The girl from Monaco

This is the sort of film that doesn't tell you anything new and yet you are nevertheless gripped by the storytelling and the magnetic performance given by its stars. In this instance, it is the dilemma suffered by the ageing attorney and the performance by enigmatic Roschdy Zem and sexy Louise Bourgoin that has made the whole experience so thrilling.

Eternal summer

It was a long while since I watched such a captivating Taiwanese film with a tight script and natural and convincing performance from the ensemble. I had seen it on the shelf many times and yet due to my allergy with Taiwanese media products as a whole, I had not been keen to watch it. This made me wonder what I have missed in the process.

Welcome to Dongmakgol

I tend to find 'blockbusters' dull and too eager to please but this one is a breath of fresh air.

People from different backgrounds and with conflicting ideologies had to stay together before going their separate ways. Gradually though under the influence of the pacific villagers, they found their inner desire for peace and learnt to appreciate each other as just human beings.

There are many clever use of minor characters or proms for character depiction purpose. The role of a 'crazy girl', the boar are just two of the most distinguishing ones that showcase how humour and humanity can be intertwined into a film about, on first appearance, conflict and war.

Art is a state of mind

That is what I learnt after two hours at the Art Stage at MBS.

Spring summer fall winter...spring

While I was watching the film, one of the things that amazed me the most was that there seems to be so many Korean films in the last decade that are so simple in format, with barely-there dialogues and few characters. The Way Home, A Brand New Life, Treeless Mountain, for example, all have minimalist plots and the power of the film come from subtle character depiction featuring non-professional actors.

Now that I know it has the same director for 3-Iron and Time, I am surprised I didn't recognise his signature styles straightaway.

Gloomy Sunday

A most captivating film, with one of the most memorable tune, played in many variations throughout the story. It succeeded in making me wonder whether the film was based on, at least loosely, on real characters.

Although I can never quite understand the characters, the story-telling is powerful enough to keep me stay tuned. I was surprised it was made in 1999... because it still feels rather fresh.

It made me dig out all of Billie Holiday's CDs!

Attack the gas station!

Having just finished Midnight FM, I was a bit worried at the first half hour if Attack the Gas Station! was another one of those films that depict extreme violence for its own sake. Indeed, although Midnight FM seems to suggest that the motive behind the violence and kidnap is 'heroic' and 'justified' because the taxi driver believes he is taking law by his own hands, it doesn't make much of an effort to convince us so. Though the film could feel compelling at points, you can never get rid of the bugging feeling there are far too many loose plots to make the story convincing.

Attack the Gas Station was quite close to reaching the point that it is one of those films. Yet the director has quite cleverly steered us away from this thought with two crafts: the depiction of those patrons at the gas station, and later on, the intermitting flashbacks of the four young delinquents. When their nonsensical criminal act was put in the context of the overall crudeness, greediness (of the police force) and violence, it does not only draw sympathy towards the delinquents but also gradually, made them appear human (the singer love music that much that he demand various people to sing for him), funny (in front of a 'beautiful' lady, one of them subjected her to take off a piece of garment every time when she loses in a word puzzle), and even dignified and brave (when the baseball player demanded payment from the police for the gas and sends away a gangster whose mum is 'ill'). Their success in the end at realising their dream and getting away from the punishment therefore seems justified.

Just sex and nothing else

I must have seen it on the shelf a number of times, but the comparison on the synopsis to Sex and the City put me off. But when I eventually put it on the player, it turned out to be, to my surprise, a little gem.

First the film has a very tight script, it is about a theatre editor who wants to have a child without any of the downsides of a committed relationship, after finding out her man is actually married with a pregnant wife. During that process and despite her initial prejudice against a charming leading man in her play, they fell in love and had a family.

But the fun also come with the smart dialogues, and more significantly, the 'sparkling performances of the ensemble, and in particular the chemistry between the two leads.

A very addictive film.

The music room

Three prolonged set of performances from three different groups of musicians, and a rather minimalist and 'static' narrative in-between. The Music Room wants the audience to sit down quietly, like those at those performances, to experience how the protagonist felt before and after those highlights of his existence. Not much drama, but a lot of minute observations, and the camera stayed, except at the last scene, within the compound of the crumbling mansion that had hosted several generations of good life.

A very confident work. An ode to Indian music and dance.

Indian fabric

Went to the Patterns of Trade: Indian Textile for Export, 1400 to 1900 exhibition at the Asian Civilisation Museum this morning. It didn't disappoint, and I spent a good 90 minutes there to examine all the items.

I was first introduced to Indian fabric and 'fashion' in 1999 when my ex bought me two Indian dresses and shawls. Though I wasn't impressed by their quality (some of the buttons were rustic on a dress and the fabric of the shawls too rough to wrap around the bare neck), I was intrigued by its traditional design and the unique patterns on the shawls. In the follow nine years, I would continue receive gifts from India, some of them dresses, and had come to the conclusion that Indian fabric was cheaply made (at least those sold in the mass market where my ex frequented) but had a distinctive ethnic touch to them, and could look rather feminine if fitted well. Despite the fact that their colours come off quite easily, the Indian dresses also seemed to me like an ideal pregnancy dresses and when my younger sister was pregnant, I 'ordered' some for her - which turned her into an instant 'fashion icon' at her regular bus stops; female fellow passengers were fascinated by how graceful she looked in those 'exotic' dresses and would even enquire where they could get some.

Indian dresses and shawls were in fact only part of our collection of ethnic fabric; apart from a few Indian pieces for hanging, we had also acquired decorative fabric from Bali, Tibet and southwestern China. While the dry condition in England allow them to be displayed in the house quite easily (the fact windows were closed most of the time also helped), it became a headache of sort in this tropical climate with high humidity. All all the pieces, the most expensive item was in fact purchased in Hong Kong from a friend's ex-boyfriend. A medium size piece for hanging, it was made from several fabric women in Guizhou used for carrying their babies on their backs. The original fabrics were all worn due to overuse and so the seller had someone cut out the better ones and patched them together as a whole piece. How to keep them and make sure they are fine in such climate was a challenge.

This cursory knowledge about Indian fabrics made me want to know more about it and its history, and to my satisfaction, the exhibition was well-researched and executed. Not only it traces the origin, the development of the textile industry inside India, it also discuses its impact across the border and beyond. The video that is played on look provides interesting display on the process Indian patterns are made traditionally. While I was watching it, it dawned to me how come those pieces were so 'rough' and appeared to repeat the patterns. But the surprise was how beautiful the exhibition room looks with the huge fabric hanging on the wall, as most of them should be in their proper settings. It made me realise that they were in fact a form of art.

I felt rather 'civilised' while examining those delicate items; some with silk like texture.