Poor English at Tai Po Market KCR Station

A must-see: LUST, CAUTION

PLOT:
1942 Japanese - occupied Shanghai. A group of wealthy women, wives of officials in the collaborationist government, play mahjong and gossip, while outside their villa plainclothes security man pace in the cold. One young woman, a friend of Mrs. Yee, the hostess, begs her apologies, and leaves the game early for an appointment. She makes her way to seedy café, pick up the phone, and dials. At the other end of the line a young man picks up. They chatter idly for a moment. Hanging up, he turns to the group of men gathered around him: "It's now" They holster their guns, hide small axes in their sleeves, and move out. In the café, the young woman pays her bill and leaves. She hails a tricycle cab on the busy street, and rides away... toward a destiny that, in the single moment, will weave together the threads of passion, truth betrayal, violence, and sacrifice that have led her to this final, fateful winter evening of her life.

REVIEW:
I wasn't prepared to see an award-winning film but a film starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, my favourite local actor. Without much expectation, you could always get surprise.
Tong is definitely the star in the film, having known that she's an almost inexperienced actress on silver screen. The innocence of a college student, the passion of a patriot, the sophistication of a veteran - she has them all. Her role is convincing, judging from head to toe or to every inch of her body, or even the little bits of her facial expression and body language. And the most controversial scenes frequently talked about show her opening up herself and devoting to the art.
For Leung, it's an absolute breakthrough. I dare say, I've never seen him going beyond like what I saw in the film. The villain, the violence and the fury added together used to have nothing to do with Leung, now he's the one, hybrid. He's turned himself into someone the audience never thought of or related him to. And now, he has proved himself a real actor - one that can be so all-round.
I don't know how to say much about Ang Lee, but he's a genius. His insight into the deepest parts of any stories has brought juice and bones to his production. He sees something nobody pays attention to and magically turns it to the SENSE.
I highly recommend this film, with my utmost respect to the excellent work of the director, and the leading actor and actress.

Cheers for WOMEN

Pan's Labyrinth

The brutality of reality, the wildness of imagination and the difficulty of making choices - Pan's Labyrinth has them all.

Dubbed the Best Foreign Film by the BAFTA, along with Best Art Direction, Costume, etc. This is a must-see for everyone. I won't say it's at all a fairy tale for children like Narnia, or a serious drama for adults. It's sort of an in-between, maybe, for the not-so-young and not-so-mature people like me.

The film sets at Spain Fascist period when everyone's at war. We can't escape from the portrayal of how cruel war can be. All the bloodshed, bombing, killing and 'stealing' - people show they comprehend well 'the survival of the fittest'. At wartime, soldiers fight to follow commands, 'without questioning'. Ofelia's mom tries to impress her new husband with the well-dressed daughter and a coming son. Mercedes risks her life to deliver mails and food to her brother Pedro. All of them hold on to their last breath to deal with the brutal world.

And as for Ofelia, life is full of pain. She lost her father and follows her mom to the captain, the step-dad. She hates to compromise and she's looking for a way out. Later, the little girl discovers from the faun that she's the long-lost princess of the underworld. Upon the completion of three tasks, she'll be given a chance to go back to 'her kingdom'. She has seen the giant toad that consumes the old tree, 'fairies' that can transform into anything, hideous monster that eats humans and any creatures and all that imagination can lead you or beyond. The magical world fascinates her, so much so she wants it desperately in order to escape from the pains in reality.

But among these, when facing the reality and the magical world, the brutality and the wild imagination, all the people concerned have the most difficult task - making choices. Can choices be said RIGHT or WRONG? We can't deny choices are not always made alongside rationality. Either you choose to live as traitors/cowards or to risk your life in wars, to obey your parents or to follow your heart, or even to sacrifice others for yourself or you for others, you are bound to make (difficult) choices. Here, with the decisions, all characters bear the consequences. Aren't it universal truth? But we judge. We hate to regret on choices we made, and somehow are unwilling to accept the outcomes. So what if...? Who can be there to judge which is better or worse, right or wrong then?

Pan's Labyrinth is certainly not a happily-ever-after-ending type of story and tries to create a hero(ine) for audience to identify with. It's a very dark adult fairy tale. We have every reason to admit all bads turn to goods in the end. Yet, can we be as innocent as Ofelia who believes in fairy tale, or her mom who thinks fairy tale never exists? And more, does the underworld or the long-lost princess ever exist? Or after all, isn't it true that all of us are just drowning ourselves in the fantasy of a desperate and lonely girl who tries to believe there's still hope?

Well, for me, I choose to let my imagination go wild.

Words of Encouragement

We have to experience sadness
so that we may better measure joy.
Life has a way of balancing the sorrow with the joy,
the disappointments with the hope,
and the emptiness with the meaning.

In search of my voice

「萬一有聲音沙啞，最好的方法就是少講話、多休息、補充水份。如果休息幾天後還是沙啞，就該找耳鼻喉科醫師檢查一下聲帶有沒有長東西或有其他問題了。」


... 幾天... 我的... 已經是兩個星期...

打從中學開始，我的聲帶已不斷地損耗
今天的這把聲音，大概低了十六度

當天年少無知的我，說著唱著的是否悅耳？
今天的，說話聲音都變得很難入耳

人大了，什麼都變得可怕吧

Lingering

The flashbacks
The fantasies
The false hopes
Never tired of showing up
Night after night
Reminding me the shadows
The mist
That left unclear
Yet at times
Giving me the light
The sparks

That I yearn for

And then

I move on