Echoes of the rainbow

I am not a great fan of Hong Kong films, but if I was asked what I liked the most recently, two from Hong Kong would be on the list: Echoes of the Rainbow by Alex Law, and My Name is Fame by Lawrence Lou.

Oh Alfie

This could easily be one of the worst I have watched lately. The original title made in 1966 didn't impress me much, but I picked up the remake nevertheless - for the sake of Jude Law. Not that I am a great fan - this despite his credible performance in Closer, and the 'campaign of many years by a my Anglophilia cineast friend who was so crazy about him that her email address is simply called ilovejude!

I still cannot pinpoint what went wrong with the film, but Jude Law seemed to be a factor: he had not carried the role well by striking the right note of a sheer womaniser with a sleeping conscience. The tone of the film is 'wrong' too: overwhelmed with a moral lecturing for my taste...

A real disaster and the only thing that kept me stayed tuned was the hope that, like some French films, there would be something worthy coming out from a long and boring process. But this reward didn't come. For the level of disappointment, it is in the same category as The Man Who Loves Women by Francois Trufaunt.

Sylvia

Finally got a chance to watch this most poignant film, which treats the subject with great sensitivity. I am most impressed by the acting, especially that from the two in leading ones. DC surprises me here - for his ability to immerse in the role, and proving himself quite capable of a romantic/tragic role.

I am most interested in the sequences that reflect on how their relationship turn sour, and how, in particular, Sylvia deals with it by losing herself into her most creative period of her life. GP is simply sublime in this role as a suicidal poet who cannot pick herself up - other than pouring out her frustration and despair creatively - in everyday life.

Tragedies might vary in forms, but they are also similar in that they all involved people who cannot 'think outside the box'.

The fabulous baker boys

What a surprise find this was! I didn't expect much from it despite the many rave reviews of its leading lady Michelle Pfeiffer, but her performance throughout was simply impeccable, that is, even without the now most famous scene where she sang on the piano. This makes me wonder why there aren't more film of such calibre from Hollywood - super script, great performance from all leading actors, and undeniable chemistry between the romantic leads! And more puzzling - where is Michelle Pfeiffer now?

The lives of others

This is the one I watched first among the four I brought home, and it took me a week before I was ready to view it for the second, third, and the fourth time. I was simply, mesmerised.

Yes, there are loopholes where the scripts could be developed further to make it even more convincing - especially when the captain decided against following his instinct and duties. After all, after 20 years in the business, the outcome of his investigations is nothing new to him? So why change now? And to risk his own career and life?

However if we could push this bugging question aside (more of this later), the film is a super masterpiece - and I could not think of any other words to describe it - other than telling my friends that it is the best being made in recent years.

Apart from the captivating story, and the very subtle performance by all - both on and behind the camera, the core quality of the masterpiece is the incredible performance by Ulrich Muhe, who I could recognise but could not quite place where I last saw him - until my second viewing. This man is a real master of performance - or shall we say, he was capable of making us sympathise with the character with 'super control and understatement'. Hints of dramatic interior changes were usually suggested by a subtle gesture or tear drops that could be barely detected in a small screen of a television. Apparently he is also an extremely intelligent man - as all the answers he was giving during the interview included in the special feature reveal.

It made the viewing all the more poignant to know that the film partially reflected his own personal experience and the fact he died soon after the success of the film - which made him known for the first time outside his native Germany.

Back to the argument that the script could have made a strong case on why the captain experienced change at that particular moment. I gather we will just have to take the director's words for it that he was trying to show the power of music, and the fact we humans are capable of change. From a more personal point of view, I think the change is credible - just look at my father - a hardcore communist who must have done a lot of damages in his career as a political instructor and army representative. But because of his integrity (yes, it is there despite everything said about a communist) and his belief in the greater good, I imagine he is also a 'whistle blower' who was capable of making a decision that might jeopardise his cause - because he believed in the greater good and was therefore able to change...

Joyless street

It felt like a long boring film packed with stereotypes at first, especially up to the point where two women were trying to seduce the fat and vulgar butcher in order to get their hands on some precious meat for their family, but Joyless Street turned out to be yet another, shall we say, hidden, gem, where one is never really quite sure where it is leading up to.

It is a moral film, no doubt, and sometimes it even feels too much on that side. But from the moment where 'Miss Greta' walked out of her job in defense of her morality it became, it seems, more engaging. Somehow, the human tragedy began to draw you to the character when such a sad and fragile woman had to carry on her frail shoulders the heavy burden of the whole family, her invalid father on one side, and her little sister on the other.

I didn't realise Miss Greta was played by the screen icon of the namesake until she was well down her road to 'moral ruin'. Though it was only her second starring role, the qualities that made her such an incredible presence on screen was already in full bloom: her eyes seem to say thousands when she remained silent, and they had the power to empathise with her character.

The archive says that up to 90 minutes materials are still lost, and I could not imagine how long the film had been!

Alice in the cities

I thought I had lost patience with Wim Wenders, I was however pleasantly surprised last night when I found myself hooked by these two unlikely protagonists - neither of whom seemed to be making an effort to interact or entertain each other on their long journey homes.

Typical of Wim Wenders, story was not its intention or strength, and for the first 15 minutes, we were kept in the dark on what this is all about. But once the title role Alice is involved, the film seemed to gain a different dimension despite itself and soon, we just want to know if Philp, the photographer/writer could eventually find the way home for Alice who was left to his care by her mother without his knowledge.

At more than one points, I believe the director is working towards keeping a historical record of what places were like then and there, for without much dialogue and with a rather loose plot, our attention was drawn towards the landscape along the way home of the protagonists. But the theme music that appeared every now and then seemed to suggest that the landscape was reflecting the human inside of the protagonists and we became more concerned over the fate of the two that had been thrown together by a mother's negligence.

Intriguing is the word that left in my mouth after watching it.