu' will warm your heart first, and then tear it apart when you see how the movie ends. The best scene in the movie – and one of the absolute best in cinema – is the ending of Sadma. Reshmi regains her memory and becomes Nehalata again, and remembers nothing about the time she has spent with her Somu. At the railway station when she is being taken back to where she belonged before her car crash, Somprakash, outside the train, monkey-dances for her
before the trauma of losing her hits him and insanity takes over
Kamal Haasan is electrifying as the madly-in-love man, frantically trying to make the once-innocent girl remember him and the wonderful time they spent together, to make her realize she belongs completely and only to him. The story is very captivating, and if the ending of Sadma doesn't break your heart, you should get yourself checked to see if you have one. Never before or after have heartbreak and trauma been captured in a film this way, so avoid if you're feeling depressed or suicidal!